Personal Narrative Writing Unit THIRD GRADE

“I have never been very confident when it comes to teaching writing, and I am always looking for products to help me out. Until now, I have never been able to find something that just "fits" my style. This product is so thorough, everything that I need is right here, and I love how everything is laid out day by day. I am going into this school year more confident in my writing lessons than I have ever been.” - Jessica D.

If teaching writing has ever made you cry, weep, tear out your hair, question your existence, or binge-watch reality television—because it’s just that frustrating and overwhelming—I made this resource for you. 

If your students dread writing time more than meatloaf in the school cafeteria...I made this  resource for them, too. 

We promise you: if any of that sounds like you or your students, you are NOT alone.

Many teachers like you have told me that their district-provided curriculum is too wordy and/or hard to implement. (Or worse, there’s no curriculum at all.) But you’re still expected to instill the necessary skills into your students so they can perform well on standardized tests! How are you supposed to do it?

Enter: The Not So Wimpy Teacher Personal Narrative Writing Unit for 3rd Grade. This unit is your complete kit for instructing students in personal narrative writing.

• It contains EVERYTHING you need to teach personal narrative writing for 8 weeks—including mentor texts. You do not need to purchase any additional books! (Unless you want to.)
• The lesson plans are simple, so all you have to do is print and teach.
• Students will learn all of the skills necessary for a small moment story with dialogue, a strong lead, interesting word choice, paragraphs, and so much more. 
• There are digital anchor charts you can just project onto your white board- so you don’t have to be Picasso or Renoir to anchor your kids in the lesson.

Most importantly? It makes writing fun for your students. The NSWT office has received many reports that students get so excited about these writing units, they moan and groan when writing time is over. Why is that such a big deal? Students who enjoy writing and get lots of practice perform better on standardized testing. 

When I say this unit has everything you need, I do mean everything. There are 164 pages that are organized into multiple files to make it easy to find what you need!

How it Works

Each lesson plan outlines a typical day of writing with these components:

• Mini-Lesson: The day kicks off with a mini-lesson to teach a particular skill. The mini-lesson uses mentor text (remember, it’s included in the unit) and anchor charts. For the teacher version of the anchor charts, you can project and fill them out with the class, or print and display them in your classroom. The student versions are smaller so they can fill them out and keep them in their writing notebooks for reference.
• Work Time: Students will apply the skill they just learned into their writing each day. The included writing tasks make it crystal-clear for your students what to do during independent writing time. By the end of the unit, they will have completed two full masterpieces and many other independent writings. 
• Share Time: Students are encouraged to share a piece of their writing with a partner or with the entire class. I recommend mixing it up!

**Would you like to learn how I use these writing units? Click HERE to view a free video on how to implement these writing units.**

What’s Inside

• Detailed teacher directions and suggestions for simple implementation
• 7 exclusive videos to help implement and organize the unit
• Unit at-a-glance calendar
• 40 days of lesson plans that include guiding questions, materials, mini-lessons, student work tasks, student share tasks, intervention and several extension activities
• 14 original mentor text passages
• 24 personal narrative task cards
• 24 punctuating dialogue task cards
• 24 personal narrative writing prompts task cards
• 12 teacher anchor charts (blank and filled in versions)
• Student anchor charts and printable for writing notebooks
• Conference and goal tracking forms
• Writing grades tracking forms
• Rubrics
• List of 12 additional mentor text books (Remember, using them is optional, because I’ve included all the mentor texts you need) 
• 20 different writing publishing papers
• Student writing notebook cover and dividers
• Teacher notebook covers and binder spines
• Multiple ideas for author share celebrations
• NEW!!! Digital Writing Notebook with student anchor charts on Google Slides

Lessons Included

• Setting goals
• What is a personal narrative?
• Generating story ideas
• Narrowing your story idea to a small moment
• Rehearsing and drafting
• Writing a lead
• Adding and punctuating dialogue
• Adding details
• Word choice
• Show, don’t tell
• Breaking writing into paragraphs
• Transition Words
• Writing an ending
• Editing
• Publishing

Please take a look at the preview to see examples of what’s included in the unit.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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Available in this money saving bundle:

Writing Bundle

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More Third Grade Writing Units:

Informational Report

Opinion Writing Unit

Fiction Narrative

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Writing Units for Other Grade Levels:

Second Grade Writing Bundle

Fourth Grade Writing Bundle

Fifth Grade Writing Bundle