Mystery Person Contest
Aside from teaching about the importance of detail, this activity has the virtue of requiring no materials from you, so it can be done as a fun activity any time you are stuck for something to do (maybe you got through everything else at lightening speed) and want to reinforce the idea that description is important. It involves individual writing that will be shared with the rest of the class, and you can even run it as a contest (some classes love this; others feel insulted, as if you are bribing them like recalcitrant children). Either way, it gets them writing and, just as importantly, sharing their writing with each other.
Back to Individual ActivitiesSetup for Mystery Person Contest
Have everyone write a page describing a well-known person or character without naming who that person is. The idea is to describe the person/character in such detail that everyone will recognize who it is. While you don't want students to create a cryptic riddle no one will be able to guess, you also want them to move beyond "He's the President of the United States." The idea is to describe the person's physical attributes, personal characteristics, actions, etc. so that his/her classmates will recognize who you have chosen. Stress putting this character or person in action. For example, it would be pointless to describe Michael Jordan as a "tall, bald African American man" -- that could be many people --without describing the way he moves, which reveals something singular about him. When they are finished, have them read them out loud and se how effectively they have described their person/character. If no one recognized him/her, then the student has either picked someone incredibly obscure or will hopefully realize that their powers of description could use a little work. Have them decide whose description should be the winner -- some people really do a wonderful job with this, providing entertaining and detailed sketches.