Descriptive Writing — Show, Don't Tell | Free Narrative Writing Lesson for Kids

Press play and teach a complete "show, don't tell" writing lesson — no prep required. In this free mini-lesson, students learn how writers make a reader FEEL an emotion without ever naming it, then use precise verbs to bring their own story writing to life. FREE printables available at - https://writingworkshoplibrary.com/ Made by an experienced classroom teacher and designed for upper primary / elementary writers (approx. Grades 3–6) as a whole-class lesson. Just press play, pause when prompted, and let your students do the thinking. 🎯 In this lesson students will: • Notice a writer's craft choice and explain what it does • Identify words and phrases that create movement, mood and emotion • Turn "telling" sentences ("Tom was scared") into "showing" sentences ("Tom's heart pounded") • Read like a writer — "What did the writer do? What did it do to me?" • Use the Body–Action–Voice strategy to show a character's feelings • Add a show-don't-tell moment to their own narrative 📄 FREE resources for this lesson: • Student worksheets (sentence transformer + planning page) • Teacher support notes • Mentor text: "An Unlikely Hero" Alternatively, download everything free 👉 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/S... 📚 This is Lesson 2 in the Writing Workshop Library narrative series. Watch Lesson 1 (story planning) first:    • Read Like a Writer | No-Prep Video Writing...   Watch Lesson 3 NEXT -    • How to Build Suspense in Narrative Writing...   ⏱️ Timestamps (approx.) 0:00 Welcome & today's writing goal 0:34 Recap: our mentor text (An Unlikely Hero) 0:50 "Tom was scared" vs. "Tom's heart pounded" 1:31 Show, don't tell — my favourite writer move 1:39 Get set up: your character & story idea from Lesson 1 2:37 Story structure recap: Beginning • Problem • Resolution 3:29 Rising action & climax (the roller-coaster feeling) 4:37 Spotting rising action & climax in An Unlikely Hero 5:19 Put your "writing glasses" on: reading like a writer 5:52 Two questions: What did the writer do? What did it do to me? 6:25 Watch me notice: "The cool breeze rustled the trees…" 7:29 "Tom was scared" vs. "Tom's heart pounded" — which one do you feel? 8:00 Show AND tell: using both on purpose 8:27 Brain Break: Show Me the Emotion 10:11 Notice: "Branches whipped past his face…" 11:19 Turn and Talk 12:03 Your task: swap weak verbs for precise verbs 12:50 Example: turning "Mia was nervous" into showing 14:06 Add a show-don't-tell moment to your own story 16:03 Labelled sketch: Body • Action • Voice 16:42 Off you go, writers! 👩‍🏫 How to use this in your classroom: Play the video to your whole class. There are natural pause points for setting up, turn-and-talks and independent writing. Hand out the matching worksheet, then have students apply the skill to the story they planned in Lesson 1. 🔔 Subscribe for a new free writing mini-lesson coming soon...