Teaching middle school and high school ESL students the ins and outs of writing a narrative essay can be quite a challenge. But don't worry, in this blog post, you’ll find some great strategies and techniques to help your students craft engaging personal narratives. You’ll find everything from brainstorming techniques to writing strategies geared specifically for English learners.

But first, we must understand that ESL students face unique challenges when it comes to writing narrative essays. Their biggest struggle will be with vocabulary and finding the right words to express their ideas effectively. Also, grammar and sentence structure will be hard, but they may not know it’s an issue unless it’s pointed out by you or their peers.

Another issue I’ve encountered is cultural differences and not knowing how to tell a story on paper. This in turn may bring up confidence issues that will affect their writing fluency. However, with a little support and a few strategies, your ESL students will be writing awesome personal narratives. Keep reading to find fun ways and activities to differentiate your English language arts lesson plans throughout the school year to tailor to those students who are learning English as a second language.

Understanding ESL Students and Narrative Structure

Narrative essays are a great way to force students to get creative, develop storytelling skills, and reflect on their personal experiences.

They teach students to organize ideas, grab the reader’s attention, and use words they didn’t know existed. It’s also interesting to see them consider different issues from a different point of view, as they may not know how different their mind works from their classmates. It’s always so eye-opening to read student writing!

So let’s take a trip into the key elements of a narrative essay to clarify some misconceptions. When it comes to crafting engaging narratives and creative writing, our students need to focus on five key elements. Understanding these elements is key to crafting a compelling and engaging narrative that will engage the reader.

The characters - the people or animals who drive the story.
The plot - the sequence of events that make up the story.
The setting - the time and place where the story takes place.
The conflict - the problem or challenge that the characters face.
The resolution - how the conflict is resolved.

When choosing the topic for your English language learners to write about, make sure they pick a personal experience that they can draw from. The key is for them to reflect on their own experiences and bring their own stories to life. They can’t write about what they can’t grasp, so let them write about familiar topics.

Here is a list of narrative prompts to get you started:

Write about a special celebration you'll always remember. What made it stand out? Who was there, and what did you do?
Describe your first day at a different school. Were you nervous? Who did you meet, and what surprised you?
Share a story about an incredibly thrilling adventure you experienced. Where did it happen, and what made it so exciting?
Explain a cherished tradition your family practices. Why is it important to you?
Recall a fond memory from your childhood. What happened, and why does it stay with you?
Describe a time when you faced and overcame a challenge or fear. How did you handle it?
Tell a tale about a humorous or embarrassing moment from your life. What happened, and how did you feel?
Discuss an unforgettable experience from a vacation you had. Where did you go, and what made it so memorable?
Share a story about a time when you helped someone or made a positive impact. How did it happen, and what was the outcome?
Describe the day you discovered a talent or skill you didn't know you had. What was it, and how did you feel upon discovering it?

Pre-Writing Strategies

Let's explore some brainstorming techniques to get those creative juices flowing in your students' narrative writing. This part of the writing process is the most important, in my opinion. Rather than spending a long time staring at a blank page thinking about what to write about, students bring out their own stories quickly and easily to complete this type of writing.

Mind mapping and freewriting. These techniques help students express their thoughts and ideas without any restrictions.
Visualization exercises and prompts. Asking students to close their eyes and picture a magical world or a thrilling adventure - this stimulates their imagination and sparks unique story ideas.
Graphic organizers like story maps and outlines work wonders. They help students structure their narratives and keep their ideas organized.

Writing Strategies

To help your students craft compelling narratives, you first, want to encourage them to use simple and clear language. You want their stories to be accessible and engaging for all readers. Then, you’ll want to guide them in incorporating vivid descriptions of sights, sounds, smells, and feelings. Sensory details are the secret sauce to bring their narratives to life. Encourage students to begin with an action, dialogue, question, or thought.

I like to put a variety of fiction books on their tables and have them look through the beginning of each chapter. This will get the juices flowing and will give them “hook” ideas. Descriptive language allows readers to experience the story alongside the characters. Let's show, not tell. You can use a variety of graphic organizers to their stories together.

ESL Strategies for Narrative Essay Writing

The biggest issue you’ll run across is that students want to write about what happened from the very beginning to the very end. They’ll want to write about when they woke up, when they went to sleep and everything in between. Have them hone in on one event and only that event. For the younger students, I like to take a paper towel roll and pretend to zoom into one specific thing about a specific event. Otherwise, you’ll have pages and pages of unnecessary events that make the story long and boring.

It’s also important that you explicitly teach sentence and paragraph structure. One way I like to do this is by modeling how to sprinkle transition words and phrases to help their writing flow. Write your own paragraphs under the document camera or project your screen so your students can see what real writing looks like. This is gold!

You also want to make sure their writing is clear and coherent, so peer editing and revision activities are a must. Students can give feedback to their peers, focusing on grammar and sentence construction to polish their writing skills. Partner them as follows: high students with medium students and medium students with low students. That way their levels are not too far apart.

Also, provide sentence frames and scaffolding to support our ESL students to give them that extra boost of confidence. You can come up with them together as you write them on chart paper or write them ahead of time and review them as a minilesson before you let them go to write. I always love to see their faces as they realize how much their writing improves with sentence stems.

Last, but not least, mentor texts. Mentor texts are super helpful for guiding ESL students through the process of writing narratives in secondary English language arts classrooms. These texts are carefully chosen for their structure, language features, and narrative elements, so they provide concrete examples that students can learn from.

By studying mentor texts, ESL students can get a better understanding of the nuances of storytelling, like character development, plot progression, dialogue, and descriptive language. These texts act as models that students can use to build their own narratives.

They give students a scaffold to experiment with language and structure, and they help students feel more confident in their ability to express themselves effectively in written English. Ultimately, mentor texts are inspirational guides that encourage students to develop their own unique narrative voices while also honing their language skills.

Here are five fun ways to use mentor texts to help your English language learners write narratives in the classroom:

Character Journals: Choose a book with well-developed characters. Give each student a character from the book, and have them write a journal entry from that character's perspective. Encourage them to think about what the character is feeling, what they're going through, and how they're reacting to the events of the story. This will help them understand the character's motivations and viewpoints, which will make it easier for them to create well-rounded characters in their own stories.
Plot Remix: Pick a story that's easy to follow. Break students into small groups and have them come up with a different ending for the story. Have each group present their new ending to the class, showing off their creative story-telling skills and understanding of how changing the ending can affect the overall story.
Narrative Picture Prompts: Choose intriguing pictures that relate to the mentor text's themes or settings. Give these pictures to students and ask them to write stories based on the images. Tell students to add elements from the mentor text, like the writing style, character traits, or setting descriptions, to their stories. This visual approach will help students be more creative and will let them practice descriptive writing based on the mentor text.
Sequencing Story Cards: Choose key events from the mentor text and create a set of story cards featuring illustrations or brief descriptions of these events. Pass out the cards randomly among students and ask them to put the events in the correct sequence, telling how they believe the story progresses. This activity reinforces understanding of narrative structure and helps students develop storytelling skills by piecing together story elements.
Interactive Storytelling Circles: Divide the class into small groups and assign each group a segment or chapter from the mentor text. Have students act out or summarize their assigned section using creative methods like dramatic performances, storyboards, or comic strips. This interactive approach encourages students to work together, dig deeper into the text, and reinforce their understanding while preparing them to write their own stories.

Here's a list of ten mentor texts suitable for ESL secondary students to help with narrative writing:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie: This novel combines humor and poignant storytelling, offering rich narrative elements and relatable themes for young readers.
Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan: This book provides a compelling narrative with strong characters, vivid descriptions, and themes of resilience and cultural identity.
Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson: Written in verse, this memoir-like book explores the author's childhood experiences, showcasing the power of poetic language in storytelling.
The Giver, by Lois Lowry A thought-provoking novel that introduces students to dystopian themes and engages them with a well-structured narrative and complex characters.
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio: This novel offers multiple perspectives, making it an excellent mentor text for teaching point of view and character development.
The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros: A collection of vignettes that can serve as models for concise storytelling and evocative language.
Fish in a Tree, by Lynda Mullaly Hunt: This book explores themes of learning differences and self-discovery, providing relatable characters and an engaging narrative.
Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai: A novel in verse that offers a unique format and rich storytelling while exploring themes of immigration and cultural adaptation.
The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate: This story, narrated by a gorilla, offers an innovative perspective and emotional depth, ideal for teaching voice in narratives.
The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo: A charming story with distinct narrative voices and well-developed characters, offering opportunities for studying characterization and plot development.

ESL Newcomers

Supporting ESL newcomers in writing narrative essays involves providing structured writing supports like word banks and sample essays.

Start by creating word banks filled with descriptive words, action verbs, and transitional phrases relevant to storytelling. These banks serve as vocabulary resources, aiding students in constructing cohesive narratives.

Additionally, offering sample essays or excerpts showcasing narrative structures, character development, and descriptive language provides tangible models for newcomers to understand essay composition and language use. As an ESL student myself, I remember needing this.

Encourage students to refer to these samples as templates to help them organize their thoughts and structure their own narratives effectively. By doing this, multilingual learners gain confidence, expand their vocabulary, and grasp the essential elements of narrative writing which will inevitably improve their English writing.

In a Nutshell

Teaching narrative writing to ESL students is very similar to teaching the concept to monolingual English speakers, although some tweaks need to be done for them to be more successful. Here are a few points:

Make sure your students know what a narrative essay is.
Give them examples of prompts they can write about.
Let them talk about their experiences before they begin to put them on paper.
Allow them to complete a mindmap, graphic organizer, or visualization exercise to get their thoughts organized.
Let them see examples of professional authors’ hooks to get their ideas flowing.
Teach them how to “zoom in” on events and stretch them out to make their story.
Model, model, model
Provide sentence stems and transition words.
Allow peer feedback.
When using mentor texts, make sure to read and discuss it together before expecting students to use it in writing.
Use word banks and sample essays for ESL newcomers.

With these strategies, your students will rock their narrative writing with clear, flowing sentences and paragraphs that captivate their readers.

Teach Narrative Writing to ESL Students