DSE English | Descriptive writing with the five senses 备课指引（导师用）

DSE English | Descriptive writing with the five senses 备课指引（导师用）｜40 分钟写出 400 字

2026-11-04

Students write “the market was very crowded and noisy” and stop. This lesson turns one market stall into five senses, then cuts the adjectives that do no work.

本堂目标　Students can: (1) plan a descriptive piece with all 5 senses, at least one detail per sense; (2) replace three weak adjectives with verbs or concrete nouns; (3) write 400 words in 45 minutes, about 8.9 words a minute, by keeping to 4 body paragraphs of 4 sentences; (4) open with one sound or smell instead of “It was a beautiful day”.

01　先备知识（开课前 3 分钟快检）

以下任何一项未过关，本堂就会卡住，先补该项：

技能	快检题	过关标准
Present and past tenses	Which tense for a scene you describe now?	Present simple or present continuous
Adjectives	Give three adjectives for a busy street.	Crowded, noisy, narrow
Paragraphing	How many ideas per body paragraph?	One idea per paragraph

02　课堂流程（60 分钟）

时间	环节	导师做什么	学生做什么
0–8 分	Opener	Read two versions of one market scene: plain and sensory	Students hear the difference at once
8–20 分	Five senses grid	Draw a 5-box grid, fill one detail per box in two minutes	At least three boxes filled
20–30 分	Kill the adjectives	Take “very crowded, very noisy”, rewrite with verbs	People elbowed, tins rattled
30–42 分	One detail instead of a paragraph	Model one stall in four sentences: sight, sound, smell, action	Detail, not summary
42–54 分	Timed writing	400 words in 45 minutes, 4 paragraphs	Roughly 8.9 words a minute
54–60 分	Exit check	Three oral questions	Two or more wrong: redo act two

03　讲解脚本（照着说就可以）

第一幕：Five senses, five lines — a scene is a checklist, not an inspiration

Put a five-box grid on the board: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Give students ninety seconds on a wet market. Most fill sight and sound, then stop. Prompt them: what does the drain smell like at eleven in the morning, what does a plastic bag feel like when it is wet. The grid turns “I have nothing to write” into “I have two boxes left”. Warn them that taste is often the weakest sense and can be skipped in a street scene.

Board a five-box grid: sight / sound / smell / touch / taste

第二幕：Verbs carry the picture, adjectives only label it

Write “The street was very crowded and noisy” and ask what the reader can see. Nothing. Rewrite: “A man with two crates elbowed past me; a tin of biscuits rattled at his hip.” Same scene, and the reader can now see it. Rule for the lesson: if an adjective can be replaced by an action, replace it. Keep adjectives only where precision matters (colour, size, temperature).

Two versions of one market scene side by side, underline the verbs

第三幕：One specific detail beats four general sentences

Model a single stall in 4 sentences: sight (stacked salted fish), sound (radio under the table), smell (salt and diesel), action (the owner slaps a fly away). Then read a weaker version that lists five stalls in one sentence, and ask which one they remember. The 400-word target only works if they stop at two or three stalls and go deep.

Model one stall in 4 sentences

04　必教题型与步骤

题型	例子	步骤	答案
Describe a place	Describe a market at midday	Five-sense grid, then one stall in depth	Two stalls, not five
Describe a person	Describe someone waiting	Action beats adjectives	Hands, posture, one habit
Describe a moment	The moment before a storm	Sound first, then sky, then people	Build in time order
Picture prompt	Write about the photo	Pick three details from the photo only	No invented extras

合理性检查（一定要教）：Check: 400 words in 45 minutes is 8.9 words a minute, so a student writing 15 words a minute is aiming at 675 words and will run out of time. Four body paragraphs of four sentences is sixteen sentences, about 25 words each, which is exactly 400 words. If a draft is over 450 words, cut a stall, not a sense.

05　独立练习三题

题目	答案	想观察什么
Rewrite “The night market was very busy” using one sound and one action.	A generator hummed; a woman fanned her skewers	No adjective allowed
Which sense is usually missing in a street description?	Smell, then touch	Ask what the drain or the handrail feels like
How many stalls should 400 words cover?	Two or three, in depth	One stall per 120 words

06　学生常见错误与纠正句

错误	学生通常这样写	导师这样说
Adjective stacking	“It was very very crowded and noisy and busy”	“Give me one action instead of three adjectives: who elbowed whom?”
Listing without a focus	“There were shops, people, cars and lights”	“Pick one stall and stay there for four sentences.”
Tense drift	Starts in present, ends in past	“A description holds one tense; pick present and keep it.”
Skipping the sense grid under time pressure	“No time, I just wrote”	“The grid takes two minutes and saves ten; fill three boxes before you write a word.”

07　家课建议（直接指到练习卷题号）

English chapter index　All chapters
Practice paper　Questions 1-3: descriptive paragraph, 120 words

08　离场检查（最后 5 分钟）

题目	答案	判定
Name the five senses in English.	Sight, sound, smell, touch, taste	Wrong: redo act two
Turn “very crowded” into an action.	People elbowed past / squeezed through	One wrong: redo before next lesson
How many words a minute for a 400-word, 45-minute task?	About 8.9	Two or more wrong: back to act three

09　导师常问

Must every piece use all five senses?

Three is enough in a street scene; taste is often forced and reads badly.

Should students memorise vocabulary lists?

Learn ten verbs per topic, not fifty adjectives; verbs transfer better.

Is a plan allowed in the exam?

Yes, a five-box grid in the margin takes two minutes and is not marked.

立即免费找导师导师登记 →

本页为 TutorZone 导师备课指引，内容由 TutorZone 团队编写；题目与流程为原创，并非任何学校或出版社的教材。