Descriptosaurus: Supporting Creative Writing for Ages 8â "14

Reviews of the first edition

"This book is a treasure trove of descriptive language... Highly recommended for both teachers and parents. I wish I’d had a copy of this book when I was a full time English teacher! Invest in a copy today; you’ll be glad you did."

"Help to banish 'blank page syndrome' for ever, with this innovative book... Created by teacher, Alison Wilcox, this inspirational book will build children's confidence in their writing ability."

"A real ‘godsend’ to hard-pressed teachers, parents and pupils."

‘...the addition of the CD is perfect for the modern day classroom... fantastic!’

‘The... book/CD, will be so helpful to teachers who are struggling to think of different ways to say things and will enhance their planning and teaching. As a classroom resource it will be invaluable.’

Now available with a CD-ROM for classroom use, Descriptosaurus is the first book for creative writing that is a thematic expansion of a dictionary and a thesaurus. It provides children with a comprehensive resource with which to expand their descriptive vocabulary, experiment with language and sentence structure and build up narratives based around the following areas: Settings – landscapes, settlements and atmosphere, Characters – appearance, emotions and personality, and Creatures – appearance, abilities and habitats.

New features for the second edition include:

• IWB compatible CD-ROM containing all the main elements of the book
• New VCOP coverage
• Expanded coverage of adverbs and connectives
• New planning sheets to help children organise and structure descriptions
• Character cards, games and mountain pyramid vocabulary builders

The Descriptosaurus model was created and refined over a number of years as a result of feedback from children inside and outside the classroom as to the resources they required to inspire and assist them with their writing. For reluctant writers or those faced with blank page syndrome, it provides essential starting points to encourage putting pen to paper. Using Descriptosaurus will not only inspire children, it will build their confidence and dramatically improve the content of their writing.

This is an ideal resource for all KS2 primary and KS3 secondary English teachers, literacy coordinators and parents keen to support their childrens’ creative writing. It would also make an excellent classroom book for PGCE students, particularly Primary PGCE with English specialism.