When teaching students to write descriptively, I make sure to model for them different grammatical constructions for them to implement in their own writing. I try to limit the amount of grammar jargon I throw at them, but sometimes it’s just not possible to discuss certain sentence structures without certain academic vocabulary.
I use this PowerPoint to introduce them to the specifics of grammatical structures that most of them are in habit of reading all the time, but need an explicit push to incorporate into their own writing. Having miniature white boards makes checking their work a bit more engaging and interactive, as well as giving other students the benefit of seeing and editing others’ work.
We finish the lesson by making a participle foldable to add into their interactive notebooks.
To reinforce what may be new information, especially for ELLs, I have two worksheets that separate the present from past participles, and show how both kinds of participles can be used as modifiers, either as adjectives or phrases.
