A New Model for Teaching Narrative Writing Jon Weldon, Concept Schools

A New Model for
Teaching Narrative
Writing
Jon Weldon, Concept Schools
Director of English Education
Why teach narrative writing?
Every student has a story to tell; we all
have stories
 Become better readers
 Easy to transfer the skills to other types of
writing; beginning point for other writing
 Concept Writing Contest!!!

Students need the how, not the
what…
…Strategies
…and activities
Parts of Writing:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Getting Started
Details and Figurative Language
Creating Dialogue
Feelings and Sensations
1.
5.
6.
Smell, Touch, Sound
People and Action
Scenes and Settings
1. Getting Started: Where are your
students?

Pretest with a simple prompt
a.
Write a story about an event that is important to
you for some reason. Write about it in as much
detail as you can so that someone reading it will
be able to see what you saw and feel what you
felt.
Collect and rate for groups
 Save to combine with post-test

Model – Show an example
Richard Wright piece
 Discuss and dramatize it
 Outline the events

 What
initiates the action?
 What is the character trying to do?
 What are the results of the action and
attempts?

Examine specific details
Getting Story Ideas
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Read the model story.
Share!
Show them the 8 questions.
Have them brainstorm their own ideas.
In groups, each student shares best two
ideas.
Students give feedback on best idea.
2. Students ask pointed questions.
1.
My stories





the time I got in trouble in preschool for peeing in the
corner of the playground
the summer I had athlete’s foot so bad that I could not
swim, wear shoes, or stand up too long
the time I snuck out of my friend’s house. We had to
push his car down the road so his parents wouldn’t hear
him start it and drove to the next town to go to a
warehouse rave.
When I set the state record for the mile in high school.
During my two years living in Oakland when I saw a
“rockabilly” fight in a warehouse
1.
What experiences have made you feel really happy or very sad?
2.
What experiences have been very alarming or really frightening?
3.
What experiences have made you feel proud of yourself?
4.
What have been the most difficult tasks you have had to
undertake?
5.
What contests or games have you tried hard to win?
6.
What experiences have made you feel ashamed of yourself?
7.
What experiences have made you realize that you truly care
about someone?
8.
What experiences have made you laugh?
Questions to ask
What needs to be explained about setting?
What do we need to know about characters?
What initiates or begins the action?
What does main character attempt to do?
What are the results?
How does the character respond?
What do characters say to each other?
2. Details and Figurative Language
The Seashell Game
Object of the game: Describe a shell so well
that another student would be able to pick
it out from a class set of shells.
This game is about incorporating detail
Model one especially impressive shell.
Write responses on board as a class
Seashell Game
1.
2.
3.
1.
Give each person (group) two shells. Tell them to
choose one and describe it as best they can.
Pass the description and shells to another
person (group).
4.
1.
They must choose which one the other wrote about.
The second “reader” underlines the details that
helped him/her identify the shell.
5.
1.
Note best details.
Frame the Description – The Paragraph
1.
2.
3.
(write out the notes in a paragraph)
Hand out yesterday’s notes
Discuss opening and closing statements.


4.
Write it in paragraph form as a class.

5.
6.
Use only one word to describe the shell.
Encourage variety in sentence structure.
Grammar Time!
In groups, they revise their particular shell.
Share.
On Their Own



Students select their own shell and write a
descriptive paragraph about it.
Another student finds it among all 30-40 shells
based on the description.
Create a class display or museum.
Things to keep in mind:




Need 6 to 8 pairs of similar shells but different in
species
For group work, shells should be more than 2
inches long
Avoid colors like green and purple, that are
uncommon among shells
Resources for shells:
 www.shellworld.com
 www.seashellcity.com
Seashell Game Reflections




Compare their 1st and 2nd paragraphs
Effective learning begins with a concrete
experience
Develop criteria for judging the work in order to
assess your teaching
Focus on the procedural knowledge (process)
 Observations


 paragraph  revision
Teacher  Group  Individual
Use activities that allow students to interpret
data (details, opening) themselves
3. Creating Dialogue
I go you be trippin
He goes na you shouldn’a said that
I’m like you better get outta my face
And then he goes I’m through wit you and
walks off
I started yellin like I’m gonna tell everyone
what you did
Introduce the concept
With Wright piece, ask students to underline
every place a character says something.
Have a short discussion about the dialogue.
1.
2.

3.
Consider the story without dialogue.
Give a scenario and create dialogue as a
class.



4.
Distribute scenario sheets and create dialogue
in groups.

5.
Characters
Stage directions, as a play
Model how to on the board
Each member copies down the dialogue.
Collect copies to assess
Give short lesson on writing needs
Use previous class dialogue as model
6.
7.

Grammar Time!
Example: Review stage and actor directions.
Scaffolding sentence structure.
8.
9.

She enters.  She enters on tiptoe, sneaking up to
David like she’s about to strangle him.
Practice lesson in groups with previous
dialogue
Practice dialogue
Act out the dialogue.
10.
11.
12.

Strong readers go first.
From Scripts to Narratives
1.
2.
3.
Distribute dialogue and discuss how this could
be made into a story.
Distribute rules for punctuation and read over
them.
Create the narrative dialogue as a class



4.
Keep it present tense
Encourage analogies for characters’ speech
Encourage creative comparisons: animal sounds
Complete the rest of the narrative
independently.
Working Independently
1.
Students choose a story idea with
dialogue and write it first as a script.
 Correct
the script dialogues; focused
 Have students read theirs and get feedback
 Discuss how it can be changed to a narrative
2.
Write dialogues as narratives
 Focus

on building out sentences
Example: From “She says” to “Tipping her head
to the side and squinting her eye, she says”
4. Sensations – Describing Sounds



Perhaps the best example of sound in a passage is
Poe’s “A Tell-Tale Heart”. Provide a copy to the students
and ask them to find all the descriptions of sound.
Create a list of the sounds.
Develop a sound script – a list of sounds and when they
are used in the story, as if it was a movie.



Students can be assigned sounds to bring in. Or, you can find
them at www.freesound.org
Each student is responsible for at least one sound.
Write the sound directions in the margins by the
appropriate places.
Describing Sounds
Indicate the source of the sound.
 Use words that imitate the sound.
 Break complicated sounds into parts.
 Describe the character and texture of the
sound.
 Comparisons – Use figurative language or
analogies to describe the sound.

Automatic dishwasher
Automatic ice-cube maker
Someone taking a shower
Basketball player playing alone in a gym
Gas-powered lawn mower
Late-night sounds near your house
Screen door slamming
Sawing a plank in half
18-wheeler truck
A sound of your choice
(The sound of silence)
Crossing Senses
Odors
Fresh cut grass
Exhaust fumes
A beach
A forest
A locker room
A bakery
A shoe store
Favorite food
Color
 Shape
 Weight
 Temperature
 Sound

Color Relay Game
1.
Get color swatches from the paint store.
1.
http://www.hessler.com/PANTONE%28R%29%20color%20bri
dge%28TM%29%20CMYK%20PC%20copy.pdf
2.
Write a color on the board – ie “orange” – and have
all the students think of synonyms for that color.
Examples: burnt orange, neon orange, basketball orange, tiger
orange
2.
Independent (HW) work. Choose two other colors and
list 9-10 synonyms of that color.
Do not include generic terms, like light, dark etc
3.
Color Relay Game – Students have to find as many
synonyms as possible for each color.


set up stations with swatches of a particular color.
In groups of 3 or 4, they travel to each station, making lists of
their color synonyms.
5. Writing About People
1.
2.
Begin by showing a characterization of
someone.
Discuss. What do you see? What does
this say about the person?



What other details do you notice?
What about his face?
What do you think he thinks of other people?
Writing About
People
A Voluptuary under the
horrors of Digestion
3. Group Work
What do all these details suggest about the habits
of this man?
 How would you describe his character?
 What would it be like to visit this man? How would
he treat you?

4. Individual Work

Imagine you have gone to visit the Prince of
Wales. Write a letter to one of your friends about
the experience. How did he behave? Be specific.
Include thoughts and sensations. Include dialogue.
5. Final Assignment – Writing about a person
in your story
6. Describing Scenes and Settings
The Massacre of the Innocents, Peter Brueghel
1.
2.
3.
4.
Have students describe a part of this scene.
List responses.
An excellent moment for combining sentences.
Provide a model scene in a story.
Example: Richard Wright excerpt
 What senses does he appeal to?
 What comparisons does he make?
 Overall, what do you think he thought about this
time in his life?
 What is your feeling after reading this?
Students choose their own event they
remember with great pleasure and write a
series of images about it.
6. In groups they share.
5.




How do you think the writer wants you to feel?
What details are most effective?
What parts are not clear?
What questions could the writer answer with more
detail?
Conclusion
1.
Write a narrative using one of the following prompts:





2.
Write a fictional narrative using the follow prompt:

3.
The monster under the bed…
The monster with a bad cold…
The monster with a silly hat…
The monster who wouldn’t brush his teeth…
The monster and the sticky chewing gum…
The Big Old House: What Secrets does it Hold?
Write a narrative using one of the following prompt:





And here I stand… the last warrior.
And here I stand… the lone survivor.
And here I stand… exhausted but safe.
And here I stand… proud to be an American.
And here I stand… happy to be alive.