Narrative Writing Teaching Resources
Teaching narrative writing this school year? Explore writing prompts, printable worksheets, storyboards and story maps and more teaching resources created by teachers for primary teachers like you.
This collection of teaching resources aligned with the Australian English Curriculum has been carefully curated by our expert teacher team to ensure every resource is ready to add to your lesson plans and ready for your students!
Is this your first year teaching students about writing narratives? Or maybe you're just looking for some fresh ideas to tackle the topic? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including a look at how narrative writing is included in year 3 and year 5 students NAPLAN testing.
What Is Narrative Writing?
Narrative writing is the act of writing a story, and those stories can be fictional or non-fiction accounts of something the student has experienced or learned about.
This type of writing is often popular with students as it allows them to use their imagination and creativity!
Narrative Writing and NAPLAN
Are your students sitting NAPLAN this school year? They may be required to show they can write a good narrative!
Narrative writing is one of the three writing genres assessed in NAPLAN — along with persuasive and informative writing.
Your students may be required to respond to a narrative writing prompt that presents a scenario or situation that students will have to use as a starting point for their story. Your class will then have about 40 minutes to plan, draft and edit their narrative story.
NAPLAN assessors will be looking for the following:
- Text Structure and Organisation — Year 3 and 5 students are expected to be able to structure a story with a clear beginning, middle and end. There should be a resolution by the end of the story.
- Characterisation — Characters should be well-developed and relatable.
- Setting — The narrative should describe a setting to immerse the reader in the story.
- Language Use — Year 3 and 5 students are assessed on their ability to use descriptive language to engage the reader.
- Dialogue — If dialogue is included in the story, students need to correctly use quotation marks.
- Grammar — Students are expected to edit and revise their work for errors, showing proper punctuation use and spelling words correctly.
- Narrative Techniques — A good narrative example for NAPLAN will show the student knows how to use techniques such as creating suspense, using figurative language and pacing the story.
Which Elements Does Strong Narrative Writing Always Contain?
Of course, not every student will be sitting NAPLAN this year, and standardised testing is hardly the only reason we need to help students make their narrative writing engaging and strong. So what do you need to know in general? There are certain key elements students need to understand and include, so we've compiled this quick refresher for you.
Plot
The plot of strong narrative writing is crucial — without it, there's no narrative! Keeping the reader interested from the start of a story involves developing the characters well and including conflict.
Structure
The structure of the text is just as important as the plot when writing a strong narrative. Students should be writing texts that include a beginning, middle and end. This can include a clear introduction that sets up the main conflict, a rising action that builds tension and excitement and a resolution that provides closure and ties up loose ends.
Descriptive Language
Teaching students to go beyond overused words like "said" or "nice" and using more descriptive language can help them make their narrative writing stronger. This graphic element of writing works with imagery and figurative language to help readers visualize the story.
Descriptive language helps the reader to visualize the setting and the characters. Sensory details can help kids set the scene in their essay or story.
Point of View
Whether it is written in the first-person, the third-person or flips back and forth, a piece of strong narrative writing has a clear point of view. This helps the reader better understand the narrator or protagonist.
What Is a Hook in Narrative Writing?
One feature of narrative writing you may want to focus on with your students this school year is the art of writing a 'hook' to capture the reader's attention and draw them into the story. This is a compelling introduction that will engage the reader and make them want to keep reading!
There is no one kind of hook! It can be anything from an interesting fact or question to a dramatic opening scene or dialogue.
8 Narrative Writing Examples and Assignments to Share With Your Students
Are you looking for some different examples of narrative writing assignments that will engage your students and inspire them to write? Try these ideas from our teacher team!
- A personal narrative about a special day the student will never forget
- A fictional narrative about a group of friends going on an adventure
- A descriptive narrative that uses sensory details and describing words to create a vivid image of riding a rollercoaster
- A historical narrative that tells the story of their favourite historical figure
- A reflective narrative that explores the writer's thoughts and feelings about going to secondary school one day
- A fantastical narrative that includes magical or imaginary elements like the arrival of a magic hat in the classroom
- A humorous narrative that uses comedic elements to entertain the reader about a time the PE teacher was replaced by an alien
- A collaborative narrative that involves students writing a chapter book in small groups
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Printable Graphic Organiser Worksheets
A collection of 14 different blank graphic organisers to use in a variety of ways in all subject areas.
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Objects in the Sky – Writing Prompts
Describe objects in the sky, such as the clouds, moon and sun, with this set of 8 space science writing prompts.
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Literary Recount Text Type Poster With Annotations
A poster about literary recounts, including an annotated example.
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Personal Recount Sequencing Activity - Surprise!
A worksheet to use in the classroom when learning the sequence of a personal recount.
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Adapt a Short Story – Change the Complication
Explore the role the complication of a story plays within narrative structure with this engaging and fully scaffolded writing project booklet.
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Narrative Writing Craft Packs
Help early writers escape writer's block with this scaffolded narrative writing craft pack.
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Roll to Create a Magical Story – Dice Game
Get your students writing magical stories during Book Week 2024 with this engaging and interactive “Roll to Create” dice game.
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Narrative Writing Bump It Up Wall – Year 6
A visual display for your classroom to help students ‘bump up’ their narrative writing.
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Alphabet Characters Story Generator Cards
A set of cards using alphabet-related image prompts for writing.
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Adorable Animal Finger Puppets Template
Download a set of 12 animal finger puppets to use when teaching poetry, creating narratives and more.
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Write a Short Story – The Quest
Get your students analysing and writing a quest story with this engaging and fully scaffolded writing project booklet.
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Adapt a Short Story – Change the Narrative Setting
Explore the role the narrative setting plays within a story with this engaging and fully scaffolded writing project booklet for primary students.
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Year 2 Narrative Writing Assessment Pack
Help students nail narrative writing with this scaffolded zoo adventure narrative writing assessment pack.
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Year 1 Narrative Writing Assessment Pack
Help your students master narrative writing with this scaffolded Year 1 Narrative Writing Assessment Pack, built around an exciting “Unexpected Visitor” story theme.
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Roll an Adventure Story - Storytelling Dice Game
Roll and write an adventure story during Book Week using our Roll An Adventure Storytelling Game.
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Creative Writing Prompt Choice Boards - Lower Primary
Encourage your little learners to write with fun writing prompts for years 1 and 2.
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5 Narrative Writing Stimulus Sheets
Writing stimulus sheets with a narrative focus.
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Seven Sensational Story Starters PowerPoint
Inspire creative and catching narrative story starters with this story starters set of teaching slides.
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NAPLAN-Style Assessment Rubric - Narrative Writing
A NAPLAN-style rubric designed to help teachers to assess students' narrative writing.
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Narrative Setting Prompts Posters
A set of 2 posters giving ideas for the setting of a narrative.
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Paragraphs in Narrative Writing Poster
Use this classroom poster to help your students write engaging and well-structured narrative paragraphs.
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The Penalty Kick - Write a New Ending to a Story Activity
Promote resilience and boost narrative writing skills with a football-themed ‘Write a New Ending to a Story’ reading prompt and writing activity for National Simultaneous Storytime 2026.
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First, Then, Finally Sort and Writing Template
Help your students sequence ideas for a narrative story with these narrative element prompts and a First Then Finally Writing Template.
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Play Script Template
A template for students to use when writing their own play script.
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Narrative Writing Bump It Up Wall – Year 4
A visual display for your classroom to help students ‘bump up’ their narrative writing.
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Connecting Words in Narrative Writing Worksheet Pack
Teach how connecting words can be used to link ideas in narrative writing with this set of 5 activity worksheets with answers.
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Adventure Story Starter Task Cards
Print and use these Adventure Story Starter Task Cards to inspire adventurous narrative writings during Book Week.
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Narrative Writing Lesson - Story Leads to Hook Readers
Hook readers with this narrative writing lesson that introduces your students to eleven story lead strategies.
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Change the Ending of the Story Worksheets
Help students change the ending of a story with this set of worksheets.
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How to Write a Fractured Fairy Tale Worksheet Pack
Engage students in narrative writing and explore how to write a fractured fairy tale with this set of worksheets
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Build a Magical Story Interactive Activity
Use this “Build a Magical Story” narrative writing interactive activity to model the purpose, structural elements and language features of narrative texts.
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Inspiring Story Starters Task Cards
Get your students writing inspiring stories with this set of story starter task cards.
- Narrative Writing Templates
- Narrative Writing Worksheets
- Narrative Writing Teaching Presentations
- Narrative Writing Posters
- Narrative Writing for Foundation Year
- Narrative Writing for Year 1
- Narrative Writing for Year 2
- Narrative Writing for Year 3
- Narrative Writing for Year 4
- Narrative Writing for Year 5
- Narrative Writing for Year 6