1. Writing Narrative Common Core Writing Standard 3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.

2. Remembering Stories Write a brief summary of a story you read or heard that stands out in your mind. Why does the story stand out in your mind? What details made the story interesting? Did the story have a larger purpose—to make a point about people or the world?

3. Typical Storyline

4. Storytellers Respond in Writing: How much did this story capture your interest? Why?

5. Remembering Stories Earliest childhood memory First day of kindergarten Learning to ride a bike Learning to read Someone helping you First day of middle school Getting your first pet Someone ridiculing you First day of high school Learning to drive Meeting someone who became your best friend Witnessing injustice Witnessing compassion Anything else?

6. Which Stories Have Potential?  Put a star by each story if you have a vivid memory of it.  Cross off stories you recall because someone has told the story to you often.  Put a second star by stories that involved conflict for you—internal or external.  Put a third star by stories that taught you something about yourself or about people.  Choose a group and share the stories that have stars by them. With your group, decide which stories might be most interesting to others.

7. What Should I Know and Be Able to Do? An effective personal narrative… Tells the story skillfully, creating a vivid impression and using narrative devices well to achieve a purpose Compels and engages the reader through purposeful use of order, structure, dialogue, and narration Has word choices that effectively convey images and meaning in a specific and engaging way Has a rhythm and grace that gives the narration a distinctive flow; has dialogue that is natural, lively Uses lively, expressive, and engaging language that skillfully captures the writer’s voice Uses conventions effectively to support meaning, with few or no errors

8. What Should I Know and Be Able to Do? W.9-10.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences. a. Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events. b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters. c. Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole. d. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters. e. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.

9. How Do Writers Tell Stories?

10. How Do Writers Engage Readers? You could go around and ask people about their favorite first lines. I think you'll find that most of them, right away, establish the sense of voice.…” Stephen King

11. What Narrative Techniques Work Best? Write a quick draft of your story, outlining the sequence of events. Have you created a movie of the mind? Where could you add description, dialogue, reflection? Where could you improve the pacing?

12. What Can Dialogue Do? The most obvious answer is to repeat a conversation. To advance plot? To move the action forward? To characterize the people who are speaking? Guide to Grammar and Writing

13. What Can Description Do? “A baby rabbit, terror-ridden, squirmed through a hole in the floor and squatted off there in the shadows against the wall.” Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

14. What Can Description Do? “His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

15. What Can Description Do? “Lifting the tops off the boxes, she peered inside, swinging a tin bucket of smoke back and forth.” Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bee s

16. What Can Description Do? “His heart beating wildly, he rushed over to his unconscious daughter.” J. D. Salinger, “The Laughing Man,” Nine Stories

17. What Can Description Do? “Speaking those words was like chewing on a rock.” Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

18. How Do Writers Give Readers Closure? “What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.” Holden Caulfield, narrator Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

19. Peer Review: Reading as Writers With your group Pass your narrative and rubric to the person on your right. Read the story and score each point on the rubric. If any part of the response is unclear, write a question about it in the margin. Circle any errors in grammar and usage that stand out. Write one positive comment and one suggestion for improvement at the bottom of the rubric. Pass the paper and rubric to the person on your right and repeat the process. Once you have all read each group member's response, discuss any scores that need improvement.