Summer and Winter Shift

This worksheet helps students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 strengthen descriptive writing by exploring how seasonal changes affect setting and mood. Students write two short descriptive paragraphs about the same lakeside dock-one set in summer and one in winter-using sensory language, imagery, and atmosphere to show how temperature, color, sound, and feeling shift with the season while the location stays the same.

Learning Goals

• Seasonal Setting Description (Grades 4-6) – Describe the same setting in different seasons using clear, specific detail.
• Sensory and Atmospheric Imagery – Apply sight, sound, touch, and temperature cues to shape mood.
• Contrasting Environments – Analyze how environmental changes influence tone and reader perception.
• Descriptive Paragraph Writing – Organize ideas into two focused, coherent descriptions.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to support narrative and descriptive writing standards.
• Clear Compare-and-Contrast Structure – Helps students notice how mood and imagery shift across seasons.
• Focused Sensory Practice – Emphasizes atmosphere and detail rather than plot or character.
• Flexible Classroom Use – Works well for writing workshops, independent practice, small groups, or assessment.

This printable worksheet helps students understand how setting and season work together to shape mood and narrative tone. By describing a lakeside dock in both summer and winter, learners build confidence in sensory writing, comparison skills, and atmospheric description. It is a simple, no-prep resource for classroom and homeschool settings that strengthens descriptive clarity and narrative craft.

This worksheet is part of our Describing Settings Worksheets collection.