Lesson Ideas for Teaching Imagery
Writing is richest when it appeals directly to the senses, making imagery a topic well worth exploring when teaching students the ins and outs of composition. Imagery is by definition any writing that is intended to appeal directly to the senses. By teaching your students how to write imagery-rich pieces, you can improve the overall quality of their compositions and make the resulting written works engaging and descriptive.
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Activating Student Senses
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Get students excited about the study of imagery by starting with a hands-on sense-activating activity. Gather an assortment of flavorful things that students can eat, strong-smelling objects that they can sniff, uncommon sound effects for them to listen to, and texturally interesting things for them to feel. Divide your room into four stations, dedicating one to each of the four senses you will feature. When students arrive, give them sheets of paper divided into four quadrants and ask them to move through the stations, taking notes at each.
Sense Study
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Help your students develop their ability to write with sensory detail and create imagery of their own by engaging them in a sense study. Write the five senses on slips of paper, creating enough slips for each student to select one. When students arrive in class, have them each draw slips, randomly dividing them into four groups. Instruct students to complete a sense study at lunch time. Ask the students who drew sight to write down as many things that they can see during this period as possible, the students who drew sound to write down as many things as they can hear and so forth. When students return to class the next day, work as a group to combine each of the senses and create a piece with strong imagery that describes the lunch room.
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Imagery Sort
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Encourage students to think critically about imagery by creating an imagery sort. Prepare for this activity by writing out different pieces of imagery, focusing each on a specific sense. You could, for example, write "The smell of fresh-baked cookies filled the air with a delicious aroma." When students arrive in class, prepare them with the index cards and ask them to sort them based upon which senses they appeal to.
Color Coded Poetic Imagery
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Make finding poetic imagery a color-rich activity by engaging students in a color-coded poetic imagery activity. To prepare for this activity, find a poetic piece that contains imagery that appeals to all five senses. Give each student five highlighters, each of a different color and a copy of the poem. Ask the students to read through the poem and highlight the imagery, using a different color for each sense.
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