Descriptive writing is often used in conjunction with other styles of writing e.g.
The writer is setting out to create vivid pictures in the mind of the reader, therefore the language needs to
The descriptive writing will follow the style and process for the specific writing (e.g. narrative, report, recipe, recount) so the planning focus will be on developing the rich vocabulary that will create vivid imagery for the reader.
Some processes that might be useful in scaffolding this for the writer are:
Click the diagram to download this graphic
Online thesaurus:
Thesaurus.com
Wordsmyth
Merriam-Webster Thesaurus
Collins English Thesaurus
Brainstorming tools
Popplet web 2.0 tool and Popplet Lite iPad app (free)
Bubbl.us (free)
CMap Tools download (free)
Mindmeister (free trial only)
Inspiration, Kidspiration, My Webspiration (30 day free trial only)
Character tools
Inspiration has a template that may assist writers with thinking about their characters.
Finding pictures to observe
Google Images
Flickr
Check out the following exemplars on Literacy Online and TKI
Year 1 - My Chicken,
Year 2 - Cats
NZC Exemplars Level 1 ii My Mum Gives Me a Hug, Level 1 iii My Grandma has Curly Hair
Year 3 - Cheeky Charlie (character description)
NZC Exemplars Level 2 My Nana is so Small, Our Caretaker
Year 7 - My Room Makeover (has some descriptive sections)
NZC Exemplars Level 3 Dad has Green Eyes
NZC Exemplars Level 4 My Brother Kim, My Grandad Wears Slippers
NZC Exemplars Level 5 My Little Sister, The Memories of Nena Mahele Sietu
e-asTTle has specific exemplars for descriptive writing included on their Marking resources section in downloadable pdf format.