Grade: 8th

Time: 40 minutes
Topic: Introducing Narrative Day 1
Standards:
CC.1.4.8.M: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events.
E08.C.1.3.2: Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, and
reflection, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
Objectives: Students will understand the different elements of a narrative and how to
begin to apply them in their writing.
Essential Question: What are the elements of a narrative?
Activity:
Bell ringer:
o What is your favorite short story we have read so far? What makes it so
good?
Introduce narrative assignment
o Pass out pre-writing and rubric packet
Brief review of narrative elements (powerpoint):
o Narrative

o Characterization
The way the author describes the characters
Direct
o When the narrator tells the reader what the character
is like
Indirect
o When the author describes a character through their
actions, dialogue or thoughts
o Plot
The sequence of events that take place in the story
o Setting
The time and place in which the events of the story take place
o Theme
An idea or concept that is central to the story
o Mood
How the reader feels when reading the story
o Tone
The authors or narrators attitude towards the subject matter and
characters in the story
o Foreshadowing
Hints in a story of what is going to happen to the plot or a
character.
o Flashback

When the action of the story is interrupted by a scene from the

past.
Start brainstorming for a topic
o Show students three pictures and have them pick one to use as a story
starter for their narrative
o Use pre-writing sheet to start filling in ideas
Summary: How can these narrative elements make a better story?
Homework:
Choose a topic for the narrative and come up with at least 5 possible plot points

Grade: 8th
Time: 40 minutes
Topic: Narrative Day 2 Plot and setting
Standards:
E08.C.1.3.3: Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to convey
sequence, to signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another, and to show
the relationships among experiences and events.
Objectives: Students will understand how to form a fictional plot line and how to
introduce the setting of the story.
Essential Questions: How can an author develop the setting in a detailed way?
Activity:
Bell Ringer (5-7 minutes):
o Write down plot points you thought of for homework last night.
Free-write for 10 minutes about at least two of the main plot points you came up
with. Try to tie them together and start to form a story line.
o Share with a partner what you have written so far.
Pass out excerpt from A Rose for Emily that introduces setting.
o Read paragraph aloud, and as I read students will circle descriptive words
and underline specific details that tell what the setting is.
o Handout:
Excerpts from A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
WHEN Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men
through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly
out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant--a combined gardener and cook--had seen in at least ten years.
It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with
cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the
seventies, set on what had once been our most select street. But garages and
cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that
neighborhood; only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and

coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore
among eyesores. And now Miss Emily had gone to join the representatives of
those august names where they lay in the cedar-bemused cemetery among the
ranked and anonymous graves of Union and Confederate soldiers who fell at the
battle of Jefferson.
Already we knew that there was one room in that region above stairs which no
one had seen in forty years, and which would have to be forced. They waited until
Miss Emily was decently in the ground before they opened it.
The violence of breaking down the door seemed to fill this room with pervading
dust. A thin, acrid pall as of the tomb seemed to lie everywhere upon this room
decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valance curtains of faded rose
color, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the dressing table, upon the delicate array
of crystal and the man's toilet things backed with tarnished silver, silver so
tarnished that the monogram was obscured. Among them lay a collar and tie, as if
they had just been removed, which, lifted, left upon the surface a pale crescent in
the dust. Upon a chair hung the suit, carefully folded; beneath it the two mute
shoes and the discarded socks.
Remaining time will be dedicated to starting writing narratives.
Summary: How do setting and plot work together to create a good foundation for a
narrative?
Homework:
Have at least two paragraphs of the narrative written for tomorrow.
Grade: 8th
Time: 40 minutes
Topic: Narrative Day 3
Standards:
E08.C.1.3.4: Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and
sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
E08.C.1.3.1: Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of
view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that
unfolds naturally and logically to support the writers purpose.
Objectives: Students will understand how to use direct and indirect characterization in a
narrative.
Essential Questions: What is the difference between indirect and direct characterization?
Activity:
Bell Ringer:
o How did Poe characterize the main character in The Tell-tale Heart?

Share with a neighbor your answer to the bell ringer.

Share out to the class and facilitate discussion on the main character and direct vs.
indirect characterization
Show short video that goes more into detail on the difference between direct and
indirect characterization.
o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_GVgbykf8A
o As students watch the video, they will look for different details that can
reveal a persons character.
o Before starting to write again, I will ask for examples of how students can
characterize their own characters. I will ask for examples of both direct
and indirect.
Students will begin to focus on their main character in their narrative and write
down ideas including, but not limited to:
o Physical description
o Age
o Personality traits
o Special talents
o Favorite things (movies, books, hobbies, etc.)
Summary (exit slip): Which type of characterization will you use more in your
narrative? Which is more effective?
Homework:
Finish narrative over the weekend.