Narrative Writing Guide for 4th Grade

FOURTH GRADE NARRATIVE WRITING

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

Focus: What to do and how to do it:

Plan and Organize Plan 1. Read the prompt. If there is a prompt that tells you
Organize what to write about, read it very carefully and
underline or highlight what you will need to include in
your story.

2. Think. Let your imagination go!
3. Plan the plot of your story. Create characters and a

setting. Decide the challenge, problem, or conflict your
character will face and how it will be resolved.
Make a story map to develop the plot.

The Start your story so it Begin your story with:
EXPOSITION
catches the interest of  Action
The
RISING your reader. Introduce  An exclamation
ACTION
the main character(s)  Thoughts or feelings
and
CLIMAX and setting.  A sound

The Develop the plot. Show, don’t tell!
FALLING
ACTION Show how the character Use action, dialogue, and

Write And has a conflict, challenge, descriptions to bring your
Resolution
or problem, what story to life.
Revise,
Edit, he/she tries to do to
Proofread,
and solve it, and how it is Move your story along with
Publish
finally resolved. linking words and phrases

Sum up the events of End your story with a:

the story or changes  Memory

brought about by the  Decision

events.  Lesson learned

 Hope or wish for the future

Make needed changes to Use a checklist to check for:

rough draft and write  Content

Finish final draft.  Organization

 CUPS (capitalization,

grammar, punctuation,

and spelling.

PLAN AND ORGANIZE: MAKE A STORY MAP

When you write a NARRATIVE, you tell a story by sharing the details of
an experience. The story can be fiction (made up) or non-fiction (true).

●●● CLIMAX
The turning point in the story; the
Use a STORY MAP moment the reader has been
to plan your story. waiting for. The main character
faces and overcomes the conflict.
●●●

RISING ACTION THEME FALLING ACTION
The series of events that lead to the Loose ends of the
climax or turning point. Character tries The lesson or message the author plot are tied up
to solve the problem but faces obstacles is trying to help us understand. and conflicts are
and setbacks. resolved.
Think about the conflict, turning
point, and resolution and ask
yourself, “What is the lesson the
main character learned?”

EXPOSITION RESOLUTION
The ending; Main characters thoughts
Introduces the or feelings about the events.
 Characters
 Setting
 Problem, conflict, or challenge.

Helps you “get into” the story from the very beginning.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.A
Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

WRITE: START WITH A BEGINNING One rainy
day I went
to the mall.

Capture the reader’s attention by using one of these 4 ways to start your story.

DO SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING

Begin your story Begin your story
with action with an exclamation

Put the main character in the Think about what the main
setting doing something relevant to character might say or exclaim in

the story. the situation.

I splashed around the parking lot, “I’m soaked!” I yelled as I reached
opened the tall glass door, and for the large glass mall entrance

dripping wet, stepped into the mall. doors.

THINK OR FEEL HEAR A SOUND

SOMETHING Begin your story

Begin your story with with a sound

the main character’s

thoughts or feelings Use an attention-grabbing sound
(that is relevant to the story).
Describe the thoughts or feelings
of the main characters. Splish! Splash! My boots sloshed
through the puddles as I ran for the
As I approached the mall, I nervously
glanced at my watch and wondered mall entrance.

what my first day on the job would be
like.

WRITE: THE PLOT ASK YOURSELF:
 What did the character
Develop the story events by showing:
 How the character has a conflict, challenge, or problem; do?
 What the character tries to do to solve it;  What were others around
 How the character overcomes the conflict, challenge or
the character doing?
problem.  How was the character

feeling?
 What was the character

thinking?

Show… Don’t Tell! Use combinations of action, dialogue, and description to bring your story to life.

Action Dialogue Description

Tell what the Tell what the Tell what the

characters do. characters say. character or

setting looks like.

Use strong verbs. Use quotation marks. Paint a picture in the
Put punctuation inside the reader’s mind.
quotation marks. Limit the
Use descriptive words,
use of “said.” similes, and metaphors.

Use transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events:

Transitional Words and Phrases

First Next/Then Next/Then Last ●●●

Initially After Subsequently Later Remember to
In the beginning As soon as Once Finally start a new
When we finished paragraph
At first Next In the meantime The last thing when your
It began Now Later on At last story moves to
It started When When we were don a new place or
Meanwhile After a while At the end
Immediately Just then At last time.
Later lastly
Suddenly Before long ●●●
AFterwards Right after
Whenever In an instant

During
Pretty soon

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.B
Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.C
Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events

ADD SENSORY DETAILS AND CONCRETE LANGUAGE TO
DEVELOP THE PLOT AND CHARACTERS IN YOUR STORY.

Sensory details help your reader get a clearer understanding of what is

happening in the story or what the characters are experiencing.

SIGHT TOUCH SOUND SMELL TASTE

How did it How did it How did it How did it How did it

look? feel? sound? smell? taste?

Size Texture Volume Like… (simile) Like… (simile)
Color Temperature Intensity Fruity?
Shape Weight Background noises? Flowery? spicy
sour
bright smooth racket pungent bitter
darkness cold loud new sweet
dull slimy buzzing fresh delicious
dim rough croaking sweet crisp
colors hot whispering strong hot
blurry sharp shouting foul crunchy
sparkling soft ruckus spicy mushy
shiny bumpy booming fruity
hard laughing stinky One bite of the sour
scaly giggling lemon caused my lips
to pucker.
The tiny red ant The sharp edge of the The car squeaked The sweet smell of
climbed up the broken paper cut my finger
twig. and made it sting. every time I hit a bump freshly baked apple

in the road. filled the air.

When writing dialogue,
try replacing “said” with
words that are more
concrete and specific.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.D
Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.

WRITE: A MEMORABLE ENDING

Writers use the ending of a story to show how the main
character has grown or changed in some way as a result of his
or her experience.

Memory Feeling

I’ll never forget the time.. I can still feel…
I’ll always remember… … and how ______ I was

Hope or Wish Decision

I hope that next time… From now on….
Maybe in the future… From that day on, I decided…

You can be sure…

Example:

Doris the cat purred happily and curled up in the sunny window. She shivered a
little when she thought about how long she’d lived in the streets as a skinny, stray
cat. But that was then. Now she knew she would never again choose to wonder
about chasing mice like she used to. It would be fancy cat food for her from now
on, served in a fancy glass bowl. As old Mrs. Winn patted her soft coat, Doris
stretched and hoped that life would always be this good.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.E
Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

FINISH: REVISE, EDIT, PROOFREAD, AND PUBLISH

Use this check list to check your own story or exchange stories with a
classmate and use it to check each other’s stories.

 I followed the instructions in  The story follows the instructions
the prompt. in the prompt.

 My story has an interesting  The story has an interesting
beginning that introduces the beginning that introduces the
setting and main characters. setting and main characters.

I started with a character The story starts with a character
 doing something  doing something
 saying something  saying something
 feeling something  feeling something
 a sound  a sound
 other  other
___________________
___________________

 My story has a plot with a well-  The story has a plot with a well-

developed sequence of events. developed sequence of events.

 I use action, dialogue, and  The story uses action, dialogue,
description to SHOW, not tell. and description to SHOW, not
tell.

 I use transitional words and  The story has transitional words
phrases to move my story to and phrases to move it to new
new places and times. places and times.

 I use descriptive words,  The story has descriptive words,
including sensory details, to including sensory details, to
describe events, experiences, describe events, experiences,
and the character’s reactions and the character’s reactions
and feelings. and feelings.

 My story has a satisfying ending  The story has a satisfying ending

that includes a that includes a
 Memory  Memory
 Feeling  Feeling
 Hope or wish  Hope or wish
 Decision  Decision
 Other  Other

__________________________ __________________________

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3 Proficient/Advanced Approaching Below
Write narratives to develop
real or imagined The narrative develops real The narrative somewhat The narrative minimally
experiences or events using or imagined experiences or satisfactorily develops real develops real or imagined
effective technique, events using effective or imagined experiences or experiences or events using
descriptive details, and technique, descriptive events using a partially partially effective
clear event sequences. details, and clear event effective technique, some technique, some details,
sequences. details, and a roughly and a roughly structured
structured event sequence. event sequence.
 Advanced

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.A  The story orients the  The story orients the  The story orients the
Orient the reader by reader by establishing a reader somewhat reader with minimal
establishing a situation and situation and introducing satisfactorily by partially success by establishing a
introducing a narrator a narrator and/or establishing a situation situation and introducing
and/or characters; organize characters. and introducing a a narrator and/or
an event sequence that narrator and/or characters.
unfolds naturally.  It organizes an event characters.
sequence that unfolds  It ineffectively organizes
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.B naturally.  It organizes a partially an event sequence.
Use dialogue and acceptable event
description to develop  Advanced sequence.  The story uses ineffective
experiences and events or  The story uses dialogue or no dialogue and
show the responses of  The story uses dialogue description to develop
characters to situations. and description to and description with experiences and events
develop experiences and limited success to or to show the response
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.C events or to show the develop experiences and of characters to
Use a variety of transitional response of characters events or to show the situations.
words and phrases to to situations. response of characters to
manage the sequence of situations.  The response uses few or
events.  Advanced no transitional words
 There are a variety of  There is limited use of and phrases to manage
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.D transitional words and the sequence of events.
Use concrete words and transitional words and phrases to manage the
phrases and sensory details phrases to manage the sequence of events.  The writing uses few or
to convey experiences and sequence of events. no concrete words and
events precisely. phrases and sensory
 Advanced  The writing somewhat details to convey
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.E  There are concrete satisfactorily uses experiences and events.
Provide a conclusion that concrete words and (word choice)
follows from the narrated words and phrases and phrases and sensory
experiences or events. sensory details to convey details to convey  The story provides an
experiences and events experiences and events. ineffective conclusion or
CUPS precisely. (word choice) (word choice) no conclusion at all.

 Advanced  The story partially Numerous problems with
 The story has a provides a conclusion  Capitalization
that follows from the  Usage (grammar)
conclusion that follows narrated experiences or  Punctuation
from the narrated events.  Spelling
experiences or events
.

 Advanced

Fourth grade level Some problems with
 Capitalization  Capitalization
 Usage (grammar)  Usage (grammar)
 Punctuation  Punctuation
 Spelling  Spelling

 Advanced