Welcome to the Narrative Writing Learning Space.

What is a narrative?

The purpose of a narrative is to tell the audience a story. It can be written to entertain, motivate or educate. Narratives can be both fact, fiction or a mixture of both. 

The following activities will introduce you to great strategies to help you to create exciting elements for your next story. 

traditional fairy tale - filled narrative story graphs

Brainstorming For Success - ADDITIONAL TASKS

'Writing isn't something you do with your pen - it's something you do with your brain.'

Generating story ideas is critical. Authors spend a long time developing their story ideas. To get ideas that are original and powerful, you need to practise generating them. Group Then you need time to develop and order your ideas to create a plan for your story. 

Whole Class Daily Tine In Activity: 

Learning Intention: To be able to generate concepts and ideas. Experience the power of group brainstorming. Understand the narrative story graph.

• Have a go at generating a story idea.

• Listen to others.

• Understand that the first idea is the one everyone else thinks of too. 

• The first few ideas are never the best.

• More ideas lead to better stories.

Record the word ‘run’ on a piece of butcher paper. Add some of your own story ideas, such as ‘bath water running over, the time I got the runs…’. Explain to the class that you will give them five minutes to work as a class to generate as many other ideas as possible. Explain that they will have 5 minutes. After completing the task, count the number of ideas. Explain to the class that they will complete this task again each day with a different topic and the aim to is be able to generate more ideas in the same time. As a class vote on the best idea and circle it. Discuss why it is the bext idea. 

As a whole class brainstorm at least 20 ideas to tackle the topic Ouch! and Smash! Record these on large poster paper and record time to try and achieve a best time of 5 minutes.

As a class and in small groups brainstorm at least 20 ideas to tackle the following topics:

Odd Year Topics:

• Run

• Magical House

• Bang

• Crack!

Even Year Topics:

• Trapped (Eg: pea in a microwave)

• Oops!

• "Quick! Before Mum Gets Home."

• Crash

• Chase

BACKFILL/CHARACTER CARE FACTOR/CHARACTER & SETTING INTRODUCTION

Step 3: Tightening Tension ACTIVITY 2

Learning Intention: I can build tension when writing a narrative.

Tension is when the author makes the reader feel that they are actually living the story using their emotions. For example: racing the volcano lava, in the raging river or scorched in the desert. They must see, touch and feel everything! A writer uses all five senses including: see, hear, touch, taste, smell and feelings (character emotions).

Use the 'A World Without Paper' video for an example of rising action and tension: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFEvDb1cToI 

Use Pixar Clips: www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pixar+short+films 

More examples using filled Story Graph samples: drive.google.com/file/d/1EHa4uuinYjS7hivhN--ngbZsXrjJsUYP/view?usp=sharing 

Tightening Tension Seven Steps PPT: docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vSSs7rJBwkwBD-4c5mGJLiCGjOej9K58/edit?usp=drive_link 

Rising Action

Stories have a plot, and a plot has five main parts: introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Rising action refers to the part of the story after the characters and setting are introduced and where the events of the story begin to create suspense as the character faces conflict. The story graph uses the words pebble, rock and boulder to explain how the events build up to the major complication in the story. The rising action of the story includes the events that help to build toward the climax of the story. The action in a story can rise steadily, or there can be a series of rises and plateaus as the plot builds toward the ultimate climax.

Example: The Three Little Pigs.

The Three Little Pigs story is about three brother pigs who leave their family home to build their own houses which are made of different materials being straw, sticks and bricks. A hungry Big Bad Wolf comes to blow down the first two pigs' houses, made of straw (pebble) and sticks (rock) respectively. The two little pigs run to the thid pig's home made out of bricks to escape the wolf. The wolf tries to blow the brick house down (boulder) but is unable to destroy the third pig's house, made of bricks. Instead the Big Bad Wolf decides to climb down the chimney to reach the little pigs, but slips and falls into a boiling pot of water (exciting ending). The Big Bad Wolf becomes wolf stew for the three little pigs to eat and enjoy. The pigs tell their mother all about the wolf and live happily every after (character wrap up). 

The Three Little Pigs Story: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRSX5s2J3WY 

Alpacas with Maracas Story: youtu.be/uIdJkoJ4TUA  Use the Story Narrative Story Board to review story Link: drive.google.com/file/d/1Ujk5M6Pkv8dqMZVnsZpLrpvUclpHIFxp/view?usp=share_link 

Whole Class Activity 1:

Learning Intention: To add tension to a story before the climax. 

Watch the short clip of a mother racoon trying to rescue her babies. Discuss how emotion was used to build tension.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exHJ_A0ED2o

Explain that it starts with action, it has tension straight away as a mother tries to save her babies from falling onto the road. Discuss what tension is and why this clip illustrates this so well.

Record ideas on the board. Discuss how tension can be developed using the pebble, rock and boulder strategy as seen in the narrative story graph.

Using the five senses helps us to achieve tension in a story. 

Use the Alliance ad as an example of rising tension and discuss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z80Gd--4OGA

Whole Class Activity 2:

'Have a go' by picking a topic such as those below or viewing the brainstorm posters on display in the classroom for ideas:

Begin with the problem and solution first and then work on the rising action (pebble, rock, boulder and then lead up to the climax)

• An accident

• A Grand Final Game of Soccer, Tennis, Cricket or Football match.

• An important family event

• A big storm starting as you walk home

• Late for school

• A family holiday

Brainstorm words to explain the event using the 6 senses to come up with words to explain what is happening. Create a list of words to describe how the character is feeling as the event takes place. Try building tension by creating a small (pebble) problem, then leading to another bigger problem (rock) and onto an even bigger problem (boulder) leading to the exciting resolution (action climax). Write your ideas into a paragraph for each step (pebble, rock, boulder).

Small Group Activity:

Complete the same task but with a small group of three. Complete the list in a book such as the Writer's Notebook. Record the rising action using full sentences. Refer back to the Pixar videos in Activity 1 to see how the rising action (tension) is built for more ideas. Share writing with the class.

Step 5: Show Don't Tell

Learning Intention: To know how to engage  

Show, Don’t Tell is a powerful weapon in the writer’s arsenal for engaging writing. If I tell you I am generous, do you believe me? No way. But if I buy all of your raffle tickets to help cancer research, are you more convinced? Use your characters’ actions to show the reader what they’re really like.

In informative and persuasive writing, engage or convince the reader by showing them one example to reflect a larger issue, e.g. one orangutan whose habitat has been destroyed.

More examples: www.sevenstepswriting.com/the-power-of-show-dont-tell/ 

Example 1:

‘I hate the beach. The first reason I hate the beach is…’

Example 2:

‘The beach. Sand in your pants, itchy sun-burn, squinty bright sky. Too hot on the sand, too cold in the water. No shade to speak of, and no peace to read a good book as screaming packs of kids kick sand onto your sun-dazzling pages. Oh yeah, some holiday.’

Well, we know what these writers think of the beach! But which of these two examples does a better job at evoking the writer’s feelings, prompting our understanding and empathy?

Show, Don’t Tell Action Activity

• Using a blank story board template (try this one), ask students to choose a topic and ‘draw the story’ (or mini-story) in 4-6 images. They should try to avoid words to start with. This is not a comic book or graphic novel, so the reason for having only 4-6 images is to choose the key moments that tell the story.

• Aim for actions and adjectives, sounds and the senses that reveal how the main character is feeling.

• If time permits, do this activity two or three times before asking students to select their best story board and share it with a partner or with the class.

• Students can choose their favourite story board to write as a narrative or a film script. Encourage them to use the story board as a reference about how to show emotions and senses in the images their words create and the experiences their main character has.

Topics:

1. A teacher agrees to take his class to the aquarium for the end of term outing, but he has a phobia of fish. Tell the story from the point of view of the teacher.

2. A girl is having a fun and exciting holiday with her family. She misses her dog who is at home safe with a friend, but she doesn’t tell her parents because she doesn’t want to seem sad.

3. A business person opens his or her briefcase at a really important meeting. There’s a frog inside! But they can’t tell anyone because they need to look serious.

4. A thief steals a large painting from the art gallery, then takes the bus to get away. They’re terrified that someone will notice any minute – but no one does!

5. The new kid at school is hoping someone will talk to him in the playground.

6. A young traveller is in a far-away country on their own. One day the ruler of this country tells them they are chosen to go on a special quest… Decide where and what for. How does the traveller feel?

7. Choose your own topic..

Step 7: Exciting Endings ACTIVITY 2

Learning Intention: To create an interesting ending to a narrative story.

Would you tell a joke without knowing the punchline? If you want to build to a big climax you have to know where you are heading

Let’s banish rushed endings, or the all-too common ‘It was all a dream’.

A call to action, a plot twist, a crucial question: find the most impactful way to end your piece. This way, you’ll leave a lasting impression on your reader.

1: Example Video: Radiator Springs - Hiccups: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIj4KZ-IQFY&t=2s 

2: Ormie: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUm-vAOmV1o 

Strategies to Create An Exciting Ending/With Impact:

• Action Climax - winning the grand final

• Emotional resolution - related to character care factor

• Ban quick endings - and then... The End, etc. 

Step 7: Exciting Endings ACTIVITY 3

Learning Intention: I can use different techniques to give story endings power and impact. Be able to write a narrative ending that has an action climax and an emotional resolution.  Understand the importance of planning the ending before you start writing.

View Exciting Endings Exemplars and discuss:

Ormie: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd63g3d8qOs (You finally think Ormie has succeeded until ... get students to watch for the false ending.)

Tales From Radiator Springs: Hiccups: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIj4KZ-IQFY  (Uses humour and the unexpected to end the story.)

Whole Class Task 1:

The Big Race

You've been training all year. The big race is tomorrow.

What happens? Write an exciting ending to your year of hard work. 

Make sure then ending includes an action climax and an emotional ending.

Or select a different topic such as: You get left behind on an excursion to the Zoo.

As a class brainstorm possible ending ideas (climax) and ideas for an emotional ending. 

Small Group Task 1:

In small groups repeat previous task but with new topics and in small groups. Brainstorm possible exciting endings with an emotional ending. Share these with the class.

Topic Ideas:

• You're being chased by a T-Rex and your time machine won't start.

• Use other brainstorm ideas from posters on display.

More Narrative Writing Stimulus Pages:

• 10 minutes planning time - Use pictures and descriptive words to help create a story.

• 30 minutes - writing a first draft

• 10 minutes - edit, revise and up level writing by checking sentences are correctly punctuated, make sense, use complex vocabulary, varied sentence openers, etc.

Congratulations!

You have completed the Narrative Writing unit of work. Now is the time to celebrate by sharing all your writing with family and friends. 

Additional VCOP Writing - Tune In Activities:

Character Care Factor Activity 3 - Backfill writing task pictures.

Activity: Fractured Fairy Tales

Learning Intention: I can develop an exciting plan for a fractured fairy tale.

A fractured fairy tale is a retelling of a traditional fairy tale where some of the story elements are changed.  

Example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpnq5Hl8uwQ 

Story Ideas: www.readbrightly.com/11-fractured-fhttps://www.readbrightly.com/11-fractured-fairy-tales-young-readers/airy-tales-young-readers/ 

Fractured Story Planning Ideas Link: dev-rwt-interactive-v2.azurewebsites.net/fractured-fairytale 

Fractured Fairy Rale Planner: drive.google.com/file/d/1GlqzSba4YfX9MGaAVvcQsiQoZOXJz8zV/view 

Compare & Contrast Venn Diagram: drive.google.com/file/d/1deV7MBXnI1lxkk9qHewWloloWE2u_Qim/view 

VCOP Criterion Scale: drive.google.com/file/d/1FurTOzNWyFwNbN9f7fm6lr_iNVw-LUTk/view