I have quite a few friends working on describing these days. I start with the EET, which is absolutely fantastic in laying a foundation for what information can be used to describe and talk about objects. My kids can tell me what each bead stands for all on their own, they know what type of information each section wants, but when it comes to putting it together they fall apart. I needed something that would help them keep track of what they have already told me and what areas they were having trouble with.
I give to you… Gumball Describing! Students can use something as simple as placing a gumball in the correct machine, to keep track of the information they have given and help you see if they still need to work on understanding some areas.
There are 5 gumball machines with different components that can be in a description. Students get a bunch of gumball cards. Depending on your group that should be at least 10 per student. Students can pick an object card to describe.
As they start to describe the object, they put a gumball in the machine that goes with the information they just gave. I have my kids give me information from at least 3 different machines. When they are done, they can place the object card in the Discard Pile.
There are also some Do-A-Dot describing pages that you can use. They are no-prep, so just print and go!
I have also included a fun craftivity! Students can choose and item and glue it into the gumball machine. Then they can write ( or tell and you and maybe you can give them a hand with the writing if the are not there yet ) their describing information on the lines. When they are done, they can color in their picture and have a cute craft to take home and show off.
This activity is available in my TpT HERE.