The Ultimate Narrative Criteria Checklist Pack

Editing is a crucial part of the writing process. Sometimes, our students like to skip over this process. This is where writing checklists can help!

To support your students in refining their self-editing abilities, Teach Starter has created this differentiated narrative criteria checklist pack. These narrative writing checklists help students verify that their narrative texts contain the appropriate structure and language features. Additionally, they serve as a guide for reviewing general writing conventions like spelling, grammar and punctuation.

Some of the statements found on these narrative criteria checklists include:

• I began with an orientation that introduces the setting, characters and plot.
• I included a complication (problem) for the main character to solve. 
• I included a series of events that builds toward an exciting climax. 
• I ended with a resolution to the problem.
• I used correct punctuation
• I checked my spelling.
• My sentences make sense.

The features included on each narrative writing checklist vary slightly, allowing you to choose the checklist that best suits your class or the abilities of individual students.

The Benefits of Using Narrative Writing Checklists

Using a narrative writing checklist as part of the editing process can greatly benefit our students by providing structure, focus and independence as they review their work. Here are some ways that this checklist for narrative writing can support writing improvement:

• Teaching Editing Skills – This narrative criteria checklist breaks down the editing process into manageable steps, teaching students how to evaluate their work systematically. Over time, they become more familiar with these steps and naturally use them.
• Boosting Confidence – Using a checklist for narrative writing empowers students to take ownership of their work. They can see what they’ve accomplished, which builds confidence and encourages them to make edits independently.
• Improving Consistency – By consistently using this narrative writing checklist, students will develop habits that lead to more polished narrative writing. The checklist serves as a constant reminder of writing conventions, which they will eventually adopt in their drafts.

Download This Narrative Writing Checklist Pack

This narrative checklist pack can be downloaded as either a black-and-white PDF or an editable Google Slides file. If you download the Google file, please note that you will be asked to make a copy to your personal drive.

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and a Teach Starter collaborator.

More Curriculum-Aligned Narrative Writing Resources

Teach Starter prides itself on our extensive range of teacher-created, curriculum-aligned resources. Check out some of our great narrative writing activities to cut down on your planning time!

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Story Ideas - Character, Setting, and Complication Cards

Help your students choose a topic to write about with this set of 36 character, setting and compilation task cards.

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5 Narrative Writing Prompt Stimulus Sheets

A set of 5 writing prompt stimulus sheets with a narrative focus.

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Story Elements Flipbook

Teach your students about story elements with this double-sided flipbook.