Games for Teaching Students to "Show, Don't Tell" in Their Writing
- Grades: 3–5
Teaching students to "show, don't tell" can significantly improve student writing. Try the "Show, Don't Tell" SMART board lesson or the following lesson to reinforce the concept.
This SMART Board lesson is called “Guess the Emotion.” During the teaching part of the lesson I read the showing paragraphs, and students must determine what emotion I am “showing.”
Each student is then given an emotion card and is asked to write a paragraph that shows the emotion without using the actual word. (As part of this active engagement part of the lesson, students could share their paragraphs with their writing partners.) Students then head back to their seats and attempt to incorporate this skill into their own writing.
Download the SMART Board file for "Guess the Emotion."
If you do not have a SMART Board in your classroom, you can download worksheets that relate to the lesson described above.
You can also use this Show, Don’t Tell card game to help your students practice this concept.