Personal Narrative, Purple (Grades 5 – 6)

Start your kids writing what they know — their own lives! The personal narrative unit begins with idea generation, then moves on to how to read a book like a writer so you can teach writing craft moves and skills using children’s books as mentor texts.

Using the three children’s books and the lessons provided, teach students how to write with their five senses, show not tell, use vivid verbs, write interesting leads and satisfying endings, sequence logically, write in complete sentences, use capital letters appropriately, and move through the writing process of drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.

This unit will also cover writing inner thoughts, dialogue, and paragraphs.

Craft, Grammar, and Process Skills:

Seed Ideas
Reading Like a Writer
Sensory Details
Sentences
Paragraphs
Dialogue
Show Not Tell
Vivid Verbs
Interesting Leads
Satisfying Endings
Adding Thoughts and Dialogue
Draft
Revise
Edit
Publish (Rewrite)

Required Mentor Texts (Children’s Books to Model Writing):

PICK ONE CHAPTER BOOK:

Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

PICK ONE PICTURE BOOK:

Honeybee by Candace Fleming
Home in the Woods by Eliza Wheeler
Southwest Sunrise by Nikki Grimes

Note: Knucklehead is the only true personal narrative but the other books (except Honeybee) are first-person narrative and close enough to model what we’re asking children to do.

To make it convenient for you, you can order the three mentor texts through my Amazon store.