PERSONAL NARRATIVE Prewriting

Generate Ideas  A good narrative includes details about what happened and how the writer felt about it.  These details help the readers understand and visualize the writer’s experience.  Ask your self these questions to help plan your own narrative: who, what, where when, and why.

An example…  Who is Naomi?  What was different about Naomi?  When did I meet Naomi?  Where did I meet Naomi?  Why did Naomiand I become best friends?

Organizing Ideas  Before writing a personal narrative, you have to organize your ideas.  Remember: your story needs to have a beginning, middle, and end.

For example… Beginning: I met Naomi on the first day of school when she walked into our classroom. Middle: The first thing I noticed about Naomi was how wild her hair seemed and how different her clothes were from my own. I went over to her house one day after school and she showed me how to decorate my clothes so I could look like her. Now, we do fun things together all the time. End: I am so glad Naomi came to our class and we became friends.

Writing Activity  Organize your personal narrative.  Remember to include details from the beginning, middle, and end of your story.  This is a quiet working time, raise your hand if you need help.

Review of kinds of Sentences  All sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark.

Declarative Sentences  Makes a statement and ends with a period.  Ex: I will be going to a football game tomorrow.

Interrogative Sentence  Asks a question and ends with a question mark.  Ex: What are you doing this weekend?

Exclamatory Sentence  Shows strong feeling and ends with an exclamation point.  Ex: Get out of the building!

Imperative Sentences  Gives a command. Most imperative sentences end with a period.  Ex: Clean your room.