Typically, students engage in essay writing. Teachers are encouraged to have students practice the traditional five paragraph structure, create a strong thesis statement, include textual evidence and incorporate different writing techniques.

We get so caught up in test prep that we forget writing should also be an opportunity for student to reflect on their own lives. Personal narratives provide students with a chance to participate in creative writing, while still practicing appropriate writing mechanics.

Recently, I spent a week with high school special education students writing personal narratives. I created a bunch of materials to help my students grasp the concept, generate topics to write about and create an outline for their final piece.

I broke up the activities over a four day period.:

*Day 1– reviewed the Personal Narrative PowerPoint and had students complete the Brainstorming Sheet

*Day 2– I started by showing students the Personal Narrative Example (written by yours truly). I then checked in with students and based on their completion of the Brainstorming Sheet, I had students fill out the Personal Narrative Outline Sheet

*Day 3 and 4– Students wrote their personal narratives based on pre-writing activities and the example

I learned A LOT about these students through these activities. Some found the writing to be therapeutic, while others had fun with it and wrote about happy memories. They were actively engaged in the activities and all produced personal narratives utilizing the appropriate elements.

To check out the Personal Narrative Writing Bundle I used, click here.

Little Reading Coach is a certified Teacher of English (K-12) and Reading Specialist (P-12) offering online reading,  writing and home-based learning support tutoring services for students in grades 6-12. For more information click here.