Make Narrative Writing Fun! Follow This Step-By-Step, Easy-To-Implement Guide

Narrative writing, the art of written story-telling, is a fundamental writing style.  It is beneficial to have your middle school students refine this type of writing as they will be expected to have nearly mastered it in the coming years.

Of course, there is a fun way to help your students hone their narrative writing technique through engaging activities.

 

Preteens must build off of the writing skills acquired in the early years to create engaging, detailed narratives.  Producing impressive writing will not only improve their grades on writing assignments but your students may actually develop a liking for this creative writing style. 

 

Let’s explore the characteristics of narrative writing!

 

Elements of a narrative

• ·       A hook – Every story needs a strong beginning.  Some types of hooks include a question hook, a definition hook, an onomatopoeia hook, and an emotion hook, amongst others.
• ·       Character development – Characterization is the process of the writer revealing the personality of the character.  This is accomplished through direct characterization (mostly adjectives) and indirect characterization (primarily verbs).
• ·       The setting – A story’s setting is the “when” and “where” it takes place.  Ingredients in a setting include time, place, weather, and historical period.
• ·       Dialogue – An engaging story needs dialogue.  The conversations between two or more characters enhances writing.  Dialogue adds variety, adds a realistic element to the story, enhances the mood, and enhances the characters.  Remember that dialogue is separated from narration by using quotation marks.
• ·       Narrative ending – After all of the hard work to create an enthralling beginning and middle to a story, there deserves to be an equally fascinating ending.  A few categories of endings include a surprise ending, a moral ending, a reflection ending, and a cliffhanger ending. 
• ·       Sensory details – The use of descriptive words that evoke the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) add excitement for the readers, and even the writers of narratives.  Although the inclusion of sensory details is not technically its own part of a narrative, it is a component that is best sprinkled throughout the elements listed above.

Now that we’ve reviewed the elements of a narrative, let’s take a look at an exciting Do Now activity to introduce your students to a narrative writing unit!

 

Write or project a very boring narrative paragraph onto the board – the more boring, the better.  The paragraph might look something like this:

Stephie went to the park.  She found a stray kitten.  Stephie brought the kitten home.  Her parents said she could keep the kitten.  Stephie and the kitten were excited and had many fun years together.

Instruct your students to “jazz up” this paragraph to make it something interesting that they would want to read, while still creating a coherent, though short, story.  Invite students to read aloud their stories and ask for feedback about the improvements that were made. 

 

This activity will get your middle schoolers excited to jump into the day’s lesson, specifically a mini-lesson.  Using mini-lessons is the perfect way to proportionately deliver instruction time with hands-on application time for an effective and fun learning experience. 

 

Mini-lessons work very well when introducing content about writing.  Depending on the length of each class period, you may be able to dedicate one session to each of the narrative elements discussed earlier. 

 

Spend approximately 10 to 15 minutes presenting the new material, which may include guided-learning with examples.  Use the remainder of the session for the students to apply what they have learned.  You, as the teacher, can use this time as an opportunity to work with students one-on-one, answer additional questions, etc.  Factor in time for students to review/share their work with one another or with the entire class.  You may also want to assign homework each day for additional practice with that day’s narrative element.

This interactive learning approach not only aids in understanding but also fosters an entertaining and creative environment. 

 

For an engaging resource that I have used with my sixth grade ELA students, check out the “Narrative writing practice” packet on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  My store also has a variety of versatile products for all grades and subjects!  

 

Leave a question, comment, or suggestion below, in the Comments Section!   

 

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Peace.  Love.  Reading & Writing.

 

💗 Miss M