Activity 01
Pairs Rewrite Relay: Tell to Show
Provide pairs with 5-6 telling sentences about emotions. Each partner rewrites one using actions or senses, then switches to improve the other's. Pairs share top rewrites with the class for quick votes on most vivid.
Explain how showing a character's fear is more impactful than stating 'he was scared'.
Facilitation TipDuring Pairs Rewrite Relay, pair stronger writers with those who need more support to model concise yet revealing details.
What to look forProvide students with two short paragraphs describing the same event. One paragraph 'tells' the emotion, the other 'shows' it. Ask students to circle the paragraph that uses 'showing' and write one sentence explaining why it is more effective.
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Activity 02
Small Groups Scene Design: Silent Emotions
Groups draw an emotion card and design a 1-minute scene using only actions and dialogue, no naming the feeling. They rehearse, perform for the class, and class guesses the emotion. Discuss what made it effective.
Design a scene that conveys emotion without explicitly naming it.
Facilitation TipFor Small Groups Scene Design, provide emotion cards with adjectives like ‘nervous’ or ‘proud’ to help students focus on indirect expression before crafting scenes.
What to look forPresent students with a sentence like 'She was excited.' Ask them to write down three specific actions or sensory details that would 'show' this excitement instead of telling it.
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Activity 03
Whole Class Critique Walk: Spot and Fix
Display 8 mixed telling/showing excerpts on walls or slides. Class walks around in a guided tour, noting examples and suggesting show improvements on sticky notes. Debrief as a group on patterns.
Critique examples of writing to identify instances of 'telling' versus 'showing'.
Facilitation TipIn Whole Class Critique Walk, post anchor charts with examples of ‘telling’ versus ‘showing’ so students can reference them while reviewing peers’ work.
What to look forStudents swap short narrative paragraphs they have written. They look for one instance of 'telling' and suggest a 'showing' alternative. They write their suggestion on a sticky note and attach it to their partner's work.
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Activity 04
Individual Sensory Swap: Personal Stories
Students select a telling sentence from their draft, rewrite it with multi-sensory details. They illustrate it briefly, then share one with a partner for feedback before revising further.
Explain how showing a character's fear is more impactful than stating 'he was scared'.
What to look forProvide students with two short paragraphs describing the same event. One paragraph 'tells' the emotion, the other 'shows' it. Ask students to circle the paragraph that uses 'showing' and write one sentence explaining why it is more effective.
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Generate Complete Lesson→A few notes on teaching this unit
Teach this skill through repeated practice and comparison rather than lecture. Model how to ‘show’ by thinking aloud as you revise a bland sentence, selecting the most striking detail. Avoid overloading students with long lists of techniques—instead, focus on one or two powerful examples per session to build confidence and precision.
Students will replace vague statements with precise details that reveal emotion, setting, and action through actions, dialogue, and sensory language. Their writing will become more vivid and engaging as they rely less on direct statements.
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
During Pairs Rewrite Relay, watch for students who add extra words to ‘show’ rather than choosing precise details.
Have both students count the words in their rewritten sentences and compare them to the original, noting that fewer words with stronger details often work better.
During Small Groups Scene Design, watch for students who describe emotions directly within the scene.
Ask groups to remove any emotion words from their scenes and instead rely solely on actions or dialogue to convey feelings.
During Whole Class Critique Walk, watch for students who focus only on grammar rather than the effectiveness of details.
Guide students to circle the most revealing detail in each example and explain how it makes the reader feel or see the scene more clearly.
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