Narrative Writing Teaching Resources
Teach narrative writing this school year with writing prompts, printable worksheets, storyboards and story maps and more teaching resources created by teachers for elementary teachers like you.
This collection of TEKS and Common Core curriculum-aligned teaching resources has been carefully curated by our expert teacher team. That means not only is every resource teacher-created, but each one has undergone our review process to ensure it's ready for your lesson plan and 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!
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.
Which Elements Does Strong Narrative Writing Always Contain?
To make their narrative writing engaging and strong, 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
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 Get Students Writing
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 favorite president
- A reflective narrative that explores the writer's thoughts and feelings about going to high 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 their gym teacher was replaced by an alien
- A collaborative narrative that involves students writing a chapter book in small groups
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Roll to Create a Creature - Drawing Game
Use a die and a chart to create a creature to include in a narrative text or a comic strip.
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Write About It! Pumpkins - Differentiated Writing Prompts
Differentiate writing instruction in primary grades with a group of leveled fall writing prompts about pumpkins.
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Narrative Plot Structure - Story Mountain Template
Use a story mountain template to help your students write narrative stories.
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Roll to Create a Spooky Halloween Scene
Create a spooky scene to include in a narrative text using a die and a chart with this fun, hands-on Halloween activity.
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Roll to Create a Haunted House Halloween Activity
Have some spooky Halloween fun with a Roll-to-Create Halloween Art activity.
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Narrative Writing Planning Template
A template for students to use when planning a narrative text.
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Sensory Chart Graphic Organizer
A graphic organizer for students to use when categorizing sensory details.
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Halloween Narrative Writing Prompts — Finish the Story Writing Activity
Develop narrative writing skills this Halloween season with a printable “Finish the Story” writing prompt and craft.
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Halloween Writing Template - Big Mouth Mummy
Inspire spooky story writing with a printable ‘Big-Mouth Mummy’ Halloween writing craft.
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Roll to Create a Halloween Writing Prompt
Inspire some spooktacular Halloween writing with a roll-to-create Halloween Writing Prompt creator.
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Five Senses Graphic Organizer
A graphic organizer to use when brainstorming sights, sounds, smells, touches, and tastes.
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Roll to Create a Magical Story – Dice Game
Get your students writing magical stories with this engaging and interactive “Roll to Create” dice game.
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Fall Narrative Writing Prompts for Kids
Celebrate Fall and write imaginative stories using a collection of narrative writing prompts for second graders and beyond!
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Narrative Story Starter Worksheets - Writing Prompts
Use our printable narrative writing prompt worksheets to boost your students' imaginative writing skills.
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Character Profile Template Pack
Explore the personality, appearance, feelings and actions of a character with printable character profile templates.
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Time Order Words - Transition Words Word Wall
Help your students demonstrate the passage of time in their writing with 35 time-order transition word cards.
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Write a Spooky Story - Scaffolded Writing Project
Inspire your struggling writers to write spooky stories that contain all of the story elements with a set of scaffolded writing activities and final draft paper.
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Comic Strip Templates
Download a comic strip template pack to inspire creative writing in your classroom!
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Haunted House for Sale - Creative Writing for 5th Grade
Use persuasive language and description writing to sell a haunted house with this exciting Halloween Haunted House Project!
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Onomatopoeia Poems Poster and Templates
Use this onomatopoeia poem poster and accompanying template to teach your students how to write an onomatopoeia poem.
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Bloom's Taxonomy Fast Finisher Task Cards - Upper Grades
44 Bloom's Taxonomy fast finisher activity cards.
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Halloween Creative Writing Prompts - 4th and 5th Grade
Develop narrative writing skills this Halloween season with a set of printable Halloween writing prompts for 4th graders and 5th graders.
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Writing a Simile Poem - Worksheet
Experiment with similes by writing a simile poem about a special person.
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Disguise a Turkey — Thanksgiving Activity
Save Tom the Turkey with a Disguise a Turkey project template for Thanksgiving time in the classroom.
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Readers Theater – Play Writing Template
A template for students to use when writing their own Readers Theater script.
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Alliteration Poem Poster and Templates
Use this alliteration poem example and accompanying worksheets to teach your students how to write an alliteration poem.
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Narrative Criteria Checklist Pack
Use this narrative criteria checklist pack when teaching your students how to edit their narrative writing.
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Roll-a-Holiday Poem Dice Game
Get your students to write fun holiday poems with this engaging “Roll-a-Poem” dice game.
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Genre of the Month - Writing Prompt Grids (Upper)
Introduce your students to a variety of writing genres with our printable genre-specific writing prompt grids.
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Paralympic Sports – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students investigate the different types of Paralympic sports with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Monthly Writing Prompt Calendars - Lower Grades
Encourage your little learners to write with fun writing prompts for kids in early elementary school.
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Imaginative, Persuasive and Informative Paragraphs PowerPoint
Learn about the different structures of imaginative, persuasive and informative paragraphs.
- Narrative Writing Templates
- Narrative Writing Worksheets
- Narrative Writing Posters
- Narrative Writing Games
- Narrative Writing for Kindergarten
- Narrative Writing for 1st Grade
- Narrative Writing for 2nd Grade
- Narrative Writing for 3rd Grade
- Narrative Writing for 4th Grade
- Narrative Writing for 5th Grade
- Narrative Writing for 6th Grade
- Narrative Writing for 7th Grade