Teaching narrative writing in upper elementary isn’t just about meeting your state writing standards… It’s about empowering your students to tell their own stories and build deeper connections with one another through shared work. When students learn to write narratives, they gain a powerful tool for self-expression! That’s why narrative writing is truly a skill with both academic and personal impact. In this post, we’ll explore different approaches to narrative writing and narrative writing mentor texts that help all students become stronger writers.

One of the most effective ways to teach strong narrative writing is by showing students what it looks like in practice. This is where quality examples and narrative writing mentor texts come in. Think of mentor texts as roadmaps that can guide developing writers through the elements of an impactful story.

Personal Narrative vs. Narrative Writing: What’s the Difference?

While the terms are frequently used interchangeably, there IS a difference between personal narrative and narrative writing. Think of narrative writing as the broad umbrella term for any story (a fictional tale, a historical account, etc.). Narrative writing’s primary goal is to tell a story with characters, a setting, a plot, and a conflict that resolves.

Personal narrative, on the other hand, is a specific type of narrative writing. It’s a true story from the author’s life told from the first-person perspective. These stories come from personal experience, memory, and reflection. Personal narratives typically focus on a single, significant event (or a series of related events).

Why Teach Narrative Writing?

Teaching different forms of narrative writing is beneficial for developing our writers.

• Narrative writing helps students improve the foundational elements of storytelling. Students learn how to develop interesting plots, create engaging characters, build descriptive settings, and structure a story from beginning to end. These are also key skills applicable across various writing genres, like creative fiction or historical reports.
• Personal narrative offers a unique opportunity for self-discovery and helps our students develop an authentic voice. Personal narratives encourage students to reflect on their own lives, identify meaningful experiences, and share their unique perspectives. This not only builds confidence in their writing but also fosters empathy as they share their stories and listen to those of their peers. It ultimately helps students understand that sharing their own lives is important and makes writing feel more relevant.

Narrative Writing Mentor Texts

Using strong writing examples is crucial, but writing your own high-quality mentor texts from scratch can be challenging. I use the first few minutes of our writing block to demonstrate each stage of writing. Sometimes I use my own examples. Other times, I’d write collaborative examples together with my students. I’ve also saved strong student examples from previous years to dissect.

Each approach has its pros and cons, but time is always my biggest constraint. You’ve probably been there too… scrambling to write a perfect example story that demonstrates specific narrative techniques in a short amount of time. While it’s fantastic to save strong examples from your students in previous years (and you absolutely should!), sometimes you just need something ready to go.

That’s why this Narrative Text Exemplars & Mentor Texts resource is always part of my narrative prep! It provides carefully written examples that you can use immediately to teach elements like plot development, character voice, descriptive language, and more.

Every time I teach a specific component of writing — like developing the plot in a piece of narrative writing– I end up writing my own example as a mentor text for students to dissect. After doing this for years, this incredible set of mentor texts was designed specifically to help you teach students about specific parts of writing. I have provided a model text, annotation guides and questions, and components that will help your students clearly identify and emulate the important parts of writing.

It has everything you need to effectively teach narrative writing with:

• A mini anchor chart with all of the components of Narrative writing
• One-page versions of each text only
•  Two-page versions of each text specifically for annotating
• Four pages of practice (per text) with the text broken down into sections with annotation guides and questions – That’s 8 pages of practice total!
•  A one-page backwards plan guide for students to recreate a plan that the author may have used to plan his or her writing
•  A rubric for students to “grade” each narrative text
• Double-sided booklet options with annotation notes only
• Answer Keys
• Digital Access in Google Slides

Personal Narrative Picture Book Recommendations

Picture books are another great tool for teaching personal narrative. They offer concise, powerful examples of storytelling that are perfect for deconstructing with your upper elementary students. Someone recently asked teachers in our FREE Inspired in Upper Elementary Facebook group for their favorite personal narrative mentor texts, and they delivered an amazing list! You can see the full discussion here.

Here are some of their personal narrative picture book recommendations. You can also see them here on Amazon (affiliate link) for easier shopping!

• When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant: This memoir depicts the simple joys and contented life of a young girl growing up in the mountains with her brother and grandparents.
• When the Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant: This story describes the joy and chaos of a large extended family’s annual summer visit from Virginia to their relatives’ home in the mountains, highlighting the warmth of family bonds and shared experiences.
• The Map of Good Memories by Fran Nuño: A little girl named Zoe, forced to flee her city due to war, creates a “map of good memories” of places that remind her of happy moments, knowing these memories will always be hers.
• Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran: Based on a true story, this book celebrates the power of children’s imagination as they transform a rocky, desert patch of land into a vibrant, imaginary town called Roxaboxen, where they play, create, and experience life.
• Morning on the Lake by Susan Hill: Through three linked stories, a young boy and his grandfather embark on adventures in a birchbark canoe, climb a cliff, and venture into the woods, where the grandfather teaches the boy to respect nature and understand his place in the world.
• Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe: A young boy catches a jar full of fireflies, feeling like he owns a piece of moonlight, but soon realizes he must set them free as their light begins to dim.
• Imagine by Alison Lester: This book encourages imagination as two children play pretend games, envisioning themselves in different habitats like the jungle or under the ocean, with detailed illustrations showcasing each place and its animals.
• Marshfield Dreams by Ralph Fletcher: A touching and humorous memoir of Ralph Fletcher’s childhood growing up with a large family in Marshfield, Massachusetts, in the 1960s, capturing the simple details of everyday family life.
• Journey by Aaron Becker: This wordless picture book tells the story of a lonely girl who uses a red crayon to draw a magical door, embarking on a fantastic adventure that transforms her world.
• All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan: A heartwarming story about a boy named Eli growing up in a rural family home, experiencing the natural beauty of his surroundings like the wind, valley, river, and blueberry hilltop.
• Saturdays and Teacakes by Lester L. Laminack: This autobiographical story explores the special love between a boy and his grandmother during his memorable Saturday afternoon visits, often centered around making teacakes.
• My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero: A celebration of the love between a father and daughter and their immigrant neighborhood, as Daisy Ramona rides around with her papi on his motorcycle, observing the people and places she knows, even as her community changes.
• Patricia Polacco’s Books: Patricia Polacco is known for writing many personal narratives, often drawing from her own childhood and family stories. Her books often highlight themes of family history, cultural diversity, and overcoming challenges, with warm and authentic storytelling.
• Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson: This wordless picture book follows a little girl who collects wildflowers during a walk with her distracted father. Each flower she gives away, whether noticed or not, transforms both the giver and receiver.
• Owl Moon by Jane Yolen: A young girl goes “owling” with her father on a quiet winter night, experiencing the magical and patient process of waiting for and observing an owl.
• A Quiet Place by Douglas Wood: This book explores the idea of finding a personal quiet place, whether it’s a physical spot in nature or an internal space of imagination and reflection, that offers a break from the world’s noise.
• A Day With Yayah by Nicola Campbell: Set in the Okanagon, this story depicts a First Nations family outing to forage for herbs and mushrooms, where the grandmother (Yahyah) passes down her knowledge of plant life and traditional ways to her young grandchildren.
• Up North at the Cabin by Marsha Wilson Chall: This book captures the magic of summer in the north woods and the exuberance of childhood imagination, as a child envisions themselves as a fearless voyager guiding a canoe through the wilderness.

Other Types of Narrative Writing

While we spend most of our time on these personal types of narrative writing, narrative writing can also take on other forms, like poetry! Exploring different poetic structures can help students with their descriptive language, imagery, and concise storytelling.

This Types of Poetry resource includes a 70-slide teaching presentation that introduces students to various poetry forms and includes a matching student flipbook that allows students to take notes and create their own poems. The narrative poem inside is a perfect addition to your narrative writing unit.

Daily journaling is another way to encourage narrative thinking and self-reflection. This low-stakes practice allows students to freely explore ideas, recount experiences, and develop their writing fluency over time. This Daily Writing and Self-Reflection Journal builds essential writing skills while incorporating a growth mindset, self-reflection, and character development.

• Page one is the self-reflection piece. On this engaging page, students are prompted to think about their lives, emotions, and character.
• Page two is a more in-depth journal prompt. Here, students are given a full page to create a variety of writing. On this page, students will create personal narratives, use critical thinking, write letters, reflect on an experience, and more!

More Narrative Writing Tips

Looking for even more strategies to boost your students’ narrative writing skills? Check out this related post for additional narrative writing tips and resources!