In this last week of summer vacation before school starts, my writing students and I turned our attention to the beach.  As Jersey girls, we know the shore well and can draw on our rich experiences to create vivid descriptive images.   For our final assignment of the summer, I thought I’d slow Maddie and Violet down and have them delve deeper into descriptive storytelling. Elementary writers tend to rush through the most exciting parts of their stories. They sum up big events in a single sentence.  I wanted the girls to focus on exploding a small moment by using sensory details, strong verbs, and showing, not telling, the characters’ actions and emotions.