Grade 4: Personal Narrative

Can your audience really “see” and “hear” your story happening?

Use details that help your audience imagine what you saw, heard, felt, tasted, and smelled.

Not enough details: I couldn't fall asleep. I was much too uncomfortable.

Much better: I couldn't fall asleep. The sleeping bag was cold and damp, and it smelled like dirty sneakers. Underneath it, there were stones that kept jabbing into me no matter how I turned. The worst part was the mosquito that kept whining right into my eardrum.

Use dialogue at least once or twice. Choose important, exciting, or funny things that people say to write as dialogue.

Without dialogue: Then Jordy told me he had lost the key to my bike lock.

With dialogue: “Nick,” Jordy said, “I have to tell you something. I think I lost the key to your bike lock.”

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