- In a comment on this weekend’s Friday feedback post, Gae mentioned this postcard prompt to work on setting. It’s from last summer’s Teachers Write group, shared by Madelyn Rosenberg.
So, since it’s a day ahead of the start of Teachers Write, I am going to give “Postcard” a try.
First, this is my home, sitting at my dining room table.
- White walls, more white walls
- White ceiling
- White tile floor
- Green and breathing philodendron and bamboo plants
- Rumbling in waves from the refrigerator motor
- Humming A/C unit
- Savory black beans with cumin bubbling in the crock pot
- Darting swordtail tropical fish here for a summer visit
- Smooth glass table for writing
- Uncomfortable lumpy chair that bids me take too many breaks
Second, on one of my many breaks, I drove to the supermarket.
- White cars, lots of white cars
- Pink brick sidewalks
- Skyscraper skyline
- English spelling variations
- Sitting in traffic, green lights come and go with no progress
- Horns honking
- Splashes of green
- Cranes and construction
- Warm sun on the dash
- Beige buildings
Finally, here is Lulu’s, the supermarket I don’t go to very often.
- Wandering back and forth
- High signs with small print
- Long grocery list
- Unfamiliar store
- Where’s the sour cream?
- Where’s Keith?
- I’m not used to shopping by myself.
- Bottles clanking
- Carts making rhythm as they bump over the ridges on the tile floor
- “Maybe. We. Found. Love. Right. Where. We are.”
- No lines. Thank, God.
- I need a Bounty bar.
OK, but those were not one word OR short phrases in each line! I hate to be limited, Madelyn!
Yes, I know! Those are more the length of a letter or a U.S.A. Today article, not a postcard.
So, I’m going to try again because my guess is it’s harder to get the impression of the setting with only 10 words or short phrases. Plus, I want to use this with my students, and my examples aren’t going to be as helpful to my fifth grade English language learners.
Room 111
- Laughter
- Smiles
- Arabic
- English
- Sweaty
- Quenching
- Scritch scratch
- Click
- Scraping
- Colorful work
- Sincere students
Yeah, I’m not sure that works so much, but I’m practicing.
On a side note: I found a nice blog post with words to describe senses of smell, sound, taste and touch.