Narrative Writing

The purpose of narrative writing is to tell a story. Good narrative writing is more than a list of random events. It has tension – a problem to be solved or a challenge to be overcome. There is a point to the story.

Narrative Writing Should:

•Answer the question, WHAT HAPPENED?

•Go beyond WHAT HAPPENED (the facts), and tell WHY (the motives or reasons) behind the event. The WHY will focus on facts as they led the writer to some type of knowledge, insight, or lesson learned.


Narrative Writing Sample 5th Grade



“My Trip to Disneyland”

I went to disneyland with my brother, grandparrents, and cousins. We checked into our hotel and the next day went on all the rides. They had a light parade. we watched it all night. The next morning we went to Notsberry farm. We went swimming in a large pool. We went home the very next day.
My mom, dad, brother, and I are going to fly to disneyland this summer and stay with some friends. We hope to go on splash mountain and to sea world. My favorite ride was star tours you sit down and buckle you seat belt and watch a movie screen wile the room spins. It will be hard to forget because we had so much fun.



Narrative Writing Sample 5th Grade


“My Trip to the River”

This story happened a few years ago, when I was smaller. It was a cold day, so my mom bundled up my brother and I. That was usual.
My family (including me), and some of my mom’s friends went on a trip to the river. I can’t remember what my mom’s friends name’s were.
Malcolm, my brother, was bored, so he decided to pick on me. You know how brothers are.
We road in a boat. It was my first time riding in a boat. I didn’t get to ride in boat’s that often. Malcolm was teasing me about the boat tipping. Then, my mom dropped the paddle. She got it back though.
We ate, and then headed on up the trail that led to the truck.
Malcolm reached out for my hat and missed. It fell in the river. He reached out to pick it up as it started to drift away. He reached a little further. Malcolm got ahold of it.
Splash! He fell in. My brother started to panic.
Help I’m drowning! he said. Everyone just stood there.
One of my mom’s friends told him to stand up if he wanted to live. He found out the water was only up to his knees. I lauged. He didn’t think it was funny!

Narrative Writing Sample 5th Grade

“Yellow Mama”

When I was one year old we moved to a ranch about seven miles from the highway. After we arrived and were fairly well settled we found out there were some cats living on the ranch too. Yellow Mama was one of them. She was a yellow cat with a white bib.
Yellow Mama was a gentle cat, in the years that followed she had at least five batches of kittens. She cared for them all, they usually looked like her, but not always. Sometimes she had six kittens in one batch!
When I was seven years old Yellow Mama was still with us. During the summer, Kirk, my brother who was nine, and I decided we wanted to climb a big rock on the hillside near our house. We were almost to the rock when I saw poor Yellow Mama lying near a brush, dead. I told Kirk to come see what had happened.
We were both very sad, we had loved her very much. We decided not to climb the rock, I was crying. When we were running back to the house, mom heard me crying and came out to see if I was hurt. We told her what had happened and then went into the house.
When dad came home we told him. The next day he buried Yellow Mama. Said it looked like a snake or something had bitten her neck.
I will never forget Yellow Mama. I am eleven years old and still think about how nice and kind she was, she had been a good cat.
The End