Describing Objects

I forgot about this activity but Susan a prior paraprofessional reminded me. With a small group choose an object something highly common such as a pencil, straw, coin, shirt, paper, desk, TV, couch, etc. Then as a group you come up with ways to describe the object. For example if you chose pencil your list might look something like this: yellow, hard, 5 sides, made of wood, metal, rubber, & lead, sharp, can be colorful, 8" long, used everyday in school, used by students and teachers, helps you complete your work, it becomes shorter the more you use it, it can break, etc. Your task as the adult is to help them through the process. When they say something like the pencils are yellow, write it down but ask are all pencils yellow. This will lead to more clues. Ask the students where and when the items are used. Ask who would use the items. If they become stuck start demonstrating/pantomime different tasks with the items. The pencil is hard so tap it on the board, poke yourself lightly with the sharp end, these will help them generate the language to add to your list. Once the list is complete then pull someone in who was not a part of the group and give them clues. You can have them written on the boards or the students could say them independently or with prompting. If the person is able to tell you what the item is then you did a great job. Describing objects can be challenging because many times students only cover color and texture. This is a way to have them dig deeper. You can bring in things like bigger or smaller than, heavier or lighter than, or other opposites.