Ep 66: Why Our Way of Teaching Narratives Gets Results

As nuts as it sounds, Jessica and I are already thinking about next school year. Yes, call us crazy, but we’re Type A (batch) planners and I don’t think we’ll ever change!  Anyway, in considering the start of next school year, we couldn’t help but think about narrative writing. It’s the perfect genre to begin with because it’s creative, imaginative, and offers so many opportunities to build a strong classroom community. 

And from what we’ve heard from our EB Teacher’s Club and Writing Instruction Course members, teaching narrative in the fall is pretty common. The problem, though, is that the fall seems to be where practicing narratives stops. 

In today’s episode, Jessica and I share our approach to narrative writing. Not unlike our approach to almost all Language Arts content, we recommend a spiral approach. I know that I certainly can’t remember something if I’m taught it once and then never practice it again. The same is true for our middle schoolers! 

Today we share our best tips for incorporating narrative writing throughout your school year–and no, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming! Plus, we explain our favorite narrative writing game, and how to adapt it for online distance learning. 

Tune in to hear:

• [00:50] About a FREE Narrative Writing Training coming up on June 25th
• [01:40] Our approach to teaching narrative writing 
• [03:30] The value of teaching narrative writing all year long
• [04:50] A short story we are obsessed with! 
• [06:50] A website that will send students an email they wrote many years later
• [07:55] A fun activity you can use–tomorrow–to help students practice narrative leads
• [11:50] How to adapt this to online distance learning 
• [14:20] A subsequent transitions activity for students
• [15:25] Our brand new and FREE writing guide to help students master the writing standards 

Click here to listen now!

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