BLACK UNICARNS: A PERSONAL NARRATIVE

WRITE ABOUT A TIME THAT YOU HAD TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING DIFFICULT AFTER VIEWING THE VIDEO.

Hair Love

HOW TO WRITE A PERSONAL NARRATIVE 

Step One: Model Format

Use model picture books to help students pick out the setting, characters, problem or conflict, and series of events.

Step Two: Organize Ideas

Even after children understand the elements of narrative writing, they will need help organizing their ideas into an essay format. Plan sheets help to guide students on what to write in each section of their essays. Help children select a point of view, either first person or third person, to guide their narration. Make sure children have a clear problem and logical order of events before they start writing. By brainstorming ideas and organizing them before writing, children will be more likely to stay on topic and finish a narrative essay.

Step Three: Beginning a Narrative Essay

The beginning of a narrative should be active and hook the reader into reading the rest of the essay. Help children write engaging beginnings by practicing crafting the first sentence of a story to include the main character, the setting, and an action that starts the series of events to follow. Scholastic.com offers a series of practice exercises that help children revise beginnings to engage the reader. Practice writing exciting beginnings on other topics to help children become comfortable with writing a narrative style essay.

Step Four: Ending a Narrative Essay

The ending of a narrative essay should reveal how the main character has changed or grown over the course of events in the writing. Scholastic suggests focusing narrative endings on the main character’s memories, decisions, actions, and feelings at the end of the events. For example, a narrative essay on a most embarrassing memory may want to end with the feelings of the main character and the lasting affect of the events. A strong narrative ending clarifies the lesson or moral of the story and links the story to the essay prompt or assignment topic.