Third Grade · Writing · week 31

Show, Don't Tell: Feelings

Revise a "telling" sentence about a feeling into a "showing" sentence using actions, thoughts, or physical details.

TELLING a feeling means just naming it: "I was scared." SHOWING a feeling means describing what that feeling looked or felt like, so the reader experiences it instead of just being told about it.

"I was scared" is telling. "My hands were shaking, and I could not stop thinking about where Peanut could be" is showing -- it lets the reader feel the fear without the word "scared" ever appearing.

To show a feeling, think about what your body did, what you were thinking, or what you did because of the feeling.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Act out a feeling silently (worried, excited, surprised) and ask your child to describe what your body was doing -- that description is exactly what "showing" means.
  • Read a telling sentence and a showing sentence about the same feeling aloud and ask which one feels more real.
  • Search your child's current story draft together for any "I was ___" feeling word and try converting just one into a showing sentence.
  • Praise specific physical or thought details enthusiastically -- this is a genuinely advanced writing skill.
Talk about it:
  • What is the difference between telling a feeling and showing a feeling?
  • What physical detail did you use to show a feeling in your story?
  • Which is more engaging to read: telling or showing? Why?

Mastery looks like: They revise at least one telling sentence about a feeling into a showing sentence using a specific action, thought, or physical detail.

Common stumbles: Adding an action or detail that does not clearly connect to the intended feeling; still naming the feeling word directly right alongside the "showing" detail.

See it visually

Interactive, spoken-aloud tools that show this idea in motion.

Sentence BuilderDrag word tiles into a real sentence, with a capital and end mark.try →
Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Writing for this learner.
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