Show Instead Tell

Worksheet Description

The “Show Don’t Tell” worksheet is a writing exercise that encourages students to practice the art of descriptive storytelling. It presents a column labeled “Telling,” where straightforward sentences describe characters’ feelings or situations, like “Fiona doesn’t like the partner she has to work with on a project.” The students’ task is to rewrite these sentences in the “Showing” column, conveying the same information through actions, dialogue, and expressive detail rather than simple statements. This activity aims to help students transform basic information into engaging narratives that show rather than tell the reader what is happening.

This worksheet is designed to teach students the importance of demonstrating emotions and situations through descriptive writing instead of flatly stating them. It encourages students to think creatively about how to illustrate a character’s internal state through external details. By engaging in this exercise, students learn to enrich their writing with vivid, showing details that allow readers to infer the characters’ feelings and motivations. The goal is to cultivate a deeper level of engagement and understanding between the reader and the characters, enhancing the overall quality of the students’ writing.