How to Teach Narrative Structure

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“Once upon a time” we begin telling stories to our children even before they are born. Nighttime storytelling is part of our culture but do children understand the story structure? Understanding text structure aids in comprehension. It assists in anticipating and determining the information that needs to be remembered for later recall. Here are ways to teach narrative story structure.

Purpose:

Narratives purposes are to

Entertain
Teach
Provide an account of events within a time frame

We can talk about an author’s purpose before a story or after a story. This helps with comprehension. It works well when we study a collection of books that have the same purpose. Teach narrative structure purpose.

Here are some that entertain.

Books that can teach:

A small act of kindness can make people feel included.

Provide and account in a particular time frame.

Structure:

Narrative structure has a clear, beginning and an end. Teaching narrative structure can be done using a variety of visuals and tactile supports.

I like using Braidy the Story Grammar Marker and have the children put the green loops on as they retell the story. Braidy the Story Grammar comes from MindWing Concepts.

This is also a great tool to teach story grammar. Each of the pieces on the doll are part of story grammar. It also has a song to go with each of the icons.

I tease the children and have them close their eyes while I remove each of the parts. I have them put them back on as they tell me that part of the story .

Story Grammar

Narrative stories have characters, setting, plot ( problem, sequence of events, outcome) reflection and theme. Besides Braidy the Story Grammar Doll I also use Story Grammar Marker.

I also use visuals of the specific story grammar pieces of the story.