Building Characters with Describing Words
Learning about adjectives and noun groups Year 1 English Creating vivid character descriptions
What Am I? Mystery Character #1
I am thinking of a character who is old, frail, and mysterious. He has a long, curly, silver beard. His robes are tattered and midnight-blue. His eyes are bright and twinkly. What am I?
What Am I? Mystery Object #1
I am thinking of something wonderful and magical. I am tall and black and velvety. I spin and swirl through the air. I am old and dusty but full of surprises. What am I?
What Am I? Mystery Character #2
I am thinking of a character who is small and curious. She has bright, wide eyes and messy red hair. She is brave and adventurous. What am I?
What Are Adjectives?
Adjectives are describing words They tell us more about people, places, and things Examples: big, small, red, happy, scary, soft They help us paint pictures with words
Nouns and Noun Groups
A noun is a naming word (person, place, or thing) A noun group is a noun with describing words Example: hat → magical black hat The describing words make the noun more interesting!
Building Noun Groups: Example 1
Plain: a hat Built up: a tall, velvety, swirling black hat In a sentence: 'A tall, velvety, swirling black hat floated down the street.'
Building Noun Groups: Example 2
Plain: the man Built up: the old, mysterious, silver-bearded man In a sentence: 'The old, mysterious, silver-bearded man lifted the hat gently.'
Your Turn: Create Noun Groups
Choose a simple noun: cat, dog, house, car Add 2-3 describing words Put it in a sentence Share with a partner!
Share Your Characters!
Read your sentence aloud Can we picture your character? What describing words helped the most? Let's celebrate our amazing writers!