Digital & Printable
Narrative Writing Unit
What you need to get started:
1.
Before clicking link to gain access to resource, make sure that you are logged
into the Google account you want to use when sharing with your students.
Otherwise, it will be downloaded in whatever account you’re currently logged into.
This just saves you from having to re-download in correct Google Drive account.
2. Click link to be taken to Digital Narrative Unit.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xS0W20wQdlgGQClvYkvX-kIGyaFRbNfbkqRp-IfkJII/copy
Peer Reviewhttps://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qmySBuGAYBuVUpfnQi9GryUDrr9ja0E_ow16avVcJ44/copy
*For in-depth directions on how to use with students, using w/
Google Classroom, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, etc, click
here *
Lesson plan suggestion
o Begin by explaining what a narrative is, what should be included in this type of story, etc.
o Introduce and/or review parts of plot using plot pyramid provided.
o Review protagonist vs. antagonist and types of conflict- internal vs external (man vs self, man
vs man, man vs nature, and man vs society).
o Have students read the example narrative- then identify all the parts of the plot in the
example. If using digital version, they can drag the colored boxes over the correct sections of
the plot.
o You can introduce and/or review figurative language and sensory language before or after
having students read the example narrative. If you choose to introduce this before, also have
them identify the figurative and sensory language in example narrative.
o Have students make a list of possible narrative topics- Have students fill out the sensory
language graphic organizer with their chosen topic in mind. They should think of ways they
can include sensory details in their narrative.
o Have students fill out the figurative language graphic organizer. Similar to the sensory
language graphic organizer, they should think of how they can incorporate a couple types of
figurative language into their narrative.
o Require students to brainstorm ideas for their narrative using the brainstorm chart. Then they
should choose the one that they feel could best include the required elements.
o Begin writing rough draft using the beginning, middle, and end graphic organizer.
o Use the peer review/rubric. This gives students the opportunity to exchange papers with
another student and allows them to review each others’ papers for the required elements.
o Students write final draft.
o Great website with links to example narratives from authors and students at all grade levelsclick here.
Narrative Writing
❑ Narrative writing is writing that tells a story.
❑ It should include characters, all parts of the plot (exposition, rising
action, climax, falling action, and resolution).
❑ It can be fiction or nonfiction.
❑ Dialogue should be included.
❑ Including figurative language will make the story more interesting to
the readers(similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration, etc).
❑ Use of sensory details- smell, touch, see, hear, and taste.
Plot Pyramid
Climax-
Rising Action: events
leading up to climax
Falling Action:
Exposition:
SettingMain Characters
Resolution:
This is an example of
a personal narrative.
Narrative Writing Example
I had just entered 9th grade, and everything was going great. I lived in the same small
town in NC where I had since I was a baby. My whole family lived there, and everybody
knew everybody. My mom was a science teacher at my school, and although I may not
have admitted it, I loved being in the same school where she worked. Unfortunately,
one thing I learned early on was that teachers in NC made very little money, especially
in comparison to the rest of the country.
My mom had been working after school at my grandfather’s insurance agency. I knew
that her goal was to eventually have an insurance business of her own. I just never
knew how soon that was going to happen…
One day after my first football game as a high school cheerleader (I was thrilled to have
made the squad), my mom told me that “it” was happening. “Another insurance agent
is retiring, and I’m going to be taking his place,” my mom told my sister and me. That
was great news until she explained further. “It’s in another town, so we’re going to be
moving.”
This couldn’t be happening! The small town I’d grown up in was all I knew. My very
best friends in the world were there. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and
cousins…everybody! My life was over! Nobody moves in high school… but I was.
I learned that I had another month before we made the move. I had so many emotions.
Part of me didn’t even want to go back to school. All I would think about all day was
that in a few short weeks, that would no longer be my school. I wouldn’t know
everybody everywhere I went. I wouldn’t be on a cheerleading team screaming for the
team I had pulled for since before I could talk. Most of all, I wouldn’t have my best
friend in the world by my side, Sonni. We did everything together, no matter what it
was.
In the back of my mind, I also knew that my mom couldn’t afford to send my sister and I
to college on her own. My parents were divorced, and mom was the one who did
everything for us. Even with multiple college degrees, including a masters degree, if she
was a teacher in that small town in NC, it wasn’t going to happen. I begged to stay with
my grandparents, but mom couldn’t bare to have me not living with her. I also knew I
couldn’t do that to my younger sister who was also struggling with the move.
When that fall day came in October, I remember walking into my new school that looked
more like a coliseum than a school, airy and open. It was huge! I went from a small-town
school that had approximately 900 kids to a school that had around 2400.
I felt lost for months, calling my mom at work daily begging her to get me out of there
and let me go back to what I knew. I can still feel that overwhelming sadness even
today, 25 years later.
Over time, things slowly began to get better. I started to find friends that were a lot
like my old ones, and I didn’t think that was possible. I also actually started going to
the high school football games and even made the cheerleading team. No, it wasn’t
the same, and no one could replace the friends and small town I had loved my whole
life. But what I realized was that I would be ok. Change isn’t always bad. It made me
stronger and helped prepare me for changes and challenges that would come in the
future.
I look back on those times now and realize that I wouldn’t change a thing. I still
adore all my friends from both towns and talk to many of them now. Life is full of ups
and downs. That’s what makes us who we are. It’s important to never give up and
realize that everything happens for a reason. As a fourteen-year-old girl, I sure
wouldn’t have agreed with that, but I see it clearly now.
Sensory Language
Sensory language is vivid details using the senses (touch, taste, see, smell, hear)
describing a particular setting that relates to the topic being addressed.
figurative Language
Figurative language uses figures of speech to “dress up” writing.
Figurative language isn’t “literal,” meaning it didn’t actually happen.
Some types of figurative language are listed in the boxes below.
Simile (comparing 2 unlike things using
like or as)
Metaphors (comparing 2 unlike things
without using like or as)
Personification (giving human qualities
to nonhuman things)
Alliteration (series of words that begin
with the same consonant sound)
Onomatopoeia (word that imitates the
sound of the word being stated)
Brainstorm
Brainstorm ideas for your narrative. Remember, it can be fiction or nonfiction. Just make sure to
include all the parts of the plot, dialogue, and figurative and sensory language. Choose 1 that you
think would work best in order to include all the required elements of a narrative.
List some ideas below:
Rough Draft
Start drafting your narrative.
Beginning (exposition & rising action)
Middle (climax)
End (falling action & resolution)
final Draft
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