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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Pirate Themed Mini Story Book Template
Students can use this template to create their own pirate themed mini story book.
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100 Days of School Writing Prompt
Use this writing template on your students' 100th day of school.
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Choose Your Own Destiny - Writing Template
Students use a template to help them write stories with alternative pathways for their friends to read.
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Literary Text Types Posters Teaching Resource Pack
A set of posters about the literary text types, including annotated examples for each.
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Developing Narrative Writing Skills Unit Plan - Year 3 and Year 4
This English unit addresses the narrative text type, specifically how to plan and write an engaging story.
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Exploring Narrative Texts Unit Plan - Year 1 and Year 2
This English unit uses fairy tales to introduce the narrative text type to younger students. It addresses the structure, characters and language features of a narrative.
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Writing Narrative Texts Unit Plan - Year 5 and Year 6
This English unit addresses the narrative text type; specifically, how to write an engaging narrative text.
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Introduction to Personal Recounts Unit Plan
This English unit has been designed to introduce the recount text type to younger students; specifically, the purpose, structure and language features of personal recounts.
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What's the Problem?
A 60 minute lesson in which students will develop a complication and resolution for a fairy tale.
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Dressing Up Sentences for Narrative Writing
A 60 minute lesson in which students will use descriptive language to add additional detail to sentences.
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Parts of a Narrative Story
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the parts of a narrative story.
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Exploring Simple Narrative Structure
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the structure of a narrative text.
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Narrative Texts - Language Features
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the language features of narrative texts.
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Narrative Features - Building a Character
A 60 minute lesson in which students will use descriptive language effectively to build a character.
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Narrative Features - Creating a Setting
A 60 minute lesson in which students will use descriptive language effectively to create a narrative setting.
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Narrative Texts - Text Structure
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the structure of narrative texts.
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Introducing Simple Narrative Structure
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify the structure of a narrative text using fairy tales.
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Narrative Features - Building a Character
A 60 minute lesson in which students will use descriptive language effectively to build a character.
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On the Weekend
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What Are Fairy Tales?
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the key features of the fairy tale genre.
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Constructing a Narrative Paragraph
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and use the correct paragraph structure for narrative writing.
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Narrative Texts - Language Features
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the language features of narrative texts.
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Applying Proofreading and Editing Skills
A 60 minute lesson in which students will learn and apply proofreading and editing skills.
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Narrative Texts - Text Structure
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the structure of narrative texts.
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Exploring Fairy Tale Characters
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the methods authors use to create a character.
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Narrative Skills - Planning a Story
A 60 minute lesson in which students will independently plan a setting, characters and plot for a narrative text.
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Narrative Features - Developing a Plot
A 60 minute lesson in which students will develop a plot for a narrative which includes a setting, characters and a problem to be solved.
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Creating a Narrative Writing Station
A 60 minute lesson in which students will discuss writing goals and explore a classroom writing station.
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Tell Me A Story
A 60 minute lesson designed to introduce the narrative text type using familiar stories.
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Narrative Features - Creating a Setting
A 60 minute lesson in which students will use descriptive language effectively to create a narrative setting.
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Personal Recounts - Text Structure
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the structure of personal recounts.
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Narrative Skills - Independent Writing
A 60 minute lesson in which students will independently write a narrative, using appropriate text structure, language and features.
- Narrative Writing Templates
- Narrative Writing Worksheets
- Narrative Writing Posters
- Narrative Writing Teaching Presentations
- Narrative Writing for For Foundation Year
- Narrative Writing for For Year 1
- Narrative Writing for For Year 2
- Narrative Writing for For Year 3
- Narrative Writing for For Year 4
- Narrative Writing for For Year 5
- Narrative Writing for For Year 6
- Narrative Writing for For Year 7