Six ways to start a narrative introduction

General

This lesson starts with a fun exercise: how would you introduce yourself to someone you've never met?

Here are six approaches you could use to introduce a narrative, whether it's about yourself or it's something you're writing:

- Describe the setting
- Surprise your reader
- Establish a conflict
- Start with dialogue
- Ask a question
- Start with a flashback

Examples are provided so that students can recognize what these strategies could look like in practice.

Common core standard(s)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3a
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.3a

Learning Objective

This lesson will give students six strategies for beginning a narrative piece of writing.

Guided practice

These questions help students identify the six types of strategies given for beginning a narrative.

Teaching tips

After students do the two-minute exercise where they try to guess their partner's narrative strategy, consider having students share theirs with the class. Then, after students have changed their strategies, discuss which strategy they preferred and why.