Mary Claire Gustafson
In my classroom, we spend a large chunk of time learning to write using sensory detail, or details that appeal to the five senses. I ask my students to show, instead of telling me, how something feels, tastes, looks, sounds, and smells. We work on writing something once, then going back to edit our vocabulary to make it feel more realistic.
Sarah, Mike and I visited the Institut Musulman, Mosquée de Paris on Tuesday, June 14th. I wrote description of the museum using sensory detail. I first wrote this description in my notebook. I re-read, re-wrote, and finally wrote the final product on the back of a postcard I purchased from the museum.
2pm. June 14, 2016.
The guards in camo suits holding guns offset the white washed exterior. Green trees grow beyond the walls into the turquoise tiled rood. Heavy wooded doors mark the entrance with the inscribed words: Institute Musulman Mosquée de Paris. Decorative tiles in geometric patterns captives the eye to walls of navy, orange, turquoise, brown, yellow and blue. Its as though you are walking through a lush garden, until you remind yourself the sea foam green tile is cold to touch. The echoes of prayers hymn through the exotic courtyard in the 5th ard. At 2:10PM, the sounds of unison break. There is a clatter to find one's leather shoes before returning to work. The feel glide through the icy tile back to a secular city.
Sarah, Mike and I visited the Institut Musulman, Mosquée de Paris on Tuesday, June 14th. I wrote description of the museum using sensory detail. I first wrote this description in my notebook. I re-read, re-wrote, and finally wrote the final product on the back of a postcard I purchased from the museum.
2pm. June 14, 2016.
The guards in camo suits holding guns offset the white washed exterior. Green trees grow beyond the walls into the turquoise tiled rood. Heavy wooded doors mark the entrance with the inscribed words: Institute Musulman Mosquée de Paris. Decorative tiles in geometric patterns captives the eye to walls of navy, orange, turquoise, brown, yellow and blue. Its as though you are walking through a lush garden, until you remind yourself the sea foam green tile is cold to touch. The echoes of prayers hymn through the exotic courtyard in the 5th ard. At 2:10PM, the sounds of unison break. There is a clatter to find one's leather shoes before returning to work. The feel glide through the icy tile back to a secular city.