We started off our first meeting focusing on writing fabulous sentences loaded with detail. We talked about how adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases describing where and when can turn a boring sentence into an exciting one. The following week, the students worked on putting many detailed sentences into paragraphs to describe in the greatest detail a snowman they had drawn. The Snowman Draw Game works like this:
1. Draw a snowman complete with background and clothing.
2. Write a description of your picture so thorough and vivid, that when someone else reads it, they can picture your snowman perfectly. Every sentence should mention size, shape, color, and number!
3. Trade descriptions with a partner.
4. Attempt to draw your partner's snowman. If they are twins, you did a great job!
Adjectives, adjectives, adjectives! They can tell size, shape, color, number, and personality. I encouraged the students to write every sentence with these concepts in mind.
Winners of the game would win candy and blog honors, so here they are!
This first drawing and writing piece was done by Ashley (3rd grade). She uses so many "color" adjectives that her partner Sophia (3rd grade) draws a great match!
My snowman has three body parts. One is small, one is medium, and one is big.
My snowman has a top hat with yellow with a pink belt on it. He has pink glasses and a short carrot nose. He has two coal eyes and five pieces of coal for a mouth.
He wears a magenta vest with magenta round buttons. He has a black belt and black boots.
The background has a Christmas tree with six blue balls and black tinsel. There are ten snowballs and a house with five windows with yellow in them. The house is blue with an orange roof and has a chimney with smoke coming out.
This next picture and description was done by Brandon (4th grade). Brandon did an amazing job with his adjectives-- so great that his partner Henry (5th grade) drew a practical twin!
My snowman is evil and cunning. It has a medium head, a white big body, and a really big bottom. It has red fiery arms the shape of a straight branch. They have a dull ending with no fingers. It has a trident with blood red tips and a white shaft. It holds nothing in its other hand, and has the same color and size as the other hand.
It has bright orange wings extending from the middle of its body. The wings are large with a sharp wavy shape and a crescent bottom.
I forgot to tell you that the head has two red small devil horns and two round medium eyes with red fire blazing in them. It has a red and orange pointy short nose. It also has a bright orange tail extending from its bottom. It has a red arrow shape at the end.
It has two fluffy clouds with yellow lightning extending from them.
Emma (5th grade) focused on a detailed background, but described it so vividly that her partner Sophie (5th grade) got every detail right (except the sun.... but it was still really good!) Size difference didn't matter as much as accuracy with other details. Emma organized her paper very clearly!
My Background
In the middle of the picture is a mountain. The mountain is light brown except for its wavy snow cap. Behind the mountain are two others; both take up half the page. The mountains are the same as the first. Also, all of them are outlined in black. There are seventeen snowflakes falling that are blue. The sun is yellow but it's a half sun. It's on the snowman's left.
My Snowman
My snowman is right on top of the middle mountain. The snowman is small. The bottom ball is large, the middle is medium, and right on the top is a small ball. All three of the snowballs are light blue.
Snowman's Details
On top of the small snowman's ball are three tiny hairs that are brown. My snowman has black sunglasses with an orange carrot nose, regular shaped. Also between the middle and small ball is a purple bow tie. In the middle are three black dots that are horizontal.
Go from beginning to end or you will fail!
Savannah (5th grade) came up with a very clever design and described it very accurately. This is Savannah's fifth Writers' Workshop, so she has really mastered how to get her partner to draw her snowman's twin! Notice how she includes measurements to get Abby (4th grade) to draw her masterpiece.
My Snowbot is in the shape of a robot. His head is exactly six centimeters long and four centimeters high. His head is gray and he has a simple smile just off center. He has two eyes that are right next to each other, touching. Each eye is one centimeter long. His eyes are square. Inside the eyes, there is one triangle per eye and the triangles have a flat top, not a point. His eyes are just off center, in line with his mouth. His eyes are off center to the left (same as the mouth.) In his eyes, there are two vertical lines.
The snowbot's neck is 1/2 centimeter long. He is sporting a v-neck tee-shirt that is an orchid color. The sleeve of his shirt is three centimeters long. He is wearing mini shorts that are one centimeter long, and his shorts are salmon colored. His legs are two centimeters long and are gray. His shoes are 1/2 centimeter long and 1/2 centimeter tall. His hands are 3 1/2 centimeters long and 1/2 centimeter tall. They are gray. His shoes are orchid colored.
