Show, Don’t Tell

Overview

Lesson 17 of 30 in Exploring Speculative Perspectives. Students explore how writers reveal emotions and actions through physical detail, dialogue, sensory description and purposeful word choice, then apply these techniques to a speculative fiction scene.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• distinguish between telling and showing in narrative writing
• identify techniques that reveal a character’s emotion or action indirectly
• revise simple statements into vivid, evidence-based descriptions
• create a short speculative fiction paragraph using controlled language choices

Success criteria

• I can explain the difference between showing and telling.
• I can use actions, dialogue, body language or sensory details to imply emotion.
• I can revise a general statement into a specific description.
• I can select details that suit a speculative setting and character.

Curriculum links

• Creating imaginative texts that draw on ideas, characters and settings from literature and other texts.
• Using language features, text structures and literary devices to shape meaning and engage readers.
• Analysing how authors represent characters, settings, emotions and perspectives.
• Reviewing and editing writing for clarity, cohesion, deliberate choices and impact.

Lesson structure (70 minutes)

1. 0–5 minutes – Hook and learning intention Open with the hook and learning intention slides. Display: “The robot was frightened.” Ask students what information is missing and invite two volunteers to act out the sentence without speaking. Briefly introduce the idea that strong writing gives readers clues rather than naming every feeling.

2. 5–15 minutes – Explicit teaching: telling versus showing Use the teaching slides to define telling as directly naming an emotion or action, and showing as revealing it through observable details. Model the contrast: “Mia was angry” becomes “Mia folded the message into a tiny square and pushed it across the table.” Identify the action, object and implied emotion. Emphasise that showing should remain clear; readers need enough evidence to make a reasonable inference.

3. 15–25 minutes – Guided analysis Display the examples on the guided analysis slides. In pairs of two, students label each sentence as mainly showing or telling and underline the clue that supports their decision. Discuss examples such as “The corridor was dangerous” and “The emergency lights flickered while something scraped the metal door.” Ask: What can the reader infer? Which details create tension? Clarify that dialogue, body language, sensory imagery, setting details and precise verbs can all show meaning.

4. 25–40 minutes – Revision workshop Distribute the show-don’t-tell revision worksheet. Students independently revise six telling sentences, including emotions such as nervousness, excitement and suspicion, and actions such as entering, hiding and refusing. Encourage students to use at least two techniques in each response. Pause halfway for students to share one successful revision with a partner, who identifies the implied emotion or action.

5. 40–55 minutes – Speculative writing task Open the writing task and prompt slides. Students write a 120–150 word scene beginning with: “When the signal appeared above the abandoned city, everyone stopped.” They must show one character’s emotion and one important action without naming either directly. Require at least three techniques: precise verbs, body language, dialogue, sensory detail or setting description. Students may plan briefly in the space provided on the worksheet before drafting.

6. 55–65 minutes – Peer response and editing Students exchange drafts with a partner. Using the checklist on the peer feedback section, readers identify one detail that clearly shows emotion, one detail that shows action and one place where the writer could replace a vague verb or adjective. Writers revise at least one sentence. With ten students, form five pairs and ask each pair to discuss feedback quietly and specifically.

7. 65–70 minutes – Plenary and exit response Return to the plenary slides and display: “Showing is better than telling.” Students decide whether they agree, disagree or partly agree, then justify their view with an example. Collect the worksheet or ask students to write one original “telling” sentence and its “showing” revision as their exit response.

Resources

• the complete lesson slide deck
• the show-don’t-tell revision worksheet
• Whiteboard and markers
• Student writing books or devices
• Pens or pencils
• Timer
• Optional dictionary or classroom word wall

Assessment

• Listen to pair explanations during analysis and check whether students can identify evidence that implies meaning.
• Review worksheet revisions for purposeful use of actions, dialogue, sensory details and precise verbs.
• Assess the final scene for clear implied emotion, shown action, speculative context and effective editing.

Differentiation

• Support students by providing an emotion bank with observable clues, such as avoiding eye contact, clenched fists, rapid breathing or a trembling voice.
• Allow EAL students to orally rehearse with a partner, use sentence starters and choose from illustrated or familiar speculative scenarios.
• Support students with additional needs by reducing the revision task to four sentences, chunking the writing prompt and providing a planning box for character, emotion, action and evidence.
• Extend confident writers by requiring them to show emotion through setting or symbolism, avoid emotion labels entirely and experiment with an unreliable narrator’s perspective.