Listed below are selected teacher resources, picture books, and non-fiction related to narrative genre texts.

Teacher Resources Related to Narrative Texts

Guiding readers and writers, grades 3-6: Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy

by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell

Grades: 3-6

The authors explore six essential components of a literacy program: breakthrough to literacy, independent reading, guided reading, literature study, teaching for comprehension and word analysis, and the reading and writing connection.

Genre study: teaching with fiction and non-fiction books, grades K-8+

by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell

Grades: K-8

This book uses an inquiry approach to engage students in exploring texts so that they can notice and name the characteristics of each genre and construct a working definition that guides their thinking of reading and writing.

Wordtamer: Activities to inspire creative thinking and learning

by Judy Waite

Grades: K-12

Drawing on the author’s experiences of writing for children, this book considers how teachers and students can incorporate authors’ techniques into their own work to improve creative writing. It provides suggestions on how to set up and run writing lessons and workshops that connect with the school curriculum and engage all student writers. (E-book only)

Narrative, literacy and other skills: Studies in intervention

edited by Edy Veneziano and Ageliki Nicolopoulou

Grades: K-8

This volume brings together research focusing on two key issues in the development of children’s narrative skills: the issue of the interrelatedness between narrative skills and literacy, language and socio-cognitive development; and the issue of how early interactional experiences, particular contextual settings and specific intervention procedures, can help children promote their narrative skills. (E-book only)

The narrative writing toolkit: Using mentor texts in grades 3-8

by Sean Ruday

Grades: 3-8

The author demonstrates how to teach elementary and middle school students to analyze the qualities of effective narratives through mentor texts, and then help them think of those qualities as tools to improve their own writing. The end goal is to make narrative writing an interactive, student-driven exercise in which students pursue their own writing projects. (E-book only)

Learning to write with purpose: Effective instruction in grades 4-8

by Karen Kuelthau Allan et al.

Grades: 4-8

Communicating ideas and information is what makes writing meaningful, yet many students write without considering the aims of their writing or the needs of their readers. This book shares techniques to promote the skills and strategies need to write and revise effectively in a range of genres, including persuasive, expository and procedural writing; narratives; and poetry.

Using picture books to teach narrative writing: Engaging mini-lessons and activities to teach students about key story elements

by Naomi Laker

Grades: 1-3

This book shows how students can learn how to write personal narratives, using picture books as models. After being immersed in read-alouds that focus on key story elements—character, plot, setting, movement through time, and change—students create their own story time lines, write promise sentences, stretch their stories, and more.

100 writing lessons: Narrative, descriptive, expository, persuasive

by Tara McCarthy

Grades: 4-8

This collection of quick writing lessons and activities will help teachers to find exactly what they need for teaching writing, whether it’s a lesson on using exact words, writing an essay, developing a plot, or organizing a report. The author shares dozens of ideas for teaching students the persuasive, narrative, descriptive, and expository writing skills they need.

Narrative writing: Learning a new model for teaching

by George Hillocks Jr.

Grades: 9-12

This book demonstrates how focusing classroom activities on producing content, rather than form, boosts students’ engagement and makes them active learners. The author shows how “at-risk” kids’ competencies increase significantly as they are taught how to complete important writing tasks such as incorporating detail and figurative language, creating dialogue, expressing inner thoughts, portraying people and action, and more.

Picture Books Demonstrating Narrative

Shin-chi’s canoe

written by Nicola I. Campbell, illustrated by Kim LaFave

Forced to use only people’s English names and not speak to his siblings at school, Shin-chi holds fast to the canoe given to him by his father, hopeful that things will then improve for his family and the people he loves. (Also available in French.)

The harmonica

written by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Ron Mazellan