Where I Live by Frances Wolfe is one of those stories I share with kids often. The short text is full with wonderful language that describes this place without mentioning where it is until the very last page. The language is great to show students that authors not only use adjectives to describe, showing the importance of using vivid verbs and specific nouns.
When I share this book, I don't show the pictures. Yes, my students hate it...but I love it! I ask students to listen for words that really describe the place for them and they jot them on sticky notes as I read. By the end of the story all the students know where this place is without me reading the last page. It is then they get to see the pictures.
We create a chart where we sort the words they jotted into nouns/verbs/adjectives. Then they are challenged to describe a place so well, that others can guess it. As they finish, they share with the class. If after 2 guesses the class doesn't guess correctly, the writer has to go back to revise using more specific nouns, vivid verbs, or lucious adjectives. Those who have written well enough for the class to guess become the helpers to those who need to add more.
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