Writing Your Personal Narrative Educational Resources K12 Learning, Writing, English / Language Arts Lesson Plans, Activities, Experiments, Homeschool Help

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Have you ever taken a trip to visit family or friends? How would you describe your visit? Watch this video to see what happened when The Relatives Came:

Cynthia Rylant wrote about an extended visit from relatives in The Relatives Came.

This is an example of a personal narrative.

Some characteristics of a personal narrative include:

Written from the first person point-of-view. The main characters use "I" and "Me."
The story is true and really happened.
The characters and events are real.
Details are used to create a mental image for the reader.
Events are in sequential order.
There is a beginning, middle, and end.
Using quotation marks to show when characters are talking.
Illustrations are used to enhance the reader's image of the story.

Download and print the Personal Narrative Graphic Organizer found in the Downloadable Resources in the right-hand sidebar. You will use it throughout this lesson.

First, take a second look at The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant to note some of the features that make this text a personal narrative.

On the The Relatives Came T-Chart (included in the Personal Narrative Graphic Organizer), record the characteristics you noticed from the list above and provide an example from the story. When you are finished with this step, compare your answers to the Answer Key.

Then, venture on the Got It! section to explore more about personal narrative writing.