Now in its fully updated fourth edition, the bestselling Descriptosaurus continues to help improve students' creative writing, confidence and facility with sentence construction.
It provides young writers with a language toolkit with which to expand their descriptive vocabulary, experiment with language and sentence structure and build up narratives based around settings, characters and creatures. Its inspiring, original and proven approach encourages use of the correct grammatical structures, and helps children add colour to their writing through evaluation and experimentation.
This expanded edition has been tailored to the needs of children aged 9-12. It includes new vocabulary for non-fiction topics such as volcanoes, mountains and caves and an additional chapter to cover the popular primary topic of cold climates and polar exploration. Also new guidance is provided on how word clines can be used to expand vocabulary and explore shades of meaning and new tools provided to support the teaching of sentence construction using imitation, combining and expansion techniques.
Accompanied by Instructor and Student Resources containing all the games, planning sheets and vocabulary builders from the book, it is written for English teachers, literacy coordinators and PGCE students, particularly Primary PGCE with English specialism.
By:
Alison Wilcox (School writer and researcher UK)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: 4th edition
Dimensions:
Height: 297mm,
Width: 210mm,
Weight: 1.380kg
ISBN: 9781032707716
ISBN 10: 1032707712
Pages: 358
Publication Date: 22 December 2023
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
ELT Advanced
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Dedication Acknowledgements Preface Introduction How to use this book PART 1 – SETTINGS Landscapes CHAPTER 1 Woods, forests, jungles and rainforests CHAPTER 2 Mountains CHAPTER 3 Caves CHAPTER 4 Beaches, islands and deserts CHAPTER 5 Cold Climates CHAPTER 6 Ground and paths CHAPTER 7 Streams, rivers, lakes and waterfalls CHAPTER 8 Sea and waves SETTLEMENTS CHAPTER 9 Cities, towns and villages CHAPTER 10 Roads CHAPTER 11 Gardens CHAPTER 12 Buildings CHAPTER 13 Doors, halls, corridors and stairs CHAPTER 14 Rooms ATMOSPHERE CHAPTER 15 Dawn and dusk CHAPTER 16 Seasons CHAPTER 17 Rain, mist and fog CHAPTER 18 Wind, thunder and lightning CHAPTER 19 Smell and touch CHAPTER 20 Sound PART 2 – CHARACTERS APPEARANCE CHAPTER 21 Age, height and shape CHAPTER 22 Face CHAPTER 23 Eyes CHAPTER 24 Mouth, teeth, nose and ears CHAPTER 25 Hands and fingers CHAPTER 26 Hair and facial hair CHAPTER 27 Clothes CHAPTER 28 Voice EMOTIONS & PERSONALITY CHAPTER 29 Excited, happy CHAPTER 30 Concentrating, determined CHAPTER 31 Sympathetic, caring CHAPTER 32 Relieved CHAPTER 33 Angry, irritated, aggressive, impatient CHAPTER 34 Cold, evil, arrogant, sly CHAPTER 35 Frightened, timid CHAPTER 36 Nervous, embarrassed, shy CHAPTER 37 Sad, miserable CHAPTER 38 Tired CHAPTER 39 Pain PART 3 – CREATURES CHAPTER 40 Parts, size, shape, colour and covering CHAPTER 41 Head CHAPTER 42 Eyes CHAPTER 43 Arms and legs CHAPTER 44 Wings and tails CHAPTER 45 Smell and sound CHAPTER 46 Movement CHAPTER 47 Habitat CHAPTER 48 Abilities and actions CHAPTER 49 Weapons and destruction PART 4 – GRAMMAR IN A CREATIVE CONTEXT SECTION 1 WORDS CHAPTER 50 Word Classes Classification CHAPTER 51 Word Classes Summary Table CHAPTER 52 Word Clines (Shades of Meaning) CHAPTER 53 Adverbs SECTION 2 PHRASES AND CLAUSES CHAPTER 54 Subject and predicate CHAPTER 55 Grammar tools CHAPTER 56 What each craft tool adds to a sentence CHAPTER 57 Poetry CHAPTER 58 Connecting sentences, paragraphs, scenes SECTION 3 SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION CHAPTER 59 Sentence construction investigations CHAPTER 60 Sentence imitation CHAPTER 61 Sentence combining CHAPTER 62 Sentence combining Poetry CHAPTER 63 Summarising Non-fiction texts CHAPTER 64 Creating a sentence combining exercise CHAPTER 65 De-combining to correct errors and confused constructions CHAPTER 66 Sentence expansion CHAPTER 67 Modelled sentences CHAPTER 68 How to build an action scene CHAPTER 69 Sentence Combining: SCIR – The Wolf Bibliography
Alison Wilcox has extensive teaching experience in schools in England and Scotland. Colleagues describe her methods as ‘innovative and inspirational to even the most reluctant of writers'.
Reviews for Descriptosaurus: A Language Toolkit and Support for Creative Writing Ages 9 to 12
"Reviews from previous editions: ‘This book is a treasure trove of descriptive language… Highly recommended for both teachers and parents. I wish I’d had a copy of this book when I was a full time English teacher! Invest in a copy today; you’ll be glad you did.’ Sue Cowley, bestselling author, teacher and teacher trainer ‘Help to banish ""blank page syndrome"" forever, with this innovative book… Created by teacher, Alison Wilcox, this inspirational book will build children’s confidence in their writing ability.’ Literacy Times Plus ‘A real ""godsend"" to hard-pressed teachers, parents and pupils.’ Denis Hayes, author of Foundations of Primary Teaching ‘…perfect for the modern day classroom… fantastic!’ Emma Palastanga, primary deputy head ‘The… book/CD will be so helpful to teachers who are struggling to think of different ways to say things and will enhance their planning and teaching. As a classroom resource it will be invaluable.’ Elaine Smitheman, primary school teacher"
