Understanding Narrative Paragraphs
In a narrative paragraph, you tell a story about a personal experience. You try to pull your readers into the story and keep them wondering what will happen next. Be sure to include specific details to make your experience come to life.
Read a narrative paragraph.
Note how the author catches your interest in the topic sentence, describes the event, creates suspense, and closes the paragraph.
Listen to "Climbing Contest"
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Topic Sentence Last Tuesday, I invited Danny, Julio, Renatta, and Mishiko to ride over to climb my favorite oak tree. We’ve all climbed the tree together before, but this time we decided to see who could climb the highest. Julio and Renatta climbed a little bit higher than usual, and I climbed almost to the end of one huge limb. Body SentencesMishiko climbed even higher than I did, but Danny won our little contest. Unfortunately, he didn’t realize how high he had climbed, until he looked down. He froze. He clung to the limb he was on and was afraid to climb down. What if he had to stay up in the tree all night? Renatta took off on her bike to tell her mom. Her mom called the fire department, and before long, an engine—with sirens blasting—arrived to rescue Danny. Ending Sentence It was very exciting, but we also learned a lesson about climbing contests.
Respond to the narrative paragraph.
Answer the questions below to think about the important information that all narrative paragraphs need to include.
- Who was involved in this event?
- Where did it take place?
- When did it take place?
- What happened?
- Why did it take place?
Teaching Tip
This paragraph is a personal narrative, which tells a real-life story. Fictional stories contain similar parts: people (characters) in a place and time (setting) experiencing an event (plot).
Prewriting for a Narrative Paragraph
When you write a narrative paragraph, your goal is to share an interesting event or important experience. Start by gathering details about the experience.
Gather details.
Think about something interesting that happened to you recently. Answer these questions to gather details.
- Who was with you?
- What happened?
- When and where did it happen?
- What did you see, hear, smell, taste, or touch?
Create a time line.
Put the events in time order. You can use a time line to write what happened first, then, next, and finally. Make a copy of this Google doc or download a Word template.
Time Line
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First |
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Then |
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Next |
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Finally |
Teaching Tip
To provide even more detail, students can create sensory charts. A sensory chart lists the five senses: see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Students then write sensory details that relate to the experience.
Writing a Narrative Paragraph
After you gather details about your experience, you are ready to write your first draft.
Write a narrative paragraph.
Create a topic sentence that names the experience and gives a special thought or feeling about it. Write body sentences that describe events in time order. Create an ending sentence that wraps up the story.
Teaching Tip
This part of the unit leads students through a brief period of prewriting and writing for each type of paragraph. The end of the unit gives them an opportunity to revise and edit their paragraphs.