Using prompts for narrative writing motivates kids and gets them excited to write. Read on to learn more about narrative writing, mentor texts, ideas, and assessments. Plus you will find 20 fun prompts for narrative and personal narrative writing. These will be sure to spark student’s creativity and imagination!
What’s Narrative Writing?
Narrative writing tells a story using a beginning, middle, and end. It includes elements such as characters, setting, problem, and solution. The author’s purpose is usually to entertain or teach a lesson. Narrative writing can be fact or fiction but the process is the same. When it’s a real story from the author’s life, it is considered a personal narrative.
Examples for Narrative Writing
There are so many wonderful examples of narrative writing. Some are even written as personal narratives. Below you will find a list of mentor texts for elementary school. It’s helpful to immerse students in the genre before and during a narrative writing unit. These books model different strategies that kids can try in their writing.
Narrative Writing Mentor Texts:
- Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
- Come on, Rain! by Karen Hesse
- Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts
- Fireflies! by Julie Brinckloe
- Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
- Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall
- Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
- Blackout by John Rocco
Narrative Writing Teaching
There are many features to include in narrative writing, but it depends on the grade level being taught. For the lower grades, it’s important to start with the concept of beginning, middle, and end written in sequential order. Then you can expand to the introduction, body, and conclusion using details. Other important elements are character, setting, problem, and solution. As the student’s abilities increase the number of sentences will grow and expand to paragraphs.
For the older grades, you can introduce plot structure. It follows the beginning, middle, and end format but on a higher level. This story arc includes exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Use the diagram below to see how these features overlap.
Plot Structure
Topics for Narrative Writing
The possibilities are endless when it comes to narrative writing ideas. Kids can create a fiction piece or write about an experience in their life. Check out some writing prompt ideas below for narrative and personal narrative writing. You might also like this blog post about opinion writing prompts: 20 Prompts for Opinion Writing That Motivate Kids
Writing Prompts for Narratives
- I was taking my friend’s picture in front of the volcano when all of a sudden . . .
- What if you were given 3 wishes but couldn’t use them on yourself. Tell a story about what you would wish for and why.
- Write a story called, “The Luckiest Day of My Life.”
- Imagine you went to the zoo and could take home any animal for the day. Tell a story about your time together.
- Write a silly story that uses these words: airplane, grapes, elephant, and book.
- You have just been shrunk down to the size of an ant. Write a story including the good and bad things about being so small.
- Think about your favorite character from a book. Tell a story about getting to meet them for the first time.
- What would happen if you lived during a time when there was no electricity? Write a story about your school day.
- Finish this story: The pirates set sail on their ship in search of . . .
- Suppose you were teacher for a day. Write a story about the changes you would make.
Writing Prompts for Personal Narratives
- Have you ever been so proud of yourself for learning something new? Write a story about a time this happened.
- Write a story about a time you felt your heart race. What happened and how were you feeling at the end?
- What was your most memorable vacation? Tell a story from part of that trip and why it stands out in your mind.
- Have you ever done something you knew would get you in big trouble? Write a story about a time this happened and how you felt about it.
- Write a story about the strangest thing that has ever happened to you. Why was it so unusual?
- What was your most memorable moment from this year? Write a story telling why it’s so special.
- Tell a story about a time when you were so excited and couldn’t wait for an event to happen.
- Write a small moment story about a time you had with your favorite person.
- Write about a time that you lost something important. Tell whether or not you found it.
- Think about the worst day you ever had. What made it so terrible and did it get better by the end?
Rubrics for Narrative Writing
I often hear from teachers that one of the most difficult parts of teaching writing is how to assess it. Assessments should be accurate and helpful for both the student and teacher. When it comes to narrative writing, there are many different approaches. Some teachers prefer to do a more informal assessment for daily writing pieces and then a formal assessment for the final copy. Informal assessments can be completed with written comments or student-teacher conferences.
It would be very difficult to use a rubric for every narrative writing a student completes in their notebook. Instead, most teachers prefer to choose one to three writing pieces to assess with a rubric. These assessments are ideal for benchmarks, progress reports, and report cards. Below you will find three types of narrative writing rubrics. Check out this blog post to learn more about student-friendly, teacher-friendly, and time-saving rubrics: 3 Types of Writing Rubrics for Effective Assessments
Conclusion
Narrative writing enables kids to be creative and use their imagination. They can write a fiction story or about a real event from their life. Writing prompts are a helpful tool to get kids engaged and ready to get started. Did you grab your Free Writing Prompt Guide yet? I love using prompts for morning work, writing time, centers, or as a homework assignment. The possibilities are endless! Be sure to try these prompts for narrative writing with your students!
Genre Based Prompts
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