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Words That Make You Feel Something

A 40-minute Grade 1 lesson on finding the words a writer chose to make you feel or picture something.

Words That Make You Feel Something is a free 40-minute Grade 1 English lesson plan for Common Core standard RL.1.4 — find the words a writer chose to make you feel or picture something. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the meaning, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.

Grade:
Grade 1
Length:
40 minutes
Standard:
RL.1.4

Grade 1 · Reading: Literature

RL.1.4

Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

Objective

Students will be able to find words in a text that appeal to the senses or suggest a feeling, and say which sense or feeling each one gives.

Students are successful when they can

  • Finds "crashed," "drummed" and "grumbled" and says they are sound words.
  • Finds "soft, fuzzy" and says it is a touch word.
  • Says how "snuggled" makes them feel — cozy, safe — and gives a plain word it replaced, such as "sat."

What you need

  • The "Storm Night" text (in the Teach section) written large
  • A five-senses chart: see, hear, touch, taste, smell, with a picture for each
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — the plain version

5 min
  1. Read the plain version: "It rained. Lily sat under a blanket. She had a drink."
  2. Ask: "How does that make you feel?" Expect shrugs. "Can you picture it?" A little.
  3. Say: "A writer can make you feel and picture much more. Let us see how."

Teach — which sense, which feeling

13 min
  1. Read: "The storm crashed and banged outside. Rain drummed on the roof. Inside, Lily snuggled under her soft, fuzzy blanket. She sipped warm, sweet cocoa. The thunder grumbled one last time, and then everything was quiet."
  2. Ask: "Now how do you feel?" Fish for "cozy," "safe," "warm." Ask what changed from the plain version.
  3. Point to "crashed." Ask: "Which sense does this word use?" Hearing. Put it on the chart under "hear." Do the same with "banged" and "drummed."
  4. Point to "soft, fuzzy." Ask the class to rub their sleeve. Touch. Add it to the chart.
  5. Point to "warm, sweet cocoa." Ask which two senses: touch and taste.
  6. Point to "snuggled." Ask: "What plain word could go here?" Sat. Ask: "Which word makes you feel safer?" Snuggled. Say: the writer picked it on purpose.
  7. Point to "grumbled." Ask: "Who grumbles?" A cross person. Say the thunder sounds like it is giving up — so the storm is ending.
“A writer chooses words on purpose. Ask yourself: which sense is this word talking to? How does it make me feel?”

Guided practice — find five

12 min
  1. Give pairs a new text: "At the beach, the hot sand burned Tom's toes. Waves splashed and fizzed. He licked a cold, sticky ice cream. Seagulls squawked above him. The air smelled of salt and seaweed."
  2. Pairs find five sense words and sort them onto a mini five-senses chart.
  3. Then they choose one word and say a plain word it could be swapped for: "squawked" for "made a noise."
  4. Circulate and ask: "Which sense? How do you know?" For "smelled of salt," the clue word is "smelled."
  5. Share one pair's chart and check every sense has at least one word.
“Read it out loud and close your eyes. Which words made you see, hear, touch, taste or smell something?”

Independent practice

8 min
  1. Students complete the feelings-words page: reading a story and answering questions about the words the writer chose.
  2. Remind them to say which sense or feeling each word gives, not just copy the word.
  3. Sit with any child who is copying every adjective and ask "Which one can you hear?"

Close

2 min
  1. Say two sentences: "The dog made a noise." and "The dog howled." Ask which one they can hear in their head.
  2. Fish for "howled," and ask what feeling it gives: sad or lonely.

What goes wrong, and why

Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.

Picks any long or unusual word, such as "everything," as a feeling word.

Why: They think "good words" are big or rare, so they look for length instead of asking what the word makes them feel or sense.

Fix: Ask the sense question for each word: "Can you see, hear, touch, taste or smell it?" If not, ask "Does it make you feel something?" If neither, it does not belong on the chart.

Names the feeling word but cannot say what it makes them feel: "snuggled is a good word."

Why: They have learned that some words are "good," but not why. Good has become a label instead of an effect.

Fix: Compare with a plain word: "She sat" or "She snuggled." Ask which feels warmer or safer. The difference is the effect.

Puts "drummed" under "touch" because you touch a drum.

Why: They link the word to an object they know, and then to how they use that object, instead of to what the sentence describes.

Fix: Go back to the sentence: "Rain drummed on the roof." Ask "Are you touching the roof?" No — you hear it. Read the sentence and act it out with fingers tapping.

If they are not there yet

  • Use only two senses, hearing and touch, and a shorter text: "The rain went splash. The blanket was soft."
  • Read the text aloud and have the child raise a hand on any word they can hear.
  • Provide picture cards for each sense to hold up instead of writing.

If they finish early

  • Rewrite the plain version "It rained. Lily sat under a blanket." with three sense words of your own.
  • Find two words in the text that make you feel opposite things (crashed and quiet) and say how.
  • Look for a sense word in the class read-aloud book and say which sense it uses.

Exit ticket

In "Rain drummed on the roof," which word makes you hear something? What plain word could replace it?

What to look for: "Drummed" and a plain swap like "fell" or "went." Choosing "roof" means they are picking the noun: ask "Can you hear a roof?" A right word but no swap means they have found it but cannot yet say why it was chosen.

Printable practice for RL.1.4

Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.

Questions about Words That Make You Feel Something

How long does the Words That Make You Feel Something lesson take?

40 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 13 min, guided practice 12 min, independent practice 8 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.

Which standard does Words That Make You Feel Something teach?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4 — RL.1.4, Reading: Literature for Grade 1: “Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.” In plain terms, find the words a writer chose to make you feel or picture something.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

The "Storm Night" text (in the Teach section) written large, a five-senses chart: see, hear, touch, taste, smell, with a picture for each and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.

What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?

Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: picks any long or unusual word, such as "everything," as a feeling word; names the feeling word but cannot say what it makes them feel: "snuggled is a good word." and puts "drummed" under "touch" because you touch a drum. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.

How do I know whether the lesson worked?

The exit ticket asks: “In "Rain drummed on the roof," which word makes you hear something? What plain word could replace it?.” "Drummed" and a plain swap like "fell" or "went." Choosing "roof" means they are picking the noun: ask "Can you hear a roof?" A right word but no swap means they have found it but cannot yet say why it was chosen. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.

Is there a worksheet to go with Words That Make You Feel Something?

Yes — 1 printable RL.1.4 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.

Is Words That Make You Feel Something free to use?

Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on October 8, 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-10-08. Aligned to RL.1.4 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.