How to Write a Personal Narrative Essay for Kids: as Easy as ABC


Personal narrative essay is a necessary part of most elementary school writing curricula. That is why it is essential to help children learn how to do it correctly.

What does writing personal narrative essay imply?

Such form of expressing thoughts is defined as a written account of life experiences. Although children at their age have not so much life experience to talk about, it is exactly what they like to do the most. Telling stories about their own life is children’s favorite activity, but there is quite a difference between simple stories and an academic task with its own objectives and demands. Sometimes teachers try too hard to impose on children the rigid requirements of curriculum and thus reduce their enthusiasm. In order to avoid such situations, children should be taught that writing stories is in fact as easy as ABC.

What does the effective writing strategy consist of?

It is possible to single out six main steps of writing essays without problems:

  • Choosing a topic
  • At this point pupils think what they have to say about the suggested topic.

    If they have difficulties while making the decision, help them by asking guiding questions. It is generally most effective if pupils choose something they are interested in.

  • Making a scheme
  • Once a topic is chosen, the teacher should tell the pupils how to structure their story. Show them how to divide the paper in following sections: Introduction, Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3, Conclusion, leaving space beneath for notes.

    This will definitely help a child to organize his flow of mind and to put the events in the right order.

  • Verbal telling
  • Telling the story at first orally helps a child to remember what information is the most important. While telling the story, help to make notes in each section, but leave introduction and conclusion blank. Make sure the chronological order is kept.

  • Writing the story in paragraph form
  • Explain basic rules of paragraph writing. First and foremost, personal narrative essay should be written in first person, keeping up to the chronological order of the events. Remind that each paragraph can’t consist of only one sentence, but should be at least three sentences long.

  • Introduction
  • It should explain what is important in the story to a child.

  • Conclusion
  • Ask the pupil what he or she learned from the story and help them to use this information writing a conclusion paragraph. This part should join all of the other pieces together.

#