Narrative Writing
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I don’t know about you, but writing is the hardest thing to teach! It always seems like everyone is at a different place and there isn’t enough of you to go around. I have tried it all! I have tried writer’s workshops, writing small groups, whole class, and a million other ideas from Pinterest or other teachers’ ideas.
If you have been teaching longer than a few years, you know that one size does not fit all. I am hopeful by the end of this post you will have at least one idea that you can use during your writing block. Sometimes just hearing someone else’s plan will help you make one of your own. Let’s jump into writing!
Before You Plan Your Unit
Before I start any writing genre, I give them a cold write. I do not teach anything at all. I give them my expectations and withOUT guidance, I see what they can do. The point of this is to see where the gaps are so you can plan your unit.
We just started our Narrative Unit. I want them to write me a story about a special place they have gone to. I told them I need the whole story with as many details as they can remember. MAKE ME FEEL LIKE I AM THERE. They knew not to ask any questions and do the best they could. I also had them put their writing office up, to help with words and keep them focused.
They turn it in at the end of 20 minutes even if they aren’t done. If someone doesn’t write a lot that still tells you what they need. At the end of the day, I read each one carefully and fill out this CHART
I put a dot next to each column that they demonstrated. Here is a picture of one that my class did.
I look at the columns with the least amount of dots and write them down in order. Like this:
- Conjunctions
- Proper Nouns
- Transition Words
- Details
- Capitals
- Punctuation
- Closing
- Topic Sentence (almost everyone had it, but they didn’t have a good hook)
- Phonically Spelled Words
These are my mini-lesson topics for each week! I put them in a logical order, not just starting with the least number of dots. I want it to flow and for the ones with the least dots, I will need to spiral throughout the unit, so they will get lots of practice. Now it is time to plan my mini-lessons.
This is the order I will teach them:
- Hook (topic sentence)
- Conjunctions & Details
- Capitals, Proper Nouns, and Punctuation (editing)
- Transition Words
- Closing
Before we get started let’s talk about writing papers. I have had the MOST success with using booklets for students. All my students have always thrived on using booklets. I just take 3-4 pieces of white paper and fold them then staple the side. Click HERE for a free template if you would like to print one with lines. It will take some time to put together, so most of the time I just use white paper and have them draw lines. It helps them organize their writing and be able to see that they have one part and a detail for each page. Having pages also aids in punctuation and capitalization.
Mini-Lessons
Click HERE to get this FREE resource
For mini-lessons, I like to use mentor texts or their writing to teach the skill. We focus on one a week and do lots of modeling and activities to get them comfortable with it. Here are the topics I focused on and a few suggestions for each:
Introductions and hooks:
I found this FREE hook paper on TPT and I use this to start the conversation. We think of different ways to start using our topic. Kids share ideas and then I have them go write their hook. As we continue this unit and all units in writing, when we find a good hook in ANY story we are reading we stop and talk about it.
Conjunctions:
Just like adjectives, we teach conjunctions during our grammar time. For mini-lessons, we practice on whiteboards or sentence strips using each one. I would say write down 2 colors you like and highlight the word and. Tell me something you like to do at the park. After they tell you ask them why and have them use the word because. There are TONS of resources to practice conjunctions and most of the time I will have them practice with an activity or worksheet during our literacy centers. You could focus on conjunctions one week then each week challenge them to use a different conjunction in their story.
Details:
Details are such an important part of the story. Have the students write a sentence then say to them, “TELL ME MORE”. Then they write an additional sentence telling you more details about the first sentence. I have also seen other teachers have a paper to practice on with lines for a sentence than a stop sign and additional lines underneath to write their detail.
Examples of boring sentences then ones with details are a great way to show students what you mean. Making strong sentences will also help them. Using the words who, what, when, where, how, and why are great ways to expand the sentence. Below are a few FREE worksheets to practice, but you could use whiteboards or plain paper.
Adjectives:
During our grammar time we talk about adjectives for several weeks but identifying them and using them are two different things and both need practice. We start off by writing a sentence and underlining the noun. I ask questions like what does___________ look, sound, smell, feel, and taste like? I have also had a chart that we add to. During your small reading group time, you could also have them write a sentence about the text and use adjectives in it. That would allow you to work with each one.
Transition words:
The best way I have found to teach transitions is to have a blank chart in the room and as we are reading, we add to the chart. Here is an example of one that you can make or click on the picture to buy.
When you continually add to the chart and refer to it the kids will use it and you will use it too. If you don’t think you will refer to it, then it is a waste of time and space to put up.
Closing:
Each genre has a different way to end a story. In narrative writing a good way to end your story is with a lesson, moral, or how they felt. We talk about each of these and which one fits their story.
It would be good to grab a few books off your shelf ahead of time and see how they ended their story and share it with the class.
To make their writing even better they can add a question to the end of the story after the closing. This draws the reader in and has them thinking even when they are done reading the story.
What To Teach Each Day
Click HERE for the FREE plan.
Every day during our reading block I will use the mini-lesson of the week to point out how authors did things as we read.
Day 1:
-Start off with the topic and read a mentor text. (Search on Pinterest Narrative mentor texts)
-Have them make a picture plan (PICTURE) on blank paper.
Day 2:
-Teach the mini-lesson
-Have them tell their story to a partner using their plan.
-write the hook and see if they can HOOK me (they get a gummy worm if their opening hooks me!
Day 3:
-Practice the mini-lesson with an activity
-Have them read their hook then start writing their story.
-Walk around and share out amazing sentences while they are writing.
-I do not stop and help students for long periods of time. It is just a quick question then I have them think about it and write.
My student(s) cannot write or even sound out.
For students that cannot write or get very frustrated I start off with them telling me a sentence and I use a highlighter to write it for them. They trace it and work on their picture until I can get back around to them. I will do this for a few weeks then gradually leave words out for them to tap out and spell. See my Phonics post to see how we learn and practice how to spell words.
Then they go to counting the words in a sentence and I draw lines for them, so they know how many words and how long words are. Then we would move into sounding out each word and spacing. This may take ALL year! You be the judge of when they are ready to move on.
Day 4 Closing/Editing:
-Share ways to end the story together and make a list on the board.
-Have them read their story out loud to themselves to make sure they are ready to end their story, if they are, have them come to the carpet.
-Have them share their ending with a partner then have them go write it down.
-Talk about how you can improve your writing by ending your story with a question. Share some questions they might write at the end of their story then have them write their own. Trace the question mark with a marker!
Day 5 Edit/Authors Chair:
Editing
-I don’t start editing until the 3rd quarter, but I would start earlier if they had enough practice and I felt like they are ready.
-We do a daily fix-it sentence during phonics. They have had a lot of practice with one sentence and what to look for. By the 3rd quarter, they can do most of it independently.
-Whole class I would take one student’s paper and put it under the doc cam. Without showing the name we would do the whole thing together doing 1 sentence at a time.
-After a few weeks of that I would have them read until they got to the period then fix it one at a time.
-We go over the reason for having the spaces above and below the writing lines for editing and adding, so we don’t have to erase our amazing work!!
Authors Chair
-I will read each paper that was turned in and as I read each sentence the students shout out what type of sentence it is (Hook, beginning, Middle/Problem, End/Solution, Closing, Question. If the student has all these things, we say WOOO HOOO, and they get an amazing writing point.
We always celebrate something from everyone’s paper!! We have a discussion at the end of things we really liked and things we need to work on. I revisit this when we start our new topic the following week.
The important thing is not to rush it. It is better to spend 2 weeks on a topic than rush through just to get 2 topics in. QUALITY over QUANTITY!!! I can’t stress that enough. You might feel you need to stay with the 1 topic a week or the routine you have always done, but I am here to say you won’t regret slowing down and spending time creating quality work.
You are ready to plan your unit. If you are in the middle of it, you can still use their writing to fill out your checklist so you know what skills to teach. If you have some must-have activities, please leave them in the comments to share with us!
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