Skip to content
Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy
Teachers
Pupils
icon-background-square
New
New
Year 7

Using vocabulary choices, similes, and metaphors to plan descriptive writing

I can create a plan for a piece of effective descriptive writing based on an image using vocabulary choices, similes and metaphors for effect.

Download all resources
arrow-right
Share activities with pupils
arrow-right
icon-background-square
New
New
Year 7

Using vocabulary choices, similes, and metaphors to plan descriptive writing

I can create a plan for a piece of effective descriptive writing based on an image using vocabulary choices, similes and metaphors for effect.

Download all resources
arrow-right
Share activities with pupils
arrow-right
warning

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
View new resources
arrow-right

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Planning before you write will support you to demonstrate skill in key areas and ensure your piece is cohesive.
  2. Supporting details describe the focus of each paragraph in more detail – using sensory detail (at least 3 senses).
  3. Similes and metaphors are effective in descriptive writing because they help the reader to picture the scene.
  4. Choose verbs or adjectives that work together to create an overall atmosphere.

Keywords

  • Plan - A set of actions that have been thought of as a way to do or achieve something.

  • Atmosphere - The feeling or sense evoked by an environment or setting.

  • Descriptive - Describing something in an interesting and detailed way.

  • Evoke - To bring (a memory, feeling, image, etc.) into the mind.

  • Mood - The general feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates within the reader.

Common misconception

That there is a set formula to follow when it comes to choosing what to focus on in an image.

When looking at an image for descriptive writing, you should think about what catches your eye and then focus on those elements.


To help you plan your year 7 english lesson on: Using vocabulary choices, similes, and metaphors to plan descriptive writing, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

You could ask pupils to share their mind-maps around the image to show that everyone has different inspirations when it comes to descriptive writing.
speech-bubble
Teacher tip
copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

Skip lesson video

Loading...

Starter quiz

Download starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
What is an adjective?
the person, place or thing that is doing the action
a being, having or doing word
Correct answer: a word that describes or modifies a noun
Q2.
What emotion does the adjective 'delightful' suggest?
Correct answer: positive
negative
neutral
Q3.
What is a plan?
when you go back and improve and edit your writing
Correct answer: when you think about how you're going to do your writing
when you read someone else's writing and offer suggestions
Q4.
What is a simile?
where you give human characteristics to non-human things
Correct answer: where you create a comparison using 'like' or 'as'
where you create a comparison by saying something is something else
Q5.
Which of the following is a metaphor?
Her hands were as rough as sandpaper.
Correct answer: The towers were sentinels.
The moon chuckled wryly to itself.
Q6.
Writing that describes something in an interesting and detailed way is called writing.
Correct Answer: descriptive, Descriptive, descriptive., Descriptive.

Exit quiz

Download exit quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
What is the mood of a text?
Correct answer: The general feeling that a writer creates.
The amount of linguistic devices a writer uses.
The way a writer chooses to open and close a text.
Q2.
What emotion does the adjective 'intimidating' create?
Positive
Correct answer: Negative
Neutral
Q3.
What is the atmosphere of a text?
Correct answer: The feeling or sense created by an environment or setting.
Where the first line mirrors the closing line of a text.
Where the writer uses negative adjectives to create an unsettling effect.
Q4.
To bring (a memory, feeling, image, etc.) into the mind is to something.
Correct answer: evoke
discourage
suspect
emote
Q5.
Starting with the first, place the steps to create a simile in chronological order.
1 - Decide on mood
2 - Take an object form the scene and add an adjective
3 - Find something to compare it to that fits with the mood
Q6.
Why might similes and metaphors be effective in descriptive writing?
Correct answer: They can make the abstract more familiar.
They add ambitious vocabulary to your writing.
They add ambitious punctuation to your writing.
They can make the abstract less familiar.