Using stations in the classroom

Hello-
I am currently in my first student teaching placement and I was wondering if anyone had any really interested ideas for teaching descriptive writing. I am working with an eighth grade English class. I am doing an activity with stations and I really want this to go well, I have three stations but I am hoping to have five. Any ideas or advice would be great!

Thanks!!

[Lisa's Hotscakes]

I am currently in my first student teaching placement and I was wondering if anyone had any really interested ideas for teaching descriptive writing.

What does the relevant state content standard say?

If you want to do a writing lab activity to teach audience, you can use a scenario of a automobile accident. Give the students a fact sheet you develop from a make believe automobile accident. Include information on the automobile, the driver, the location of the accident, etc.( Make sure that is does not involve injury, but does significant damage to a really nice ride!) Ask the students to assume that they were the driver of the car and responsible for the accident.
Tell them that they can only use the facts ( No lying) and are to write three different letters. One is an informal note to a friend explaining the accident, the next is a friendly letter to their parents who are currently out of town, and the final is a business letter to the insurance company explaining the details of the accident. Through this activity they will be able to vary their tone, author's attitude, and vocabulary to fit the audience. The kids enjoy the subject matter too.
Be careful to watch that they are not fabricating information that contradicts the fact sheet. The must assume responsiblity and not lie and say it was someone else's fault.

Thanks for the idea!!

[Lisa's Hotscakes]

I would highly suggest you spend considerable time before the activity explaining the purpose of each form of letter-writing.

Most importantly, students need to explain the differences in such communication. What effect did the audience have on your writing style? Why? What questions did you ask yourself about the format before writing the letter? What would be the implications of choosing the wrong style?

Without these questions, this is just an activity.