Teaching Narrative Writing the Easy + Fun Way!

“You can make anything by writing.” C.S. Lewis

If narrative writing is in your curriculum, rejoice! What a thrill for students to be able to take the ideas that are in their own minds, put them onto paper as original stories, and share them with others!

These days, the amount of text-based writing greatly outnumbers the amount of creative writing opportunities, so when that narrative writing standard pops up grab hold of it and make it count!

I’ve taught narrative writing for many, many years, and this is the strategy that I have found to be the easiest, simplest, and most effective. It’s also the most enjoyable to teach AND the most fun for students to implement because it follows the same structure as most of the stories, movies, and television shows they know and love.

Here it is: CSP, 123.

Repeat it one more time: CSP, 123.

What does that even mean, you ask?

It’s quite simple.

CSP= Characters, Setting, Problem

1: First attempt to solve the problem. It fails.

2: Second attempt to solve the problem. It also fails.

3: Third and final attempt to solve the problem. It’s a success!

This simple and straightforward formula is the ticket to getting students to ENJOY writing. No cajoling, coaxing, prompting, begging, or bribing necessary. They just “get” it—and you get to enjoy all of the idea sharing that is destined to follow! 🙌🏽

Unsurprisingly, picture books make the BEST introductions to narrative writing.

Below you’ll find my absolute favorite mentor texts for jumping into narratives ⬇️

They each follow the CSP, 123 structure gloriously, although a few have more than three attempts to solve the problem. NBD.

Once they are primed with the CSP, 123 structure and ready to write, pass out the narrative planning frame or have students simply jot down ideas on a sheet of paper. I also introduce narrative hooks and transitional phrases (not at the same time!) and designate them as growing lists so that we can add ideas to them as we go.

The most important thing is to model, model, model! You can plan a narrative as a class and write the entire story together, write the introduction and final attempt together and have students write the first and second attempts independently, have students plan a narrative in pairs and take turns writing—really, the options for scaffolding are endless!

Here is a sample narrative writing prompt: Tell about a time you went on a trip with your class.

After reading it together, have students place all of the story elements on the narrative planning frame. They can also highlight or color-code where each element is found in the text. Use it as a model or as a writing springboard.

Furthermore, to get students’ writing feet wet, I have them change one of the attempts and try writing just one part at a time and then share out. Encourage them to elaborate the action! What does it look, sound, smell, and feel like to try to solve the problem?? Please don’t worry about proper punctuation or perfect use of dialogue! What matters is that the story structure is in place, the ideas are flowing, and they are excited to share what they wrote with others!

The Field Trip Fiasco

“All right, guys and gals. The time has come to start getting ready for our field trip! Who else is excited to head to the theater for a live performance of Matilda the Musical?” Mrs. Callaway, the drama teacher, inquired. Twenty-five sets of hands enthusiastically waved in the air as the noise level hit a crescendo with hoots and hollers and excited whispers. “Now is the time to use the restroom and gather your things. We will be heading down to the bus in five minutes.” As Mrs. Calloway gave more directions, Penelope and Clara were excitedly whispering in the back of the room. “I’ve been waiting all year to see Matilda the Musical! It’s my favorite! I even have my very own copy of the script for the cast to sign!” Waiting for the line to dissipate, they quickly used the restroom and then joined the class to parade downstairs to the bus loop. At the bottom of the stairwell, Penelope suddenly froze, slapping her palm to her forehead. “Oh no!” she wailed. “I left my script in the bathroom! I have to go back and get it!” As she turned to go, Clara grabbed her hand. “I’ll go with you! But let’s hurry!” Minutes later the girls returned, Penelope clutching her copy of the script, anxious to rejoin their waiting class. Both girls stopped short at the bottom of the stairs, gaping at the silent, empty hallway. “Ahh!” shrieked Clara. “They left without us!” In a panic, they raced to the window and peered out, confirming what they already knew to be true: the bus was speeding down the street toward the theater leaving the two girls in its wake.

“This is just terrible!” moaned Penelope. “What are we going to do?!” “Well, we can’t just stand here! Let’s race after it!” shouted Clara. “Look! They stopped at the red light! If we hurry, I know we can catch up to it!” As quick as lightning, they sprinted down the hall and out of the front of the school. Arms pumping, legs flying, they flew after the bus screaming, “Stop! Wait! Don’t leave without us!” SCREECH! Just as they approached the red taillights, the stoplight turned green and the bus zoomed away, leaving only a cloud of black exhaust fumes behind. All hopes for catching up to the speeding yellow bullet were soon dashed. “Aw man, what now?” panted Penelope.

Clara placed her hands on her hips and bent over to catch her breath. “Give…me…a…minute…to…think…,” she murmured, exhaling loudly. Suddenly she bolted upright and exclaimed, “I’ve got it! Why don’t we get an Uber? My mom downloaded the app on my phone when her screen was cracked, and all of her information is still on it!” Before Penelope could respond, Clara had whipped out her phone, opened the Uber app, and plugged in their location. After a long period of anxious waiting, a yellow jeep finally pulled up to the curb alongside the two students. “Hi, can you take us downtown to the theater? We missed our bus!” Penelope exclaimed to the bewildered Uber driver. He looked them up and down then pointed to a sign on the window.    NO KIDS ALLOWED WITHOUT PARENT SUPERVISION. “Aw man,” whined Clara. “Can’t you make an exception? It’s an emergency!” The driver was clearly annoyed. “Rules are rules, kids. And time is money. I’m out of here.” Penelope sat down on the curb and groaned. “We are officially doomed.”

“Not yet, we’re not,” announced Penelope. Clara followed her gaze over to the bike rack. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Clara raised her eyebrows and nodded. The two students high-tailed it over to the bike rack and began looking for unlocked bikes. “Here’s one!” Clara exclaimed as she pulled a hot pink kindergarten bike, complete with glittery streamers and training wheels, out of the rack. “I found one too!” exclaimed Penelope, honking a large red Spiderman horn. Minutes later they were peddling out of the parking lot, knees bumping the handlebars of the too-small bikes, wind streaming through their hair, peddling furiously down the road. Soon they pulled up in front of the theater, just as the bus was letting off the last passenger. “We made it!” they cried breathlessly, parking the bikes near a bush and jumping in back of the line. “Penelope? Clara? Why are your faces so red? You look like you’ve run a marathon!” inquired Mrs. Calloway. The girls exchanged a worried look. “Oh, we were just laughing really hard in the back of the bus,” Penelope nervously replied. “Well, I’m glad you got your giggles out because it’s time to turn off our voices. The doors to the theater are opening.” She nodded toward the entrance and the girls exhaled in relief. They were all too happy to plop down in the cool, dark theater and enjoy the spectacular performance. “I can’t believe we made it!” whispered Clara. “Yeah, it’s a Matilda miracle! But we still have one minor problem… What are we going to do with those bikes?

That’s it for now! Shoot me an email if you need more narrative models—I’ve got plenty! ✏️

yours in reading (and narrative writing!),
rawley