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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St. Patrick's Day Writing Prompt Worksheets
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and write imaginative stories using a collection of narrative writing prompts.
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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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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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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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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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How to Write a Limerick - Worksheet Pack
Use this 2-page worksheet when teaching students how to write a limerick.
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Narrative Writing Prompts Worksheets
Download these engaging narrative writing prompts worksheets that spark creativity and make story planning easy for your students.
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Adventure Storytelling Cubes & Writing Templates
Use our Adventure Storytelling Dice templates to create an engaging Narrative Writing Station in your classroom.
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Roll an Adventure Story - Storytelling Dice Game
Roll and write an adventure story using our Roll An Adventure Storytelling Dice Game.
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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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Narrative Story Starter Worksheets - Writing Prompts
Use our printable narrative writing prompt worksheets to boost your students' imaginative writing skills.
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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 Criteria Checklist Pack
Use this narrative criteria checklist pack when teaching your students how to edit their narrative writing.
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Elements of Poetry Teaching Slides
Explore the key elements of poetry with your students using this comprehensive and age-appropriate slide deck perfect for your poetry writing unit.
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Forms of Poetry Teaching Slides
Explore the different forms of poetry with your students using this comprehensive and age-appropriate slide deck.
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Sensory Chart Graphic Organizer
A graphic organizer for students to use when categorizing sensory details.
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Sentence Starters for Writing Slides
Spark creativity with our sentence starters for writing slides that provide your students writing prompts across three writing genres.
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Developing Narrative Writing Skills - 3rd & 4th Grade
Teach your students about the structure and language features of narrative texts with an engaging interactive Narrative Writing Teaching Slide Presentation.
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Narrative Texts Teaching Slides
Teach your students the features of narrative texts using this detailed slideshow targeted at upper elementary school students.
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Writing a Narrative - Template
A template to use when planning a narrative text.
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Write an Ode Worksheet
Set your students up for success when writing an ode 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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Guided Narrative Writing Prompts for Beginning Writers
Help your young writers build confidence with this set of engaging narrative writing prompts, available as both printable worksheets and digital slides.
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Story Writing Prompt Worksheets
Use these early years story writing worksheets with picture prompts and word banks with your early writers.
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Wheel of Story Ideas
Download this wheel of story ideas to give your students access to dozens of fun story starters.
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Earth Day - Acrostic Poem Template Pack
An acrostic poem template pack to use in the classroom to celebrate Earth Day and National Poetry Month.
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All About Me! Simile Poem Poster and Worksheet
Get to know your students and explore poetry at the same time with this simile poem scaffolding template.
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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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Describe a Story Setting Worksheets
Download these engaging story setting worksheets that help students brainstorm descriptive language and write vivid setting descriptions with ease.
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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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Goldilocks and The Three Bears - Finish the Story Writing Prompt
Finish the Goldilocks and the Three Bears story in your own words.
- Narrative Writing Templates
- Narrative Writing Worksheets
- Narrative Writing Posters
- Narrative Writing Games
- Narrative Writing Word Walls
- 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