Middle School Narrative Essays Writing Unit | 6th 7th 8th Grade | Narratives |
This resource includes three weeks of middle school narrative essay writing lesson plans for teaching your sixth, seventh, and eighth grade ELA students how to write narrative essays using the mentor texts Ghost, Freak the Mighty, and The Outsiders, as examples for each lesson.
Be sure to check out the preview to get an idea of what's included in this resource.
All the lessons include students work examples and chart papers for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. If you teach all three grades, the units have been differentiated so you could teach this all three years.
Our examples are based on writing from a different characters' point of view from Ghost or Freak the Mighty or continuing the narrative from The Outsiders, but all serve as good examples for any texts you or your students use. If nothing else, the examples from this writing unit serve as their own mentor texts for you and your students to use.
There are 13 lesson plans and 15 sessions of narrative writing included in this resource:
- Session 1: Elements of Narrative Essays Part one
- Session 2: Elements of Narrative Essays Part Two
- Session 3: Narrative Plot Diagrams
- Session 4: Using Sensory Details
- Session 5: Using Dialogue Correctly
- Session 6: Using Dialogue Effectively
- Session 7: Ways to Start a Narrative, Writing Rough Drafts, Writing Conferences
- Session 8: Using Narrative Transitions, Writing Rough Drafts, Writing Conferences
- Session 9: Pacing Narrative Writing, Writing Rough Drafts, Writing Conferences
- Session 10: Ways to End a Narrative, Writing Rough Drafts, Writing Conferences
- Session 11: Consistent Verb Tenses, Peer Editing, Writing Conferences
- Session 12: Editing vs. Revising Rough drafts, Writing Conferences
- Session 13-15: Publishing final drafts, Writing Conferences
Other Resources Included:
1. Unique examples and notes using different mentor texts for each grade level
- Sixth Grade: Ghost by Jason Reynolds
- Seventh Grade: Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
- Eighth Grade: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
2. Interactive Notebook Lesson for Narrative Elements and Dialogue
3. Mentor Texts Lesson, Examples, and Assessment for Dialogue in Narratives
4. Ten Different Narrative Reference pages for students to use while writing or to make into a narrative reference booklet:
- Six elements of quality narrative essays
- Developing narrative plots
- Examples of sensory details in narrative mentor texts
- How and why to use dialogue in narrative essays
- Ways to start a narrative
- When to use transitions and lists of transition words or phrases
- Pacing narrative stories
- Ways to end a narrative
- Editing vs. Revising
- MLA Formatting of Essays
5. Editable peer editing checklist and forms
6. Editable Narrative Writing Rubrics and Checklists
7. Individual student writing conferences forms and examples
8. Examples of chart papers for every lesson
Standards
Reviews
Questions &
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Other Resources Included: The reader was not there, they need for you to paint a clear visual of the moment just as it happened. A narrative essay definition may vary in different universities and schools. Start your narrative with a thought provoking statement or by asking a question that anyone reading your report can think about as they continue to read your narrative paper.The reader was not there, they need for you to paint a clear visual of the moment just as it happened. A narrative essay definition may vary in different universities and schools. Start your narrative with a thought provoking statement or by asking a question that anyone reading your report can think about as they continue to read your narrative paper.
However, there are a few things that we need to learn about the general outline of a winning narrative essay: Introduction. Why is it important?
Therefore, I thought that Disneyland was a good invention for loving parents. Needless to say that what I saw in Ukraine turned out to be completely different from any place I had visited so far. Narrative essays accomplish a few things. While they often tell stories, they need to provide a purpose for telling the story. Many students will write about what they learned from their experience. Some will try to prove a point by including an anecdotal story. The goal is to share the experience and the purpose in a way that will get your reader to connect to your story and lesson.Narrative Essays Writing Guide: Tips from an Expert
With the writing requirements in today’s schools, many teachers are assigning fewer persuasive and informative essays because they are assigning more creative pieces, like narrative essays. Since these have not been traditionally assigned in many upper level courses, it is common for students to be skittish about the requirements and purpose of narrative essays. Most students think that a narrative essays is simply an essay that tells a story, but those students are wrong. Narrative essays include so much more. Here are a few tips about writing narrative essays from an expert writer:
Narrative essays accomplish a few things. While they often tell stories, they need to provide a purpose for telling the story. Many students will write about what they learned from their experience. Some will try to prove a point by including an anecdotal story. The goal is to share the experience and the purpose in a way that will get your reader to connect to your story and lesson.
Since narrative essays are often personal in nature, you can safely use the first-person pronouns, like I, we, and mine. In most other essays, those pronouns should be avoided, but not in narratives. Be aware of how often you use the pronouns and where you put them so you do not unintentionally begin every sentence with “I.”
In a narrative essay, your story needs to be complete. Be sure your story completes the plot outline with exposition, rising action, turning point, and denouement. Since you are writing an essay and not a short story, you can intersperse your reflections and realizations as you move through the narrative of the story.
Many students get jumbled in the organization of a narrative essay. They should be organized just like every other essay, with an introductory paragraph, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You should also have a thesis statement. Each individual body paragraph should be about one part of your story. It can be too confusing to the reader to tell the whole story and then reflect. When you keep the paragraphs focused, your reader will enjoy following your thoughts as you tell the story.
When you tell a good story, your reader will feel like he or she is there with you. This means that your narrative should be detailed enough that you reader can live through your words. Your reader cannot ask you questions for clarification, so make everything clear and easy to understand.
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In a narrative essay, your story needs to be complete. Be sure your story completes the plot outline with exposition, rising action, turning point, and denouement. Since you are writing an essay and not a short story, you can intersperse your reflections and realizations as you move through the narrative of the story.