If you ask a middle-schooler what a theme park was like, she'll probably say, "fun." Show your students that sensory details are essential to reproducing in writing what they experienced in person. Tell students to spend 10 minutes mentally transporting themselves back to a recent fair, concert or public event. Instruct them to notice and identify the smells, temperature, noises, sights and atmosphere, then have them write a description of the event as though every detail were crucial.
Take your students on a field trip to a place with strong sensory effects, such as a farm. Have students make notes on what they hear, see, smell and feel, then write a descriptive essay about the venue. Compare the essays later and discuss the differences in student opinion. Point out differences in perception and ask students to account for it.
Emotions are likely the hardest to put into words, but writing about them makes a good challenge for middle-schoolers. Have students recall a time when they experienced a particularly strong emotion -- love, excitement, envy or anger. Ask them to go back to the moment when the feeling was strongest and try to remember what impulses they had. Students then write a short essay from the standpoint of themselves in the grip of emotion. Discuss afterward why they felt the way they did. Did they act on any impulses at the time?
Show a series of movie clips that provoke strong reactions. For example, the scene in "Titanic" when Rose realizes Jack is dead or in "Forrest Gump" when the title character addresses his wife's headstone in the cemetery can get students to think about grief, loss and sadness. Tell students to write an essay from the standpoint of one of the characters, detailing what they're feeling. Some students may be able to draw on past experiences, such as the death of a grandparent.
Without naming it, tell students to choose their favorite object and write a brief report describing it. Instruct them to use only descriptive words and avoid using any information that would reveal too easily what it is (for example, "You buy this at a sports store" can easily give away the object as a football). Students should also detail how the object makes them feel -- perhaps excited, proud or relaxed.
Blindfold students and pass around several different objects that students will have some difficulty identifying. For example, pass around a wind chime, a violin bow or a gel insert for shoes. Tell students they can use only the senses of smell and touch to experience the object. After everyone has held each object, take the objects up and hide them. Have students write a description of each object and compare it to the rest of the class'. What did they think it was? How did they draw that conclusion? Were they surprised at what it really was?
Instruct students to choose the person to whom they are closest -- for example, a parent or sibling. Have students think about the person for a while, then answer a series of prompts, such as, "She smells like ... " or "He makes me feel ... ," to get them thinking. When students are finished, tell them to exchange papers with another student and answer another series of prompts based on the original student's answers, for example, "This person probably looks like ... " and "This description makes me feel ____ about this person."
Choose a famous person whom every student is familiar with, such as Barack Obama. Tell students to pretend they are visiting a foreign country and a local has asked them to describe the American president. What would they say? Have students write a one-page essay on descriptions of the president's appearance, mannerisms, attitude and character.