Lesson plan
Experience Explanations
Learning Objectives
- Students will be able to plan for a personal narrative.
- Students will be able to plan individual details of a narrative.
Introduction
(5 minutes)- Display the photograph or picture so that all students can see it.
- Invite the students to participate in finding as many details as possible in the picture.
- Tell the students that they will be learning how to include details in a narrative essay that represents a real personal experience.
Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling
(15 minutes)- Read the story Owl MoonOr another trade book of choice.
- Demonstrate the process of writing the sequence of events in the story (including the beginning, middle, and end) on a piece of chart paper.
- Write down examples of important details in the plot on the piece of chart paper or oversized sticky notes.
Guided practise
(20 minutes)- Tell the students that they will be working in groups to create part of a story, which will be used to create a class story.
- Explain that the topic of the story is the events and experiences of the first day of school.
- Divide students into groups and distribute white paper or oversized sticky notes to each group.
- Assign each group a block of the day and ask the students to create both a visual and a sequence of events for that assigned block for the first day of school.
- After all groups are finished, invite each group to share their part of the writing and post it on the board.
- Invite classmates to give feedback on details that can be added to the story.
Independent working time
(15 minutes)- Tell the students that their task is to now plan a narrative about something that was once difficult for them. This could be something new that they learned (such as learning how to ski) or a challenging time in their life.
- Distribute the worksheet Something Difficult and invite students to plan their writing on that graphic organizer.
- Circulate around the room and prompt students as needed.
Differentiation
Support:
- If students need extra practise adding details, give them practise thinking of what details might be relevant to certain feelings. Ask the students to complete the worksheet Elaborating on Feelings.
Enrichment:
- If students master the planning of a realistic story, teach them to use quotation marks to represent the speech of individuals in the story.
Technology Integration
- Use Toon Doo or other comic websites to have students illustrate the components of their personal narratives (either before or after writing).
Assessment
(10 minutes)- Ask the students to plan a narrative about a time that they were surprised, writing their plan on the worksheet So Surprised!
Review and closing
(5 minutes)- Pair up students into partners and invite them to share their story ideas with one another, giving each other feedback.
- Lead the class in a brief discussion on what makes a great personal narrative.
Related learning resources
Experience Explanations
Lesson plan
Experience Explanations
...Tell the students that they will be learning how to include details in a narrative essay that represents a real personal experience....
Year 4
Reading & Writing
Lesson plan
Something Difficult
Worksheet
Something Difficult
...Use this worksheet with the lesson plan Experience Explanations....
Year 4
Reading & Writing
Worksheet
Elaborating on Feelings
Worksheet
Elaborating on Feelings
...Use this worksheet with the lesson plan Experience Explanations....
Year 4
Reading & Writing
Worksheet
