1. VENTURING INTO
NARRATIVE
Common 3.W.3 – Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,
Core descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
3.W.4 – With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are
appropriate to task and purpose.
Standards
Mr. Intermediate Language Arts

2. Format of this Narrative
Paragraph • Beginning
• Introduces characters, setting, and
#1 the problem.
• Attempt #1 – Fail
Paragraph • The first thing the main characters
#2 do to try to solve the problem that
doesn’t work.
• Attempt #2 – Fail
Paragraph • The second thing the main
#3 characters do to try to solve the
problem that also doesn’t work
• Solution
Paragraph • The final thing the main characters
#4 do to try to solve the problem that
works.

3. Directions
In this project you will be copying down parts of
the sample story, and filling in your own ideas,
characters, and attempts.
Look for the green underlined text to use your
own words, like this:
“Then Sam ran to the top of the stars and
shouted, “I’ve got it! We can tear apart our beds
and lash together the boards to make a boat!”

4. Tips & Hints
• Use your own name instead of “Sara”, unless your name
actually is Sara.
• Pick your own natural disaster. You can use a tornado if you
really want to, but there are plenty of others to choose from like
fires, floods, earthquakes, meteor showers, volcanoes,
hurricanes, blizzards, and more.
• Make your story INTERESTING! Remember, your goal is to
entertain your reader!

5. Lets Get Started by Making a
Plan!
Prompt Plan
We can all imagine  C: Mom, Me (Sara)
being in a natural  S: Home
disaster.
Think about what  P: A tornado is coming towards
us!
might happen in a
natural disaster.  Attempt #1:
________
Now write a story
about what  Attempt #2:
happened during a ________
natural disaster.  Solution:

6. Paragraph #1 (Characters, Setting,
Problem)
Beep! Beep! Beep! My alarm clock jolted me
out of my sleep. “Ugh, Monday morning,” I
mumbled. I crawled out of bed, and glanced out of
the window. Dark clouds blanketed the sky.
“Sara! Get ready and grab your breakfast!”
Mom bellowed up the stairs. She wasn’t wasting
any time this morning. I quickly did my morning
routine, and shuffled down the stairs and ran
smack into my mom’s back.
“We’re not going anywhere,” she whispered. I
followed her stare out the window and saw a gray
tunnel shooting down from the sky. Tornadoes in
Florida?! Who ever heard of that? And how would
we get out of the path of this tornado in time?

7. Paragraph #2 (Attempt #1 – Fail)
“Mom, relax. I think I’ve got a plan
here.” I calmed her in a soft voice. I
explained to my mom that we would
(write 1-2 sentences about a plan to
escape the natural disaster and show
characters doing the plan. Write 1
sentence showing the plan failing, without
using the words that didn’t work.) Well,
we were still in the line of the tornado,

8. Paragraph #3 (Attempt #2 – Fail)
“Sara, why didn’t I think of this in the
first place?” questioned Mom. She (write
1-2 sentences about a plan to escape the
natural disaster and show characters
doing the plan. Write 1 sentence showing
the plan failing, without using the words
that didn’t work.)
“Ok, so that idea sounded a lot better
than it worked. Now what?” Mom

9. Paragraph #4 (Solution)
An idea crept into my head, and I
was finally confident that I’d solved this
pickle of a problem. (write 2-3 sentences
about a plan to escape the natural
disaster and show characters doing the
plan.Write 1-2 sentences showing the
plan working.) Relieved to be rid of that
natural disaster debacle, I slumped into
my seat and realized grumpily that I’d