Meet an Underwater Explorer

Writing Process - Personal Narrative

A personal narrative paragraph is written about something that has happened to you.

Think about an interesting place that you have been to many times, or explored a lot.  A place that you can close your eyes and visualize in your head.  It could be a place where you have camped, a place where you shop a lot, someplace in your neighborhood, house, or town that you like to go.  Think about something that happened there that you could write share with your classmates.  A personal narrative is a writing task that is about you, and how you see, or feel about something that happened to you personally. 

Read... Family Pictures as a lead in to personal narrative writing.  The author writes personal narratives about special places and times in her life.

Prewriting

  1. Make a list of special places for you.
  2. List things that happened to you personally at those places.
  3. Pick one of those places and what happened to you there that you think would make a good topic to write about. 
  4. Ask yourself; How did the place first seem to me? What were some of the things I noticed? What happened there?

Rough Draft

  1. Draw and color a very detailed picture of your special place and what happened to you there.  Include lots of details about Where it happened?, What was there?, Who was there?, When it happened?, and anything you remember about that time and place.
  2. Write freely with out stopping.  Write about everything that comes to mind about that place, what you saw, what happened, what you felt...  look back at your picture for prompts to help you write.

Revising

  1. Read your rough draft; have you included enough details that the reader will get a clear picture about your special place and what happened there, or can you add more interesting words to flesh out your story.
  2. Are there any important details missing?  Are there details that don't belong in the story.
  3. Does your story need some organization to help it read better?
  4. Can you add anything to make the story more interesting or exciting?

Proofreading

Rewrite your story with the corrections suggested to improve the story.  Then reread your story carefully.  Check

spelling all words correctly 
good sentence structure; begins with capital letter, punctuation mark at end, quotations are made correctly, and are complete thoughts
indented each paragraph ( paragraph talks about one part of your story... each part of the story should be composed into a new paragraph with appropriate indent. )
You used interesting and exact words to make your writing interesting.
Your story shows good organization; beginning, middle, and end.

Publishing

    Rewrite your story or type it on the computer using Microsoft Word.
   Use your best effort  to make your narrative reflect your very best work because you will be sharing it with your classmates.
  Glue your "11 by 8 1/2" picture to the top of a "12 by 18" inch piece of colored construction paper, and then glue your published copy of your personal narrative to the bottom of the same piece of colored construction paper.

 

Rubric for Personal Narrative
4

Advanced

 The writer has created an original story that successfully makes use of character, details, setting, and sequential order to reflect on a personal experience.  The writer is successful in meeting grammar guidelines in writing the story.
3

Proficient

 The story has a clear beginning, middle, and end.  There is adequate attention to character, grammar, and setting.
2

Basic

 The story may need more attention to character or setting, and may not be well  organized, but shows originality and effort in writing a personal narrative.
1

Minimal

 The writing reflects a lack of all or most of the following; character development/descriptive details, setting, organization, grammar guidelines, and effort.

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