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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Christmas Writing Prompts for Beginning Writers
Celebrate Christmas time and practice those writing skills with your young sentence writers.
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Christmas Writing Prompt Dice Game - Roll-a-Story
Roll a Christmas Writing Prompt and write a fun Christmas story with our printable Christmas Dice activities.
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Roll to Create a Christmas Story - Writing Prompt
Roll the die to generate a fun Christmas writing activity with a roll-to-create Christmas worksheet.
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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 an Acrostic Poem Worksheet
Set your students up for success when writing an acrostic poem with this set of scaffolded, easy-to-follow worksheets.
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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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Narrative Plot Structure - Story Mountain Template
Use a story mountain template to help your students write narrative stories.
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Five Senses Poem Craft Templates
Use this five senses craft to introduce your students to descriptive language and five senses poetry.
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Letter to Santa Template
Write a letter to Santa with a printable letter to Santa Template that includes fill-in-the-blank sections to help young students build their letter.
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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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Sensory Chart Graphic Organizer
A graphic organizer for students to use when categorizing sensory details.
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"I Have a Dream" Writing Prompt Page
Observe MLK Day by encouraging students to think about their “dream” for the future by writing it as a speech.
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My Ideal World – Writing Template
A template for students to use when writing about their ideal world.
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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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Comic Strip Templates
Download a comic strip template pack to inspire creative writing in your classroom!
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Kindergarten Visual Writing Rubric
Help your little learners perfect their writing with a kindergarten visual writing rubric.
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Roll to Create a Silly Book Title - Differentiated Writing Activity
Have some fun with a hands-on Read Across America activity using a die and chart to create a silly book title and storybook.
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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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Kids' Christmas Craft and Holiday Writing Prompts
Build an eye-catching Christmas bulletin board with holiday writing templates for your elementary students.
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On the Farm - Vocabulary and Writing Prompts
Inspire young farmers to read and write about the farm with farm-themed writing prompts and word wall cards.
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Build a Sandcastle-Writing and Craft Activity
Excite your students for the upcoming summer with a narrative writing and craft activity.
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Rhyming Poems Poster and Template
Teach your students all about rhyming couplet poems with this classroom poster and accompanying student worksheets.
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Concrete Poem Poster and Templates
Use this concrete poem example and accompanying template to teach your students how to write a concrete poem.
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Blank Comic Strip Template
A blank comic strip to use when developing and sequencing ideas for narrative and imaginative writing.
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Introduction to Narrative Features PowerPoint - Grade 3 and Grade 4
A 23 slide editable PowerPoint template to use when teaching your students about the features of narrative texts.
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Write a Haiku Poem Worksheet
Set your students up for success when writing a haiku poem with this set of scaffolded, easy-to-follow worksheets.
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Write a Cinquain Poem Worksheet
Set your students up for success when writing a cinquain poem with this set of scaffolded, easy-to-follow worksheets.
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Narrative Template Pack
Choose a narrative template from our versatile writing planning pack to help your students plan a fantastic piece of writing!
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Poetry Cloze Passage Worksheets
Use these poetry cloze worksheets to introduce your students to various types of poetry in a fun and engaging way.
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Life Event Poetry Prompt Task Cards
Use these poetry prompts to help your students write simple poems about their life experiences.
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People and Places Poetry Prompt Task Cards
Use these writing prompts for poetry to help your students write simple poems about people and places.
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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.
- 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