My Favorite Room (Grades 1-2)
Encourage students to describe their favorite places using sensory language.
Students will describe their favorite place using sensory language.
Low-odor dry erase markers; pencils; markers
Background Discussion (15 minutes)
1. Ask students: How would you describe our classroom to a person who has never seen it? You might say it has four walls and a ceiling. Would that tell them what our room is like? No! For a person to really understand what our room is like, you need to tell them all the details that make our room special.
2. Write the words Our Classroom on the whiteboard. Below that write the headings: things, colors, sounds, smells. Use a different color for each heading to help students differentiate between categories. Have students call ou their observations about the classroom. Write the observations on the board. Then add the heading: feelings. Allow students to express how the classroom makes them feel.
3. Use students' observations to model a descriptive paragraph about your classroom. Example: My favorite room is our classroom. There are colorful posters on the walls. I hear the buzzing of the lights. When I am in our classroom I feel happy.
Using the Student Printable (25 minutes)
4. Distribute copies of My Favorite Room Student Reproducible (PDF). Tell students that they will write about their favorite room. Have students close their eyes and think of their favorite room. Have them imagine themselves in that room. What does it look like? What colors do they see? Are there any pictures on the walls? What do they do in this room? How do they feel?
5. Have students open their eyes and fill out the worksheet with details about their favorite room.
6. When students are ready to write, remind them that the reader should be able to see, hear, taste, or smell what they are describing. The reader should also know how the writer feels about the room.
Colorful Extension Activity (20 minutes)
7. Have students separate into pairs. Have students read their partner's descriptive sentences and then draw a picture of the room based on what they read. Have them decorate the rooms they draw using markers. Answers will vary.