Sensory Details Graphic Organizer – Writing Tool

Help students gather sensory details before writing about a place or object. Five labeled boxes prompt them to collect descriptions of what they see, hear, feel, taste and smell where each sense applies.
Grades
Grades 2–6
Pages
1
File type
PDF
Preparation
Print ready

Updated Oct 19, 2023

Subject
ELA, Writing
Topic
Sensory details, Five senses
Resource types
Graphic Organizers
Preparation
Print ready
Standards
W.4.3

Product description

From the author

Focusing on Sensory Details is a one-page organizer for collecting descriptive-writing notes about a place or object. Five illustrated boxes prompt details for sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.

Model a shared subject, then let students gather relevant details before drafting. Leave a sense unused when it does not apply. The color PDF uses pale yellow boxes; preview grayscale printing for readability.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Name a place or object and gather observations about it under each of the five senses

  • Separate sight, sound, touch, taste and smell instead of writing one undifferentiated impression

  • Build a bank of concrete detail on the page before drafting a description of the chosen subject

Teaching tips

  • Fill the "Place or Object" field together the first time so the whole class is describing the same subject and the boxes can be compared afterwards

  • The organizer names no topic, so a single printing carries an outdoor walk, a still-life table, a photograph or a setting from a novel

  • The smell box sits alone below the four paired boxes, which makes it easy to overlook - point it out before students begin

Skills covered

  • Sensory observation - students record what they see, hear, feel, taste and smell about one chosen subject, each in its own labelled box.

  • Sorting detail by sense - because every box names a single sense, a general impression has to be broken apart rather than written as one description.

  • Pre-writing note collection - the subject is named once at the top and the detail is gathered around it, so a draft starts from notes rather than a blank page.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

What goes in the middle of the organizer?

The subject being described. The field is headed "Place or Object" and is left blank, so the same sheet works for a walk outdoors, an object on a desk, a photograph or a setting from a book.

Which senses get their own box?

All five. Things you see and Things you hear sit as a pair, Things you feel and Things you taste form the second pair, and Things you smell sits below them. Taste is included whatever the subject, so it is worth deciding in advance how to handle it on something inedible.

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Curriculum

Standards, concepts & topics

Standards

  • W.4.3

Core concepts

  • Sensory details

  • Five senses

  • Descriptive writing

  • Pre-writing

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