Strategies for Generating Powerful Narratives
Think about a place that matters
Drawing a map of an important place can bring back some powerful memories. In this strategy, students are asked to draw a place that has meaning to them. Once they identify their place, they are asked to come up with at least 3 memories tied to that location and draw something to symbolize each one. An emotion is tied to each memory and students draft the memories in the order of strongest to the least strongest emotion.
Think about a person that matters, the first and last time you did something
Students are asked to identify three memories tied to each category. They select one memory from each category they think would make the best story to draft.
Telling the Story
All too often, students want to write about every single event that happened in their memory. In 6th grade Narrative writing, students should be focusing on one specific moment from their memory and telling it bit-by-bit. The first part of telling the story, is to create a timeline of everything that happened in the memory. This may make students realize just how much they have to write about, and why telling every detail is not a great idea. Once students have created a timeline of the entire memory, they can decide what they really want their story to be about. They will select only one major event or detail they would like to elaborate on, and that is the story they will tell. It is helpful to create a second timeline focusing on that one event while also adding in sensory details. This timeline is basically a road map for students to use when they begin revising their selected story.
