Personal Narrative Texts You MUST Add to Your Collection! #IMWAYR #MentorTexts #bookaday #booklove
Many of the classrooms I am joining virtually this fall are launching their year by studying personal narrative. It is a great way to get to know one another, to make connections, and to get stories in the air!
I have noticed the stories are different this year compared to previous years. I am not hearing about trips to Disney, an amusement park or even extended family vacations. The stories I am hearing focus more on family members in the household, feelings and small events that stand out. I am hearing more stories about nature, cooking, chores, and pets. I am noticing more details, big ideas, and voice in the writing. In the midst of a pandemic, students seem to be doing what we have always encouraged – write about the small moments you know really well.
In response, I am trying out some new mentor texts with students. Texts I hope will help them add craft moves and new structural ideas to their stories. Texts that reflect the importance of writing about something you know and something that matters to you. So far … so good! These new texts are worth adding to your collection.
This mostly wordless picture book supports writers in adding important details to their pictures. Whether they are using pictures to tell their story or using pictures to add layers of meaning to their story, Hike is a great text to study. Students want to read it again and again to notice all the details Pete Oswald adds to each picture and how he uses characters’ expressions to help us envision what the characters are saying and feeling. This book is available digitally for $.99 on Amazon right now!
This book has it all! I have used it for topic generation, telling a moment step by step, speech bubbles, action, strong feeling, and close-in ending. Writers in grades 3-5 love studying it to try draft their personal narrative in a graphic structure. I love listening to grades K-5 students discuss why some moments get an entire page and others are broken up into multiple scenes on a page. This is a text you will return to again and again. This book is now available in paperback.
This is a mentor text I plan to use across all units of study this year. It is not only a great personal narrative, it is also informational, procedural, shows students how to express an opinion through narrative, and inspires poetry. The illustrations will support young writers as they learn to revise their pictures. It also models many ways to use labels to add details to your pictures. Students love joining these characters on the hike and want to read it again and again.
I have curated a free virtual basket of personal narratives in the Free Virtual Bookroom to get you started this year, and when you are ready to buy some new texts, digital or paper, these will give you the best bang for your buck!
