Teachers’

Workshops
2020

Handout for Teachers

 Session outcomes

• Using RAFT for descriptive writing

• Unusual introductions – ideas to prompt students

• Emotive language – evoking feeling, ensuring the desired impact

on the reader

• Rhetorical questions – what is their purpose and how are they

used?
19

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•
•
•
•

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2

Examples of writing techniques

Sunshine

The April sun, weak but determined, shone through a castle

window and from there squeezed itself through a small hole in the
wall and placed one golden finger on the little mouse

The Tale of Despereaux

Kate Dicamillo

Look out for language techniques

On a cold, dark, December

night, the children gathered
around the raging bonfire. Its
warmth protected them like a
cozy blanket. They roasted
delicious marshmallows that
smelt divine. The children
chatted excitedly, as the
wolves howled in the distance,
reminding them that they were
on an adventure in the wild.
8

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2

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 4

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 5
3

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6

Pre-work for descriptive writing

RAFT
Use higher-order
thinking questions
Role: what will the writer
(HOTS)
be? A bird on a tree? A
homeless person? A
toddler?
Awareness of readers
Audience: who are you
writing for?

Format: is it a letter, Structure and

speech, poem, diary? organization

Topic: use visuals or

verbs as prompts
20

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4

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8

Describing a festival

Use sensory imagery to make your point and use patterns to develop
detail:
The spirit of fun and hospitality lights up the city of Lahore during
the Basant festival. Colourful kites are seen grazing the skies, the
smell of fresh Bar-B-Que emanates from the roofs of families and
friends who gather for an evening of laughter and chatter to
welcome Spring. Countless shimmering lights line the houses and
buildings. There is optimism in the air, with children singing age-old
songs of love and hope. Basant evenings in Lahore borrow from a
tradition that is as old as time itself, manifesting the collective
human experience that keeps us all looking forward to the days to
23 come.

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10

Makes a point

Introduces a
topic

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12

Example – how many language

techniques can you point out?

Aloo hastened her steps. She felt dizzy, nervous and panicky. It
looked as though the earth under her feet was racing like the angry
clouds above. The slimy snake slithered and slid towards her at a
maddening pace. Who would’ve thought Aloo’s morning would turn
out this way? She imagined herself fighting for her life, gasping for
every breath.

30

Test Yourself!

Incorrect descriptions:

‘Entering the war zone that I had to write about, my stomach

churned at the rank smell in the air.’

‘Scattering in a million directions, Aliaa bent to scoop up all her Eid

candy.’

34

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 ‘As I entered the war zone that I had to write about, my stomach
churned at the rank smell in the air.’ 13

‘As I entered the war zone that I had to write about, my stomach
churned at the rank smell in the air.’
‘Aliaa bent to scoop up all the Eid candy that had scattered in a
million directions.’

35

‘Aliaa bent to scoop up all the Eid candy that had scattered in a
million directions.’

35

Recap
Remind students to evaluate themselves and their peers using the following:
• Strong adjectives and adverbs – avoid general words such as good, nice, bad
• Avoid clichés – have you begun with an©unusual Oxford University Press, 2020
or unexpected introduction?
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• Use sensory details – have you brought ©inOxford
all five senses?
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• Emotive language – how well have you used feelings to engage the reader?
• Figurative language – have you used similes, metaphors, personification etc?
• Rhetorical questions and hyperbole – what impact/effect do these achieve?
• Conclusion – did you leave the reader with a thought-provoking comment?

References:
Santa, C., Havens, L., & Valdes, B. (2004). Project CRISS: Creating Independence through
Student-owned Strategies. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
Dean, Deborah. (2006). Strategic Writing: The Writing Process and Beyond in the Secondary
English Classroom. Urbana, IL: NCTE

Websites:
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