Fictional Narrative Directions

A story is a fictional narrative that a writer creates from his or her imagination. A good story: ▶ has an interesting beginning, middle, and end. ▶ describes a setting, telling when and where a story takes place. ▶ has characters that move the action along. ▶ has a plot with a problem that is solved at the end. ▶ often uses dialogue.

Assignment #1: Story Map Title: The Secret Recipe Setting: Basement and garden of a home Characters: Boy named Aaron Stickley—a chemistry buff His mother—the family gardener Problem: Mother’s flowers keep dying, and Aaron wants to help her. Events 1. Mom complains about flowers. 2. Aaron wants to help somehow. 3. He will use his chemistry set to help Mom. 4. He creates a secret recipe. 5. He puts it on his mother’s flowers. Solution: The recipe works, and his mother

Assignment #2 - Resources you will need in order to answer questions:

What else do I need to know Where can I find the information

(Use the library, internet, and people to gather information)

Use Your Research New information gathered from your research can be added to your story map.

Before you begin writing your story:,  review the story map you made.  Identify the beginning, middle, and end of your story.  Consider making a paragraph for each.  Also,think about the characters’ dialogue. You will need to put each new speaker’s words in a separate paragraph.  Revise using image grammars, writer’s toolbox ideas, and imitation of other stories…

Conferencing for the Reader ■ Are features of a story included in your partner’s draft? • strong beginning, middle, and end • interesting characters, setting, and plot • problem that’s solved at the end • descriptive words • dialogue • strong ending ■ Make sure to tell your partner what you like about his or her work, as well as what you think needs improvement

Review the Rules: GRAMMAR • The tense of a verb tells whether the action takes place in the present, past, or future. An irregular verb is a verb that does not add -ed to form the past tense. The spelling of the verb changes to form the past tense. MECHANICS • Capitalize the first word of a direct quotation. A direct quotation gives a speaker’s exact words. • Use a comma to set off a direct quotation from words such as he said or she said. • Use quotation marks before and after a direct quotation. • Place a period or a comma inside closing quotation marks. • Place a question mark or an exclamation mark inside the quotation marks when it is part of the entire sentence.

- Fictional Narrative A checklist can help you focus on your work. ❑ Who was my audience? Did I write in a way that will interest them? ❑ What was my purpose in telling this story? Will my audience be entertained? ❑ Did I begin and end my story in an interesting way? ❑ Did I include enough details so that my audience can “see” my characters, setting, and events? ❑ Did I make my sequence of events clear? ❑ Does my ending include the solution to the problem? ❑ Did I use long and short sentences to make my writing more interesting? ❑ Did I proofread and correct all errors?

Draft #1-due______

Draft # 2-due______

Draft #3-due______

Writing Rubric Fictional Narrative: A Story Score Description 4 4 - Excellent ■ creates an entertaining, imaginative story ■ moves readers through an engaging beginning, middle, and end ■ uses a clear and believable voice and unique narrative style ■ uses rich, precise language, including figurative language ■ includes a variety of sentences that have rhythm and flow ■ is free or almost free of errors 3 3 - Good ■ creates an imaginative, interesting story ■ has a well-planned plot with a clear beginning, middle, and end ■ uses an original voice that is consistent with plot and characters ■ uses clear and concise language with both new and everyday words ■ includes both simple and compound sentences ■ has minor errors that do not confuse the reader 2 2 - Fair ■ creates a fairly imaginative story with some details about character and plot ■ has a confusing narrative ■ attempts a narrative voice but does not engage or entertain the reader ■ uses ordinary words that sometimes repeat ■ lacks sentence variety ■ makes frequent errors that confuse the reader 1 1 - Unsatisfactory ■ creates a story lacking in imagination ■ presents story details in a confusing, illogical manner ■ does not use a distinct narrative voice ■ uses words that are either incorrect or unrelated to the story ■ contains confusing run-on sentences and sentence fragments