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Now imagine that you have a pet dinosaur! How interesting!
Draw your pet dinosaur and give it a suitable name. Think carefully about its body shape, head, tail, colour and its eyes and mouth. Consider his facial expression and his feelings.
The name of my dinosaur: _____________
Describe your dinosaur, using as many descriptive adjectives as you can. Use the checklist to make sure you have thought of everything:
Checklist:
| my dinosaur: Have I described the dinosaur’s . . . | Tick |
| colour? | |
| body? | |
| tail? | |
| head? | |
| eyes? | |
| legs/feet/wings? | |
| facial expression? | |
| feelings? |
Now cover your picture with a piece of paper. Ask your friend to read your description and to draw the dinosaur that you are describing, in the box below. Then draw his/her dinosaur according to his/her description on his/her page.
Friend’s Name: _____________
Now compare the two drawings. Do they look anything alike?
Complete the rubric below to see how well you fared.
Educator and Peer Assessment Chart:
| Criteria | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| The original and final drawings | Are completely different | Have a little in common | Compare reasonably well | Compare very well |
| Details about size, shape, expression | Very little detail | Important details left out | Most details included | Described in great detail |
| Use of descriptive adjectives | Poor | Very little | Good | Excellent |
| LO 4 |
| WRITINGThe learner will be able to write different kinds of factual and imaginative texts for a wide range of purposes. |
| We know this when the learner: |
| 4.1 writes to communicate information; |
| 4.1.2 writes a description of a person, object or simple process; |
| 4.3 writes creatively: |
| 4.3.1 shows development in the ability to write stories, play scripts and dialogues; |
| 4.4 designs media texts: |
| 4.4.1 designs a poster, a simple advertisement and a simple questionnaire. |
This activity will require learners to use their imagination! They have to pretend that they also own a pet dinosaur. They must draw a picture of their dinosaur in the first block provided. Before allowing them to draw the picture, have a class discussion about what they should include in their drawing e.g. body shape, head, tail, colour, eyes and mouth. The dinosaur should also have a facial expression that communicates its feelings. In module One, we looked at how illustrators communicate information through their drawings. Remind the learners of this and discuss some examples: closed eyes = sleeping, big bulging eyes = fright, sparkling eyes = happy. Make sure that the learners understand that they will have to describe their dinosaur in the next part of the activity so they must draw things that they will be able to describe!
Once the dinosaur has been drawn and coloured-in, allow learners to give their dinosaur a name.
In the next part of the activity, learners must describe every detail of their dinosaur in the block provided. Ensure that they have a good understanding of descriptive adjectives before they start. Draw the learners’ attention to the checklist that has been provided. They may tick off each item as they describe it.
Once the description is complete, divide the class into partners. Allow learners to cover the drawing of their dinosaur with another piece of paper. The learners will then swap books with their partner. They must write their name in the space provided and read the description of the dinosaur. Once they have read through the description a few times and have formed a picture of the dinosaur in their heads, they must draw the dinosaur in the block provided. Once they have both completed their drawings, they can give the book back to their partner. Learners must then compare the two drawings to see how accurate their partner has been in interpreting their description.
The learners and the educator can complete the Assessment Chart in this activity.
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This work is licensed by Siyavula Uploaders under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 3.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.
Last edited by Siyavula Uploaders on May 2, 2009 9:31 am GMT-5.
