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Personal Narrative Exploration

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Personal Narrative Exploration

Read the personal narrative. Then explore how it is built and plan a true story from your own life. You may write about a small everyday moment—choose something you feel comfortable sharing.

Read the narrative

The runaway napkin On Tuesday, Levi, Zoe and I sat at the canteen table with our lunches. A cool breeze slipped across the playground. I had just opened my cheese sandwich when—whoosh!—my paper napkin sailed off the table. It skittered past the water fountain. I chased it, but it caught on the fence. Zoe held my lunchbox while Levi carefully freed the napkin. Then another gust lifted it again! This time Levi caught it against his jersey, and we all burst out laughing. We returned to the table, a little breathless. I used a clean napkin from my lunchbox instead. The sandwich was still delicious, and our windy lunchtime became a story we told again on the way home.

1.Which detail best shows that this is a personal narrative—a true event told by someone who was there?

The narrator says, “I had just opened my cheese sandwich.”
The story has a talking dragon.
The story explains how to make a sandwich.

2.Where and when did the event happen? Use details from the narrative.

3.Write 1, 2 and 3 beside these events in the order they happened: ___ Levi caught the napkin against his jersey. ___ The narrator’s napkin blew off the table. ___ The friends returned to the table.

4.The sentence “We returned to the table, a little breathless” belongs to which part of the narrative?

Beginning: it introduces the people and place.
Middle: it describes the main event.
End: it shows what happened after the event.

5.What does the word “skittered” help you imagine the napkin doing?

Moving quickly and lightly across the ground
Sitting still on the table
Falling slowly into a lunchbox

6.Zoe held the narrator’s lunchbox while Levi freed the napkin from the fence.

TrueFalse

7.Fill in the missing words: The main event began when a gust of wind lifted the narrator’s off the .

8.How did the friends solve the problem, and how did the narrator feel at the end? Use one detail from the story.

Plan a true story

Choose a real moment you remember. It could be funny, surprising, exciting or calm. Jot down ideas before writing. You do not need to share anything private.

9.Write who was there and where and when your real event happened. Include at least two details.

10.What happened first, next and last? Write a few notes that would help a reader follow your true story.

11.Use your plan to write a short true story. Include a beginning that tells who, where and when; a middle with events in order; and an ending that tells how it finished or how you felt. Add one lively detail, such as a sound, action or feeling.

Draw one moment from the true story you planned. Add a small caption describing what is happening.