Ideas for Teaching Sensory Words
Sensory words describe how an object tastes, smells, sounds, feels or looks. Sensory words are important in writing because they make things described come to life. Teach your students sensory words and how to use them in their personal and academic writing with a few fun activities.
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Blindfolded Sensory Activity
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Most students will find it easy to use visual sensory words but may struggle to use the other senses in their writing. Provide a word bank of sensory words that describe touch, smell or sound. Gather together some ordinary objects; choose objects with interesting textures or smells, or objects that make sound. Blindfold students and invite them to touch or smell objects, and describe what they experience. Use sound-making objects and ask them to describe what they hear. After all the students have had a turn, discuss the new words learned through using their senses.
Sensory Words in Print
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Encourage students to find sensory words in the stories and poems they read. Read a story aloud to the class and ask them to raise their hands when they hear a sensory word. Write these words on the board and use context clues to find their meanings if necessary. Next, give students a story or poem to read on their own. Ask students to write down the sensory words that they find in the text and to use context clues and illustrations to discover their meanings.
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Sensory Taste Test
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Teach your students sensory words to describe taste by letting them try different foods. Set a variety of different foods on a table: choose foods that are easy to pick up and eat without the need for utensils, such as cut up fruit, crackers, cheese and other finger foods. Include a few foods that most students are not familiar with, such as olives or pomegranates. Place a stack of index cards and a small empty basket beside each food. Ask students to write down one word to describe each food and place it in the corresponding box. Encourage students to use words to describe the taste, smell, touch and even the sound the food makes as they eat or touch it. When this step is complete, tape several large sheets of paper on the board. Write the name of each food along the top then attach the cards describing that food below its name.
Fill-in-the-blank Sensory Poems and Stories
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Encourage students to use sensory words in their writing. Write a short story or a poem, leaving blanks for sensory words. Create a word bank with a wide variety of sensory words. Divide students into pairs or small groups and give each group a copy of the story and the word bank. Ask students to fill in the blanks with sensory words from the list. Ask each group to present their story to the class. Discuss how sensory words bring the story to life and make each story unique. To extend the lesson, ask students to illustrate their stories based on the sensory words they used.
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References
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