Help your students identify descriptive and figurative language in narrative texts with this set of colour-coding worksheets.
Identify Descriptive Language in Context
It is one thing for our students to understand the meaning of grammar-related terms such as verbs, adverbs, nouns and adjectives. It is another thing altogether to be able to identify these key grammatical elements in context!
This set of three worksheets has been designed to help your students identify descriptive and figurative language features in age-appropriate imaginative texts. Students must read the three narrative texts provided, then identify and colour-code the descriptive and figurative language features. These include verbs, adverbs, adjectives, direct speech, onomatopoeia and emotive phrases.
The texts included are:
- The Thunderstorm
- The Forest Path
- The Park
Answers for teachers are also provided.
Tips for Scaffolding and Extension
We understand that there is a huge range of diverse learning abilities in any classroom and that catering to every child’s needs is never easy! Here are some suggestions for catering to both above- and below-level learners while implementing this resource:
Pre-teach the Lingo
Before working on the worksheets, pre-teach (or re-teach) key vocabulary with your students. Students will need to have a firm understanding of what verbs, adverbs, nouns and adjectives are before attempting the worksheets. Should some students need a reminder, refer them to your classroom grammar display for assistance.
Create Your Own
Challenge fast finishers or students requiring an extension to create their own short narrative, ensuring it includes descriptive elements such as those in the worksheets. Have them choose certain elements to be colour-coded. Once complete, have students swap their texts to be colour-coded by a partner.
Download the File Format That Suits You
Use the dropdown arrow next to the Download button to choose between the Google Slides or PDF version of this resource.
Because this resource includes an answer sheet, we recommend you print one copy of the entire file. Then, make photocopies of the blank worksheets for students to complete.
Additionally, project the worksheets onto a screen and work through them as a class for a paperless lesson!
I would love to see a Google Slides version of this, just to cut down on paper usage. I know a few of your activities have Slides options now, and I think they are really great to add to Google Classroom.
Hi Lisa, Thank you so much for your comment! We appreciate any feedback that helps make our resources even better! So we can keep all of our suggestions together, please submit a change suggestion to this resource using the ‘Suggest a Change’ tab above the comments section. Thanks again!
I really really like these activities but I think they would be enhanced if each colour had a specific meaning eg: green was only used for verbs, red is only used for noun related concepts, etc This way the students will retain an understanding from one sheet to the next.
That's a really good idea, Casey. Thank you for the suggestion!