4th Edition
Descriptosaurus A Language Toolkit and Support for Creative Writing Ages 9 to 12
Now in its fully updated fourth edition, the bestselling Descriptosaurus continues to help improve students' creative writing, confidence and facility with sentence construction.
It provides young writers with a language toolkit with which to expand their descriptive vocabulary, experiment with language and sentence structure and build up narratives based around settings, characters and creatures. Its inspiring, original and proven approach encourages use of the correct grammatical structures, and helps children add colour to their writing through evaluation and experimentation.
This expanded edition has been tailored to the needs of children aged 9-12. It includes new vocabulary for non-fiction topics such as volcanoes, mountains and caves and an additional chapter to cover the popular primary topic of cold climates and polar exploration. Also new guidance is provided on how word clines can be used to expand vocabulary and explore shades of meaning and new tools provided to support the teaching of sentence construction using imitation, combining and expansion techniques.
Accompanied by Instructor and Student Resources containing all the games, planning sheets and vocabulary builders from the book, it is written for English teachers, literacy coordinators and PGCE students, particularly Primary PGCE with English specialism.
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
How to use this book
PART 1 – SETTINGS
Landscapes
CHAPTER 1 Woods, forests, jungles and rainforests
CHAPTER 2 Mountains
CHAPTER 3 Caves
CHAPTER 4 Beaches, islands and deserts
CHAPTER 5 Cold Climates
CHAPTER 6 Ground and paths
CHAPTER 7 Streams, rivers, lakes and waterfalls
CHAPTER 8 Sea and waves
SETTLEMENTS
CHAPTER 9 Cities, towns and villages
CHAPTER 10 Roads
CHAPTER 11 Gardens
CHAPTER 12 Buildings
CHAPTER 13 Doors, halls, corridors and stairs
CHAPTER 14 Rooms
ATMOSPHERE
CHAPTER 15 Dawn and dusk
CHAPTER 16 Seasons
CHAPTER 17 Rain, mist and fog
CHAPTER 18 Wind, thunder and lightning
CHAPTER 19 Smell and touch
CHAPTER 20 Sound
PART 2 – CHARACTERS
APPEARANCE
CHAPTER 21 Age, height and shape
CHAPTER 22 Face
CHAPTER 23 Eyes
CHAPTER 24 Mouth, teeth, nose and ears
CHAPTER 25 Hands and fingers
CHAPTER 26 Hair and facial hair
CHAPTER 27 Clothes
CHAPTER 28 Voice
EMOTIONS & PERSONALITY
CHAPTER 29 Excited, happy
CHAPTER 30 Concentrating, determined
CHAPTER 31 Sympathetic, caring
CHAPTER 32 Relieved
CHAPTER 33 Angry, irritated, aggressive, impatient
CHAPTER 34 Cold, evil, arrogant, sly
CHAPTER 35 Frightened, timid
CHAPTER 36 Nervous, embarrassed, shy
CHAPTER 37 Sad, miserable
CHAPTER 38 Tired
CHAPTER 39 Pain
PART 3 – CREATURES
CHAPTER 40 Parts, size, shape, colour and covering
CHAPTER 41 Head
CHAPTER 42 Eyes
CHAPTER 43 Arms and legs
CHAPTER 44 Wings and tails
CHAPTER 45 Smell and sound
CHAPTER 46 Movement
CHAPTER 47 Habitat
CHAPTER 48 Abilities and actions
CHAPTER 49 Weapons and destruction
PART 4 – GRAMMAR IN A CREATIVE CONTEXT
SECTION 1 WORDS
CHAPTER 50 Word Classes Classification
CHAPTER 51 Word Classes Summary Table
CHAPTER 52 Word Clines (Shades of Meaning)
CHAPTER 53 Adverbs
SECTION 2 PHRASES AND CLAUSES
CHAPTER 54 Subject and predicate
CHAPTER 55 Grammar tools
CHAPTER 56 What each craft tool adds to a sentence
CHAPTER 57 Poetry
CHAPTER 58 Connecting sentences, paragraphs, scenes
SECTION 3 SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION
CHAPTER 59 Sentence construction investigations
CHAPTER 60 Sentence imitation
CHAPTER 61 Sentence combining
CHAPTER 62 Sentence combining Poetry
CHAPTER 63 Summarising Non-fiction texts
CHAPTER 64 Creating a sentence combining exercise
CHAPTER 65 De-combining to correct errors and confused constructions
CHAPTER 66 Sentence expansion
CHAPTER 67 Modelled sentences
CHAPTER 68 How to build an action scene
CHAPTER 69 Sentence Combining: SCIR – The Wolf
Bibliography
Biography
Alison Wilcox has extensive teaching experience in schools in England and Scotland. Colleagues describe her methods as ‘innovative and inspirational to even the most reluctant of writers'.
Reviews from previous editions:
‘This book is a treasure trove of descriptive language… Highly recommended for both teachers and parents. I wish I’d had a copy of this book when I was a full time English teacher! Invest in a copy today; you’ll be glad you did.’
Sue Cowley, bestselling author, teacher and teacher trainer
‘Help to banish "blank page syndrome" forever, with this innovative book… Created by teacher, Alison Wilcox, this inspirational book will build children’s confidence in their writing ability.’
Literacy Times Plus
‘A real "godsend" to hard-pressed teachers, parents and pupils.’
Denis Hayes, author of Foundations of Primary Teaching
‘…perfect for the modern day classroom… fantastic!’
Emma Palastanga, primary deputy head
‘The… book/CD will be so helpful to teachers who are struggling to think of different ways to say things and will enhance their planning and teaching. As a classroom resource it will be invaluable.’
Elaine Smitheman, primary school teacher
