Narrative Writing Lesson

Jonathan Wactor
Standards: ACS-LA-WS2 : Write narratives using event sequences.
ACS-LA-WS2(b): Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and
clauses to manage the sequence of events.
ELP III-W-1:E1/HI1
Lesson Topic and Background:
The class has finished reading an informative text entitled Deserts: Earths Driest
Ecosystem by Dr. Sutter Manning, from Sadliers Common Core Progress 5 Unit 7.
The unit focuses on developing comprehensive knowledge on Earths ecosystems and
comparing and contrasting related texts. Previously, the students reviewed one other
informative text about the tundra and constructed a Venn diagram discussing and
comparing the two texts at the end of class.
Content Objectives:
Students will review an informative text about the desert ecosystem, practice transitional
words, and create a narrative travelogue about a day spent visiting the desert. (ACS-LAWS2)
Content Vocabulary: precipitation, sparse, desertification, emerge, predictable.
Language Objectives:
Academic Vocabulary Students will be able to define the terms transitional phrase,
first-person perspective, narrative text, and informative text
Language Skills and Functions Students will summarize new information and
words in the text to write a narrative with descriptive details.
Language Structures Students will write a narrative that includes a main idea,
characters, and organize the narrative using transitional words. (ELP III-W1:E1/HI1)(ACS-LA-WS2.C)
Language Learning Strategies Students will use transitional words in
conversations and practice using different phrases.
Learning Strategies: Utilizing procedural scaffolding, the teacher will show an example
of a narrative story, highlighting transitional words. Then, students will participate in a
group activity where they verbally describe an imaginary road trip they take using
transitional words. Finally, students will incorporate this knowledge by writing their own
narratives using transitional words.
Supplementary Materials:

Sadliers Common Core Progress 5 - Students Edition

Copy of Deserts: Earths Driest Ecosystem for digital projector

Youtube Video: A Day in the Desert (https://youtu.be/xWM0hYyHDvQ)
Copies of Transitional Words/Phrases for Narrative Writing (bit.ly/24YsgVl)
Photographs of the Desert and Desert Animals

Motivation
Students will recall the informative text read and analyzed in the previous class by
sharing the Venn diagram they made with their partner and explaining the key differences
between the tundra and the desert. The teacher will then show the class a video, A Day
in the Desert. Lead the class in a discussion about how the video represents the Arizona
desert, and the different visuals evoked when students think about the word desert by
saying, Imagine youre having a conversation with someone who has never been to
Arizona. How would they describe a desert? Have students discuss their answers with a
partner.
Steer the conversation towards the different desert landscapes of the world, presenting
students with images of Death Valley, CA; White Sands, NM; and the Sahara. Then,
show a picture of the Antarctica, and ask students, Is this a desert? Encourage students
to refer to the informative text about the characteristics of a desert to help answer the
question, and lead students in making inferences to determine the correct answer.
Develop inferences on whether they think Antarctica has precipitation. Ask if the
Antarctic landscape is sparse.
Presentation
Lead students in a review of the difference between an informative and narrative essay,
and the definition of the word first-person narrative. Tell students that we are going to
learn how to write narratives using newly acquired information learned from informative
texts by writing a desert travelogue. Define the word travelogue for students and
describe how it is a first-person narrative of what the author experiences while traveling.
Verbally describe and visually display the sequence for drafting a narrative essay,
reinforcing prior knowledge about the proper format of narrative essays. Explain how it
is crucial for narratives to have a beginning, middle, and end. Then, lead the class in
developing a short travelogue on the board, taking suggestions from the class about what
will happen during your visit to the desert, while making sure to omit the use of any
transitional word phrases.
Provide students with the handout Transitional Words/Phrases for Narrative Writing.
Explain how transitional words help readers understand the sequence of events in a story.
Insert transitional words in the travelogue you wrote on the board to model the syntax of
transitional words when applied to sentences.
Practice

Instruct students to take out a highlighter and choose partners. Tell the students that they
are going to go on an imaginary road trip together. Inform the students that theyre going
to take turns describing the events that occur during this vacation one sentence at a time,
highlighting each word once they or their partner have used it in their story. Encourage
students to use as many transitional words on their list in the time allotted for the activity
(5 minutes).
Model the activity briefly for them by choosing a student and saying, It started when
Elizabeth told me she always dreamed of seeing the Pyramids, highlighting the word,
and having the student provide the next sentence. Once students understand their
instructions, commence the activity, conducting informal assessments and assisting
students in the formation of difficult transitional words to describe their trip.
Review
Return the discussion to the topic of drafting narrative essays. Tell students they are now
going to begin writing a rough draft of a narrative travelogue of a trip to the desert.
Encourage students to refer to the informative text describing the features of a desert, and
circulate pictures of the desert and desert animals you printed to aide students in their use
of descriptive words.
Review key vocabulary of the unit by instructing students to turn to their partner and
provide informal definitions to their key words; have volunteers provide these definitions.
Support and validate their answers, paraphrasing when necessary. Remind students to
include content vocabulary in their travelogue, as well as transitional words. Refer to the
sequence of events for constructing a narrative essay that you displayed earlier.
Commence the assignment, conducting informal assessments and ensuring students are
taking full advantage of the resources given to them.
Wrap Up
Wrap up the lesson with leading sentences about things theyve learned up to this point.
For example, Transitional phrases are important because or The transitional phrase
I find most difficult to use is During this second question, ask other students to model
the use of transitional phrases that other students have found difficult.
If time allows, produce outcome sentence and have students verbally share by starting the
sentence, I learned, I still want to know, or I still dont understand and
calling on students to finish your sentence.
Follow-up lesson
Students will continue working on the rough draft for their travelogue, proofreading each
others papers to make suggestions for improvements and making further edits as
necessary. A final draft of the travelogue will be assigned as homework.