ABSTRACT
Have you ever read a narrative and pictured yourself in the middle of the story, seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting the same things as the characters? Narrative writers create these experiences for their readers by using sensory details, a concept identified as important by Common Core State Writing Standards W.4.3.D, W.5.3.D, W.6.3.D, W.7.3.D, and W.8.3.D. In this chapter, we’ll examine: what “creating sensory details” means; why this writing tool is important to strong narrative writing; a description of a lesson on this concept; and specific suggestions for helping your students create sensory details in their own narratives. In addition, we’ll look at ways published authors include sensory details in their works and discuss what makes those examples especially effective.
