Narrative Writing

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Prewriting for Narrative Paragraphs

Prewriting for Narrative Paragraphs

Prewriting is your first step in writing a narrative paragraph. These prewriting activities will help you select a memory to write about, create a focus statement, and gather and organize your details before you begin a first draft.

Prewriting to Choose Your Topic

Your narrative paragraph will share a special memory from your life. Here’s how you can get started.

Gather writing topics.

Finish the sentence starters below to collect writing ideas for your narrative. Draw a star next to the topic you like best.

  1. One of my favorite times with my best friend was . . .
  2. I’ll never forget the holiday when . . .
  3. I’ll never forget my family vacation to . . .
  4. One crazy thing my family did was . . .
  5. I’ll always remember the first time I . . .
  6. An exciting time in my neighborhood was when . . .

Teaching Tip

Students may also decide to use a writing topic from the “My Memory Wishes” activity.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Reading a Narrative Paragraph

Reading a Narrative Paragraph

Before you capture your own memory wish in a narrative paragraph, you should read a similar paragraph created by a different student. As you read and respond to the paragraph, think about how the writer made the memory come to life for the reader.

Reading a Narrative Paragraph

A narrative paragraph tells a true story from the writer’s life. It has three main parts. The topic sentence introduces the topic of the story. The body sentences tell what happened in the story. And the ending sentence wraps up the story. The sample paragraph tells about a special trip to the zoo.

Listen to "Polar Bear Games"

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Sample Paragraph

Polar Bear Games

Topic SentenceI’ll never forget the time I saw the playful polar bear. My family and I were at the polar bear pen at the zoo. Inside the pen, a white polar bear named Amelia was wrestling with a log. Body SentencesThe bear rolled around and tossed the log into the air. Then she batted it into a giant swimming pool. But the polar bear wasn’t done with the log just yet. She leaped into the water and disappeared. “Let’s go down to the water-window!” I said, so my sister and I raced down to find her. Next, we pressed our faces against the glass, and the playful polar bear swam right in front us.Ending Sentences And guess what? She had the log tucked under her arm!

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Warm-Up for Narrative Paragraphs

Warm-Up for Narrative Paragraphs

Writing a Personal Narrative
(c) Thoughtful Learning 2016

This lesson will help you think about important memories you have that you would like to share in a narrative paragraph.

What Is a Narrative Paragraph?

Listen to "What Is a Narrative Paragraph?"

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A narrative paragraph is a short piece of writing that captures an important moment in your life. Narrative is another word for "story."

Your mind is like a bank for memories. It saves and stores special moments from your life for you to remember and enjoy. For example, what about that day that you hit the winning home run? In a narrative, you pull out a memory from your mind bank and tell the story to others. This unit will show you how to turn a special moment from your life into a story for readers to enjoy.

Thinking About Special Memories

Wouldn’t it be neat if you could experience something great all over again? Imagine if a genie granted you the power to relive three of your favorite memories. What memories would you do over?

Here’s how one student used his three memory wishes.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Understanding Narrative Paragraphs

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

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.

Narrative Writing