Narrative Writing Workshop

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Narrative Writing Workshop

• 4th Grade Team
• Stoney Point Elementary

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Guiding Questions

• What is the NC Writing Test ?
• How will my childs paper be scored?
• How can I help my child become a better writer?

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What is the NC WritingTest?
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Overview

• Narrative (story) Writing
• Personal or Imaginative prompt
• 75 minute time limit
• Students plan and write paper independently
• Scored by 2 trained readers

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Personal Narrative

• The student recounts events that he or she has
  experienced
• Examples
• Tell about a time when you learned something
  new
• Write a story about a time when you got in
  trouble

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Imaginative Narrative

• The student writes a story that revolves around
  an imaginary event
• Examples
• Imagine that you have taken a ride on a magic
  carpet. Write a story about your adventure.
• Imagine that you found a treasure chest. Write a
  story about what happened.

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How will my childs paper be scored?
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Narrative Writing Features

• Focus
• Organization
• Support Elaboration
• Style
• Conventions

Content
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Scoring

• 2 Scorers
• Content (1 4 points x 2)
• Conventions (0 2 points)
• Highest score 20 points
• Lowest passing score 12 points

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Sample Scoring
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Focus

• Strong narratives . . .
• Clearly establish the focus early in the story
• Focus on one main event
• Do not include details that are unimportant

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Organization

• Strong narratives . . .
• Have a well-developed beginning, middle, and
  end
• Connect ideas together using transition words and
  phrases
• Contain a clear sequence of events
• Progress logically through time

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Support Elaboration

• Strong narratives . . .
• Are more than just a list of events
• Rely on specific concrete details to support
  the main idea
• Enable the reader to see and feel what is
  happening
• May contain a little dialogue

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Style

• Strong narratives . . .
• Use precise words instead of over-used words
• Use vivid nouns, adjectives, and action verbs
• Contain a variety of sentence lengths and
  patterns

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Conventions

• Sentence Formation
• Spelling
• Punctuation
• Capitalization

i went to the mall and seen my frend sam and
buyed a toy car
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How can I help my child become a better writer?
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What makes a good story?

• Beginning
• Grabs the reader with an interesting first
  sentence
• Quickly introduces characters and setting
• Is no more than a paragraph in length

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What makes a good story?

• Middle
• Uses action to develop the problem and move the
  story
• Focuses on one main event
• Elaborates with relevant, specific, concrete
  details

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What makes a good story?

• End
• Resolves the situation or problem
• Often links back to the beginning in some way

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Hints for Revising

• Add supporting details to improve listy papers
• Add transition words where needed
• Replace weak verbs and nouns with more precise
  words
• Add sentences that show the action in the story
  rather than just telling about it.

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Narrative Transition Words
after
when
not long after
before
while
as soon as
finally
first
afterward
next
soon
in the meantime
now
once
yesterday
later
second
immediately
until
tomorrow
meanwhile
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Synonyms for Over-used Words

• big - gigantic, huge, enormous, vast
• went - slid, shuffled, galloped, zoomed
• looked - gazed, examined, peeped
• small - miniature, tiny, microscopic
• said - explained, whispered, mumbled
• scary - frightening, shocking, terrifying
• dark - shadowy, gloomy, dim, shady
• fast - speedy, quick, rapid, swift

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Show, Dont Tell

• Telling
• I get so angry when my brothers mess up
  my room.
• Showing
• Last Saturday I spent 3 hours cleaning
  my room. Later that day, I came back from playing
  with my friend and heard a noise in my room. I
  burst through the door and couldnt believe my
  eyes! My toys were scattered all over the floor,
  and my walls were streaked with red and green
  fingerpaint. When I saw two faces peeping out
  from under my bed, I screamed, GET OUT!

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Tips for Helping Your Child

• Use family activities and experiences as an
  opportunity to have your child talk out a
  story. Expect the child to tell morepush them
  to elaborateListen!
• Listen, Listen, Listen as they talk to you and
  ask them to explain WHERE, WHEN, HOW, WHY, HOW
  MUCH, WHAT DID IT LOOK LIKE, HOW DID YOU FEEL,
  WHAT WERE YOU THINKINGTELL ME MORE!!
• Read to your child. Discuss vivid verbsexpand
  your childs vocabulary.

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QuestionsAnswers