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20 Writing Realistic Stories

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145
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Writers Express

Start-Up Activity

Read or share a story about a real person—a doctor, inventor, scientist, teacher, writer, musician, and so on. Then discuss how this story could become the starting point for a realistic story with fictional elements worked in.

Think About It

“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.”

—Orson Scott Card

State Standards Covered in This Chapter

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.A

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3.A

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.B

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.C

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.D

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.E

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.4

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.5

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3.B

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3.C

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3.D

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3.E

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.4

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.5

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.2

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.10

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.1

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.10

LAFS Covered in This Chapter

LAFS.K12.W.1.3

LAFS.4.W.1.3

LAFS.5.W.1.3

LAFS.4.W.2.4

LAFS.4.W.2.5

LAFS.5.W.2.4

LAFS.5.W.2.5

LAFS.4.RL.1.1

LAFS.4.RL.1.2

LAFS.4.RL.1.3

LAFS.4.RL.4.10

LAFS.5.RL.1.1

LAFS.5.RL.1.2

LAFS.5.RL.1.3

LAFS.5.RL.4.10

TEKS Covered in This Chapter

110.6.b.12.A

110.6.b.11.B.i

110.7.b.11

110.7.b.12.A

110.7.b.11.B.i

110.6.b.11.B

110.6.b.11.B.ii

110.6.b.11.A

110.6.b.11.C

110.6.b.11.D

110.7.b.11.B.ii

110.7.b.11.A

110.7.b.11.C

110.7.b.11.D

110.6.b.8

110.6.b.8.A

110.6.b.8.B

110.7.b.8.A

110.7.b.7.C

110.7.b.8.B

110.7.b.8.C

110.7.b.8.D

110.7.b.8

TEKS Covered in This Chapter

Page 146 from Writers Express

Writing Realistic Stories

Lead your students step by step through the process of writing a realistic story, starting with these two pages that support prewriting. Use the strategies demonstrated on this page to help students create a character and invent a problem for the character to face. Have your students develop a character creation sheet like the one on the page, or download and distribute the template.

The minilesson provides a similar strategy for coming up with a plot.

Downloads:

State Standard Reference:

LAFS Standard:

LAFS.K12.W.1.3

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Level:

Grade 4 Grade 5

Mode:

Narrative Writing Creative Writing

Form:

Story

Theme:

Family Life

21st Century Skills:

Creative Thinking

English Language Arts:

Writing Process Prewriting

Page 147 from Writers Express

Create a Collection Sheet

Help students gather their ideas in one place by following the directions on this page. You can also download and distribute the collection sheet template.

(2024 Revision) Writing: Developing the First Draft

Walk your students through the strategies for starting stories. Ask them which strategy they plan to use to get started. Have students try the strategy, writing a sentence that could start their stories. Then have student share their starting sentences with each other. You can also use the minilesson activity.

Afterward, present the material under "Keep Your Story Going" and "End Your Story" and tell students to write their first drafts.

Downloads:

Realistic Story Collection Sheet

State Standard Reference:

LAFS Standard:

LAFS.K12.W.1.3

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Level:

Grade 4 Grade 5

Mode:

Narrative Writing Creative Writing

Form:

Story

Theme:

Family Life

21st Century Skills:

Creative Thinking

English Language Arts:

Writing Process Prewriting

Page 148 from Writers Express

Writing: Developing the First Draft

Afterward, present the material under "Keep Your Story Going" and "End Your Story" and tell students to write their first drafts.

(2024 Revision) Revising, Editing, and Proofreading

Use this page to help students improve their stories. Specifically, point out the three improvement strategies under "Add Life to Your Story." Ask students which of those strategies would help them improve the story most. Have every student pick one or more of the strategies to try—or have them suggest a different strategy they will use to improve their work.