Writing is a skill that not every individual possesses naturally. Some people are born with the ability to express themselves creatively, while others struggle to put their thoughts on paper. Narrative writing is a style of writing that is used to tell stories and express personal opinions appealingly.
Check out the 10 brilliant ways that will help in improving the narrative writing skills in the classroom:
1. Emphasize on Reading
Reading is a highly productive activity that has numerous advantages. Students gain new knowledge and are introduced to new terminologies. They improve their ability to communicate themselves clearly and discover new ways to share their feelings. It also improves their critical thinking skills and allows them to see things from a different perspective.
2. Conduct Group Activities for Writing Tasks
Students learn more effectively when they put what they have learned into practice. It instills confidence in them and increases their productivity. Teachers can assign topics to groups of students to share their stories. It does not have to be a long activity; it may be done in a short amount of time to keep pupils engaged and interested.
3. Describe Narrative Essay Structure with Examples
What could be a better way to make students understand narrative writing than to demonstrate it with examples? Teachers can share well-structured essays in the classroom and also compose them in front of the class. This way the teacher presents a model to students which will make them effectively understand things.
4. Ask Students to Compose Different Types of Sentences
The teacher can emphasize the importance of using different types of sentence structures and styles for enhancing the beauty of the scene being presented. Make students try experimenting with exclamatory sentences instead of declarative ones. Similarly, various other kinds of sentences can be used in different settings.
5. Share Stories with Kids
While sharing stories with pupils in a classroom, the teacher can take help from different audio-visual aids like charts, animations, models, etc. When stories are shared interestingly, students get excited to write their thoughts as well. They not only get entertained but also develop an interest in writing down their personal experiences on a piece of paper.
6. Use Figurative Language for Narration
Stories are narrated and written in a proper language that is essential to give them meaning. By using figures of speech, the story can be created to evoke human experiences. Personifying words, metaphors, sound effects, alliterations, etc. can be used. Teachers can either compose such stories briefly or narrate the ones provided in storybooks with meaningful lessons.
7. Provide Tools to Students
In this modern era of the internet and technology, students do not stick to conventional methods and love to use devices for learning purposes. You can assist students by providing them with rubrics, checklists, and online tools. There are many genres like adventure, drama, fantasy, comedy, etc. to write various narrative essays. Students can easily master various tricks to write in their favorite genre with practice.
8. Perform Writing Activities Consistently
The teacher must undertake writing exercises regularly at the primary level for the pupils to maintain their enthusiasm. The motivation should not stop even if it only includes penning a short piece. When an action is not performed regularly, the results may not always be what you expected. There are more chances of errors and loss of creativity.
9. Make Students Practice More
Students should be asked to practice writing and sharing their experiences from time to time. When a teacher keeps a check on students’ learning, there are more chances of rapid improvement and encouragement to perform better. Teachers can organize different writing contests and encourage students to participate. It enhances their exposure and makes them more aware of the scope of narrative writing.
10. Provide Feedback Individually
The teacher should individually assess each student’s writing contribution and performance, instead of grading in groups. It not only strengthens the competition between pupils but also makes them more focused on their tasks. Feedback generates a sense of responsibility and students give their best when they realize that they are answerable to their instructors.
Conclusion
Sharing stories is a very creative skill that involves having a detailed understanding of the use of all the elements that add meaning to it. Anyone can share an experience in his style but composing a well-structured and quality narrative requires more expertise and practice. By encouraging learning practices in the classroom, the teacher can provide great assistance to students for becoming better writers.
Image by Ylanite Koppens