Narrative Writing Brainstorming Worksheet

The Narrative Writing Brainstorming Worksheet gives 4th grade students a place to think before they write. A narrative has three jobs to do — a beginning that introduces the characters and the setting, a middle that raises a problem and moves it along with time-order words, and an end that resolves it. Students who skip the planning step usually write a long middle and no ending at all. This sheet slows that down: first students study how one small kite story was built, and then they sketch the same three parts for a story of their own.

Print the sheet and work through it in one sitting. Part A gives five sentences from a story about a girl, her uncle and a red kite, printed out of order, and a legend of three letters. Students write B, M or E in the box beside each sentence to show which part of a story it belongs in. Talk about the clues out loud — a time-order word such as next or then points to the middle, a wrap-up feeling points to the end. Part B then hands the page over: three labelled boxes where students plan the beginning, middle and end of their own outdoor adventure in one sentence each. The answer key on the back marks Part A and notes that Part B answers will vary.

What’s Included

• A one-page organizer with a Name and Date line, ready to print
• Five story sentences to sort into beginning, middle and end
• A printed legend so students never have to remember what B, M and E stand for
• Three labelled planning boxes sized for a full handwritten sentence each
• A complete answer key for Part A on the second page

This 4th grade graphic organizers worksheet helps students in three ways. First, it separates planning from drafting, which is the single habit that most improves a young writer’s stories. Second, the sorting task teaches the signal words — next, then, at last — that a reader uses to follow a plot, and students then reach for those same words in Part B. Third, the boxes are small on purpose: one sentence per part keeps a plan a plan, so nobody uses up the whole idea before the drafting page.

Teachers and parents can stretch the sheet further. Ask students to turn their three planned sentences into a full paragraph on notebook paper, or to trade sheets with a partner and guess what the finished story will be about. Use Part A as a five-minute warm-up on any day you are starting a story, and keep a copy of the Narrative Writing Brainstorming Worksheet in a writing centre or a sub folder so any adult can hand it out and check the work.

Related Resources

• Story Elements Reading Graphic Organizer Worksheet
• Timeline Graphic Organizer Worksheet
• Comparing Topics Alike and Different Graphic Organizer Worksheet
• Story Elements Song