Julia M. Biagiarelli
The objective of this unit is to teach narrative writing to upper-elementary-school students. The unit describes the elements of a narrative piece and the writing process, from generating ideas to revising and editing. There are sample lessons that concentrate on teaching particular skills that will enhance the written compositions of elementary-grade students. Many of the ideas are drawn from authors who are experienced teachers and have successfully taught writing to children of all ages.
Students will be instructed in: identifying components of a narrative through listening to stories and viewing images, creating interesting opening lines, maintaining a structure and purpose in the story, using descriptive writing effectively, exploring different points of view in different versions of the same story, relating images to writing, using literary devices, developing characters, writing for a particular audience, following models of writing they enjoy reading to create their own work, as well as revising and editing. The unit is also intended to align with the Connecticut Mastery Testing requirement for third- and fourth-graders that involves composing a narrative in the direct assessment of writing.
(Developed for Writing Block, grade 4; recommended for Literacy Block and Writing Block, grades 3-5)
