'Show Don't Tell' -Providing the Power to Improve Student Writing
UPDATED March 2021 What is meant by the term, show, don't tell , and how do we best present it to the developing student writer... We often refer to the Show, Don't Tell craft strategy when we read students’ writing and notice they've told us that they’ve had a good time, or that the ice-cream they ate was good, but don’t show us by giving a specific example. To help students see how other writers show and not tell, choose parts from texts presenting clear examples of ‘show and not tell.’ One of the most common traps writers fall into is to try and tell things in their writing instead of showing them. They say things like, 'The little boy was angry.' This type of writing tells the reader something, but it doesn’t show. The words used don’t create a clear enough picture in the mind of the reader. The immediate question is, 'What did the boy do to indicate he was angry. Anger can show up in many ways. 'How did the boy display anger?' As ...