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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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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Christmas Writing Prompt Dice Game - Roll-a-Story
Roll a Christmas Writing Prompt and write a fun Christmas story with our printable writing worksheets.
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Christmas Writing - December Writing Prompts
Inspire your students to write creatively with a set of 30 Christmas writing prompts for kids.
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Dear Santa Letter Templates
Use a printable Dear Santa Letter template to write fun letters to Santa during your writing classes.
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Limericks for Kids - Poem Template
A 3-page limerick template and instructions for students to use when learning how to write a limerick.
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Narrative Prompts Posters
A set of 20 posters to display as narrative story prompts for students.
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Narrative Writing Planning Template
A template for students to use when planning a narrative text.
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5 Narrative Writing Stimulus Sheets
Writing stimulus sheets with a narrative focus.
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All About Me! - Simile Poem Poster and Template
Get to know your students and explore poetry at the same time with this simile poem scaffolding template.
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Seven Sensational Story Starters PowerPoint
A 10 slide editable PowerPoint template of story starters to use in narrative writing.
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Metaphors Worksheet
Practise identifying and using metaphors with this differentiated metaphors worksheet.
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Literary Devices Poster Pack
Explore the various literary devices used by authors with the set of colourful classroom posters.
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Narrative Writing Visual Prompts Presentation
A 19 slide teaching presentation containing visual narrative writing prompts.
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Narrative Elements Graphic Organisers – Portrait
Encourage your students to write and draw about various story elements with this set of differentiated graphic organisers.
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Narrative Plot Structure Template
A template for students to use when planning the plot structure of a narrative text.
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Forms of Poetry PowerPoint
A 28 slide editable PowerPoint template the use when introducing students to structured forms of poetry.
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Time Connectives Word Wall
Help your students demonstrate the passage of time in their writing with 35 time connective word cards.
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Developing Narrative Writing Skills PowerPoint - Year 3 and Year 4
A 18 slide editable PowerPoint template to use when teaching your students about the structure and language features of narrative texts.
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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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Roll to Create a Silly Book Title – Differentiated Writing Activity
Print a differentiated literacy activity using dice and a chart to create a silly book title and storybook.
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Using Quotation Marks in Narrative Writing PowerPoint
A 21 slide editable PowerPoint template to be used when teaching correct usage of quotation marks.
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Exploring Narrative Texts PowerPoint
Teach your students about the key elements of narrative texts with this comprehensive teaching presentation.
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Comic Strip Templates
A set of templates for students to write their own comics.
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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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Alliteration Poem Poster
A poster providing a definition and example of an alliteration poem.
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Rhyming Poems Poster
A poster providing a definition and example of a rhyming poem.
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Narrative Text Structure Posters
A set of 8 narrative text structure posters to add to your classroom narrative writing display.
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Acrostic Poems Poster
A poster providing a definition and example of an acrostic poem.
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Narrative Booklet Template – Storybook Theme
A storybook-themed booklet for students to use when publishing their narrative texts.
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Writing a Diamante Poem Worksheet
A 2 page worksheet for students to use when learning how to write a diamante poem.
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Narrative Writing Checklist (Simplified Version)
A checklist for students to use when proofreading and editing their narrative writing.
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Narrative Writing Checklist — Structure, Language and Features
A checklist for students to use when proofreading and editing their narrative writing.
- Narrative Writing Templates
- Narrative Writing Worksheets
- Narrative Writing Posters
- Narrative Writing Teaching Presentations
- 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
- Narrative Writing for Year 7