Narrative Writing

By Chris Gosek

The entire third grade at Wendell Elementary were visited this past week in their classrooms by author, Donna Sink, who gave an energetic lesson to the children on ways to strengthen their narrative writing skills.

Ms. Sink, a native of Raleigh, gave the students many examples to draw from in her presentation, with the main focus on identifying obstacles in a story. The kids were first told that an obstacle is either a difficulty or something blocking their way. Once this was covered, they discussed a story as a group, with the students first identifying what obstacle got in their way. They then were asked how they would respond to the obstacle and what measures they would take to get around it. Forming the story by answering these questions, Ms. Sink also stressed the importance of detail, asking the kids to describe the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feel of said obstacle. To conclude the story, the group discussed what they did to get what they wanted and lastly what character traits did they learn to have to reach that point.