Share this remixable student "How To Write a Personal Narrative" template. It includes 6 stages of writing: Brainstorming, Planning, Drafting, Revising, Editing, Publishing, and Presenting.

Personal Narrative Template

Templates, lesson ideas and activities to help you make the most of Be An Author month (March). Learn more at bookcreator.com/be-an-author

Be An Author Month 2024

Ruled paper

Teacher Tip!

Students will need to take their writing from the previous pages and put it all together.

Publishing your personal narrative means sharing it with others, using your best writing skills to make it as clear and interesting as possible, and maybe even adding some illustrations to help bring your story to life.

Writing a Personal Narrative for Kids - Episode 8: Publishing for Kids

Let's create our final draft with our best writing!

Have students work in partners or groups to give feedback to their edited drafts.

_________________ is reviewing the work of _________________

Tell something you like

Ask a question

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Intro Checklist

Start with a sound? Start with a question to the reader? Start with talking or dialogue? Start by describing the setting?

Type or upload an image of your writing here

Brainstorm Checklist

Think about up to 6 events to write about - but you will only pick 1!

What do you care about? Do you remember lots of details? How did it make you feel? Did you learn anything from it?

Pick one: Use the pen tool and circle the topic you plan on writing about.

Social Media Circle Sticker by Le Buzz Studio

Delete this page and any others you don't want before remixing it for your students.

Each activity within this template was designed to be an independent student activity. The teacher however is encouraged to edit this template to be used in differentiated ways including adult-led stations, enrichment, or for remediation. Every activity was designed to:

<ul><li>Support teachers in delivering best practice approaches to the writing process to save time and deliver better lessons</li></ul> <ul><li>Support students with instructions throughout the writing process to improve outcomes</li></ul> <ul><li>Encourage the writing process, not just the end result</li></ul>

Don't forget - writing doesn't just mean text!

Have students use photos, audio, illustrations, video, or shapes!

Draft Checklist

What happened next? Use descriptive words? Use a transition word? Write in complete sentences?

Transition Words: Next Then Later After or afterwards Suddenly Meanwhile Soon

What happened first? Use descriptive words? Use a transition word? Write in complete sentences?

Transition Words: First To start To begin One day In the beginning One time

What happened last? Use descriptive words? Use a transition word? Write in complete sentences?

Transition Words: Finally In the end In conclusion Lastly or At last In summary After all

Students can complete this page to be added to the front or back of their personal narrative!

Write about yourself here! How old are you? What grade are you in? What's your favorite subject in school? What do you like to do outside of school? Do you have any pets? Share your favorite things here!

You can pre-select a graphic organizer (or a few) for inclusion in your students' workbooks to help them with planning.

Figure out what you want to say and organize your ideas before you start writing. It's like making a map that helps you know what to include.

Writing a Personal Narrative for Kids - Episode 2: Making a Plan

Think about your topic. What events took place?

Engaging students in every phase of the writing process is essential as it nurtures their critical thinking skills, improves their capacity to express ideas coherently, and develops effective communication abilities. While not all writing tasks may require every stage, it's crucial for students to grasp the significance of each stage to enhance their writing consistently.

Editing your first draft means checking for mistakes in spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and making sure your sentences sound right. It's like polishing your writing to make it shine before you share it with others.

Writing a Personal Narrative for Kids - Episode 7: Editing

Now it's time to make sure we have correct capitalization, punctuation, &amp; spelling!

When editing:

Editing Checklist

Are words spelled correctly? Did you capitalize the first word and the word I? Does every sentence end in punctuation . ? !

Copy &amp; Paste each section or upload&#160; an image of your entire draft here:&#160; 1. Introduction,&#160;2. Details,&#160;3. Conclusion

<ul><li>Are sight words spelled correctly?</li></ul> <ul><li>Did you spell word parts correctly?</li></ul> <ul><li>Did you stretch out long words?</li></ul> <ul><li>Did you capitalize the first letter of a sentence?</li></ul> <ul><li>Did you capitalize the word "I"?</li></ul> <ul><li>Is there punctuation only at the end of each sentence?</li></ul> <ul><li>Did you use . or ! for telling sentences?</li></ul> <ul><li>Did you use ? for asking sentences?</li></ul>

Students can choose the format for their personal narrative. The following pages are just a few examples.

You can pre-select a graphic organizer (or a few) for inclusion in your students' workbooks to help them with brainstorming.

Brainstorming is when you come up with lots of different ideas and thoughts about a topic before you start to write!

Writing a Personal Narrative - Episode 1: Brainstorming a Story for Kids

Consider what you are going to write about!

Plan Checklist

What happened first? What happened in the middle? What happened last? How did each part make you feel?

Who was there? (characters) Where did it happen? (setting) When did it happen? (setting) How did it make you feel? (setting)

A personal narrative is a story about a true event that happened to you.&nbsp;It is meant for you to share your own emotions, reflections, and thoughts to create an authentic story!

Drafting the details of a personal narrative means writing down all the important parts of your story. This helps bring your story to life and make it interesting for your readers!

Writing a Personal Narrative for Kids - Episode 4: Writing a Draft

Think about your topic. What were the events that took place in order?

This book contains instructional pages on how to write a personal narrative.

This book contains the following Components:

<ul><li>Brainstorming &amp; Prewriting</li><li>Introduction</li><li>Details</li><li>Conclusion</li><li>Proofreading &amp; Editing / Revision</li><li>Publishing &amp; Presenting</li></ul>

To share this book, click Remix to copy the book into your library and then you can Assign to your students. For further help visit our <a href="https://intercom.help/bookcreator/en/articles/8587478-assign-a-book-to-your-students" style="color: rgb(253, 195, 62);">support pages</a>. Note also that this book is best reviewed in 'edit' mode. You'll see that there are directions and teacher tips in the book margins.

Students will need to take their writing from the previous pages and put it all together for this next section.

Revising your first draft means going back over your writing to make it better. You might add more details, fix mistakes, or change some parts to make your story or essay clearer and more interesting for your readers.

Writing a Personal Narrative for Kids - Episode 6: Revising

It's now time to re-read your entire first draft and make your writing better!

Revising Checklist

When revising:

Can you add any words or sentences? Can you remove any words? Can you change any words?

<ul><li>What is not important to my story?</li></ul> <ul><li>What doesn't make sense?</li></ul> <ul><li>Can I add any adjectives (describe nouns)?</li></ul> <ul><li>Can I add any adverbs (describe verbs/actions)?</li></ul> <ul><li>Can I add any details or take any away?</li></ul> <ul><li>Can I change any boring words to more interesting ones?</li></ul>

Drafting the closing of a personal narrative means writing the ending part of your story where you wrap up what happened and share any final thoughts or feelings.

Writing a Personal Narrative for Kids - Episode 5: Writing a Closing or Conclusion

Think about your ending. How did it make you feel? Why did you want to share this story?

Create Your Front Cover Here

For final drafts, we recommend copying the final pages into a new book or the previous pages can be deleted or remixed so that only the final draft is shown.

Teacher Tip #1

Have students work in partners or groups to give feedback to their first drafts.

Teacher Tip #2

Turn on <a href="https://intercom.help/bookcreator/en/articles/2398651-students-working-on-the-same-book-at-the-same-time" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">collaboration</a> so students can also leave one another comments below!

Instead of working on separate pages for each section, you could have students work on one page only and include each part as they write it.

Drafting an introduction means writing the beginning part of your essay or story where you introduce the topic to your readers and grab their attention by giving them a sneak peek of what your writing will be about.

Writing a Personal Narrative for Kids - Episode 3: Writing an Introduction

Think about your setting. How will you grab your reader's attention and hook them into your writing?

Presenting Checklist

Presenting a personal narrative means sharing your story with others, like reading or saying it aloud in front of your classmates or showing it through pictures or words in a project. It's an opportunity to use your voice and celebrate your unique perspective, and become an authentic author of your own tale!

I introduce myself and my story. I speak clearly and loud enough for all to hear. I use eye contact and look at my audience while speaking. I use expression and emotion when sharing my story. I am mindful of time and stay within the limit. I accept feedback from my teacher and peers to improve.

Create Your back cover here

There is usually a blurb on the back cover the tells the reader a bit about what your story is about...without giving away too many details! Can you write a blurb to get your reader excited about your story?

Students can complete this page for a back cover, or leave it out!

Proofreading Checklist

My words are interesting. My spelling, punctuation &amp; capitalization is correct! My story makes sense.

Proofreading your edited and revised draft means carefully reading through your writing to catch any remaining errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation. It's like giving your writing a final check to make sure it's perfect before you publish it and share it with others.

When Proofreading

Record yourself reading the story aloud and listen back to it. Does it make sense? Are you ready to publish and share it with others?

What is your conclusion? Use descriptive words? Share your feelings? Tell the reader why you wanted to share this story?

Conclusion: Be sure to share your feelings, hope for the future, lessons learned, or an update about your introduction or topic!

Name

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