Narrative Writing Process: A Guide for Effective Classroom Instruction
In episode 7 and 8 we explored the first six steps in a narrative writing unit. In this episode we will explore steps seven through nine in a narrative writing unit.
If you have not listened to episodes seven and eight, start there before listening to this episode.
The final three steps are the meat of the writing process. Students will write first drafts and take those drafts to a final draft as the teacher guides them through the writing process.
This includes focused instruction on elements of a story and revising and editing. Once students have completed the hard work of writing, it’s time to celebrate the published draft. The student’s final product deserves to be celebrated; recognizing the accomplishment is an important part of the writing process.
This episode and the series of episodes in the Narrative Writing series are designed as a comprehensive guide, crafted with the middle school classroom in mind. Whether you are a seasoned educator seeking fresh ideas or a novice teacher eager to embark on this writing adventure, this guide will equip you with the tools to guide your students towards becoming proficient storytellers.
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Melissa Burch 0:00
Hey friends, welcome to annotated ELA. I'm so glad you're here because today we are picking up again where we left off in episodes seven, and eight. In episode seven, the first three steps in the narrative writing process were covered. And then in episode eight, we went over steps four, five and six. And today we are exploring the final three steps in the narrative writing process. If you haven't listened to episodes seven and eight yet go take a listen before jumping into this episode. Want a unit plan for narrative writing,? Download the narrative scope and sequence at annotatedela.com/episode9, the link will be in the show notes. Let's get to today's episode. I'm so excited.
Melissa Burch 0:46
Step seven in the narrative writing process is diving into writing workshops and conferences. This can strike fear in the heart of any teacher; that used to strike fear in my heart, because writing workshop and writing conferences sounded so difficult and so hard to put together. Yet it doesn't have to be. Make it easy and simple for you and your students. It needs to meet yours and your students needs. That's what it's all about. Writers workshop includes writing time for the students, check-ins with the teacher, feedback provided by the teacher and or peers, and mini-lessons. The check-ins and feedback are what I consider conferences, and writing conferences can be as simple as having the students come to you when they want you to look over something. If the line to get to you becomes too long, have them write their names on the board or a slip of paper and call them back when you're ready. Conferences can truly be that simple. They can also be slightly more complex, where you plan on who you're meeting with, and what you want to speak with them about. I do suggest that even if you keep conferences as simple as having students come to you when they're ready, that you track who came to you, and what the quick conversation might have been about, so that you know what might need more work. But that's only if that works for you. This time is some of the most important time of the process, it is essential to give students that writing time and time for feedback. This is where you can reduce grading when everything is finished. Start each workshop day with a mini-lesson on a specific element of narrative writing and then give students the time to use what they've learned so they can implement the mini-lesson in their own writing. As students write, use that time to conference, check-in, and provide feedback as they work. You can even write with them. Modeling writing is a powerful strategy for students to see the writing process and the thoughts of a writer. Modeling the writing could be one idea for mini-lessons. Other ideas for mini-lessons might be teaching hooks to engage the reader, teaching strong endings, transitions, using dialogue between characters to improve the story, figurative language, descriptive writing, tone and mood, word choice - you get the idea. The mini-lessons are lessons that will benefit student writing, because over time, during this writer's workshop, the fast draft will turn into a well developed story.
Melissa Burch 3:29
Step number eight in the narrative writing process is to revise and edit and then repeat. You might find that some students will revise as they draft. Revision is sometimes part of the ongoing process. And you might also find that editing is the same way. Many students are fixing or bettering their writing as they write. Not all of them, but some of them like to make changes as it pops into their head or they might not be able to continue writing if something isn't spelled correctly, so allow that to happen. Revision and editing can also be a part of the drafting process. Some students don't do any of that, they take the one and done approach to writing where they are going to take that fast draft, make some quick changes and call it a day and be done with it. Setting aside the time to focus solely on revision and editing will help these students and ensure that all students are taking a final and focused check of their writing. The time for revision and editing should be for guiding students to self and peer revise with clear guidelines and expectations. Most of them don't know what they're looking for. Even though there's been tons of conversation about what makes writing good. They might still sit and be unsure about what to revise. So use this time to set up clear guidelines and expectations. The revision and editing process is most simple when you're focusing on one element at a time and working through it in stages. This can be incorporated in mini-lessons if that feels right for you. For example, having students circle verbs and descriptions before replacing them with more vivid verbs and descriptions, or having them highlight transitions and determining if the transitions are showing a transition in time, place, etc. They might even highlight their hook and review or revise their hook to make it better. Whatever is going to work for you. Just be sure that the students have clear guidelines and expectations. I know that I keep using editing and revising together. But again, we might spend one or two class periods solely on the revision process and then probably half a class or one full class on the editing and the mechanical issues. But I do save the editing for last. Spending time to set and model the expectation is essential for productive revision time. So however you decide to set it up, just to be sure that it's clear for the students and they know exactly what they're working on, or you will find it to be time wasted.
Melissa Burch 6:21
Step number nine, the final step in the narrative writing process is to publish and celebrate, and it is truly a celebration after all of this hard work. The students have worked so hard and put forth so much effort to complete the narrative that you definitely want to celebrate. The writing deserves to be celebrated and shared and not just put in the pile to be graded. Get creative and have fun when planning a publishing party. Here are just a few ideas, you could have students choose excerpts of their stories to read. And if you're doing this, maybe consider decorating the room like a coffee shop or a glow party to make the reading feel special. Of course, it can just feel special to read and let everyone have sticky notes to give glowing comments to the author. Another idea is to have a gallery walk of the stories. If students typed the writing, their computers could be open and ready to be read. If they want to print them, they could be hung around the room for everyone to walk around and read. And the gallery walk could be made more special and more authentic by inviting other adults or other classes into the classroom to read these stories so that it's not just you and their classmates. A final idea is to make a story poster or a story wall and have students display a summary or a one-pager of their story or even just a favorite excerpt from their story to be displayed in the classroom. However you and your students choose to celebrate, make it work, make it fun, and make it special. Also, there might be students who didn't finish. Taking time to celebrate the students who made it and completed the narrative could become a reward for finishing because students who didn't finish will have to spend that celebration time completing their narratives. And if they see their classmates having fun and celebrating completed work, it might start to motivate them to do that in the future if this becomes routine.
Melissa Burch 8:26
Let's recap of the final steps in the narrative writing process from today's episode. Step seven is to dive into writers workshop and conferencing. This is an essential element in the narrative writing process. Step eight is to revise, edit, and repeat. Spend focused time revising and making the writing better in stages. And the final step, step nine is to publish and celebrate. On a side note, reading a boring story is the worst but grading one feels even more challenging. So a well-planned unit will engage students and be fun for everyone. But I want to just put this out there that with any idea, take all of the information and make it your own. Make the adjustments you and your students need so that it's helpful and beneficial for you and for them.
Melissa Burch 9:16
I hope that you have found some information that is helpful for you today, or in the last three episodes because that's what I'm here for friends. If you have any questions or comments, send me a DM on Instagram at annotated ELA and let's chat all things writing. Until next time, friends the magic is in the process.
