DSE English | Descriptive writing with the five senses lesson plan (for tutors)

DSE English | Descriptive writing with the five senses lesson plan (for tutors) | 400 words in 45 minutes

2026-11-04

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Secondary English

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

Objectives — Students can: (1) plan a description with all 5 senses and one detail for each; (2) replace three weak adjectives with verbs or concrete nouns; (3) write 400 words in 45 minutes, about 8.9 words a minute, using 4 body paragraphs of 4 sentences; (4) open with a sound or a smell instead of “it was a beautiful day”.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Tenses	Which tense for a scene described 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 Lesson flow (60 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-8 min	Opener	Read two versions of one market scene, plain and sensory	The difference is audible
8-20 min	Five-sense grid	Five boxes, one detail each, two minutes	At least three boxes filled
20-30 min	Kill the adjectives	Rewrite “very crowded, very noisy” with verbs	People elbowed, tins rattled
30-42 min	One detail, four sentences	Model a stall: sight, sound, smell, action	Detail, not summary
42-54 min	Timed writing	400 words in 45 minutes, 4 paragraphs	About 8.9 words a minute
54-60 min	Exit check	Three oral questions	Two or more wrong: redo act two

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: A scene is a checklist, not an inspiration

Put five boxes on the board: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Give ninety seconds on a wet market. Most students fill sight and sound and stop. Prompt the rest: what does the drain smell like at eleven in the morning, what does a wet plastic bag feel like. The grid converts “I have nothing to write” into “I have two boxes left”. Taste is usually the weakest sense in a street scene and can be dropped without loss.

Board five boxes: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste

Scene 2: 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”. The reader can now see it. The rule for the lesson: if an adjective can be replaced by an action, replace it. Keep adjectives only where precision matters, such as colour, size or temperature.

Two market scenes side by side, underline the verbs

Scene 3: One specific detail beats four general sentences

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

Model one stall in 4 sentences

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Place	Describe a market at midday	Five-sense grid, then one stall in depth	Two stalls, not five
Person	Describe someone waiting	Action before adjectives	Hands, posture, one habit
Moment	The moment before a storm	Sound, then sky, then people	Build in time order
Picture prompt	Write about the photograph	Three details from the photo only	No invented extras

Sanity check (teach this): Check: 400 words in 45 minutes is 8.9 words a minute, so a student writing fifteen words a minute is aiming at 675 words and will run out of time. 4 paragraphs of 4 sentences is sixteen sentences at about 25 words, which lands on 400 words. If a draft passes 450 words, cut a stall, not a sense.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
Rewrite “the night market was very busy” with one sound and one action.	A generator hummed; a woman fanned her skewers	No adjectives allowed
Which sense is usually missing from a street description?	Smell, then touch	Ask about the drain or the handrail
How many stalls should 400 words cover?	Two or three, in depth	About 120 words per stall

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Adjective stacking	“It was very very crowded and noisy and busy”	“Give me one action instead: 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; choose present and keep it.”
Skipping the grid when time is short	“No time, I just wrote”	“The grid takes two minutes and saves ten; fill three boxes first.”

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

English chapter index — All chapters
Practice paper — Questions 1-3: a 120-word descriptive paragraph

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
Name the five senses.	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 400 words in 45 minutes?	About 8.9	Two or more wrong: back to act three

09 Tutor FAQ

Must all five senses appear?

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

Should students memorise word lists?

Learn ten verbs per topic rather than fifty adjectives; verbs transfer.

Is a plan allowed in the exam?

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

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.