Lesson 39: Ordinary Moments, Planning & Drafting a Narrative

Use this launch to reconnect students to the Performance Task and emphasize that a successful narrative focuses on one ordinary moment. Reinforce that planning a narrative is essential before drafting. It requires carefully choosing a meaningful moment, identifying narrative techniques, and considering voice and identity. Then allow students to discuss their Look Back from Lesson 31: What ordinary moment do you want to write about for your personal narrative?

Reintroduce the Prompt:

• Say: For this task, you will write a personal narrative and have a discussion. Your personal narrative will be about an ordinary moment that reveals something important about who you are or how you belong. It could be a walk home, a conversation with someone special, a silly mistake, or an important choice. After revising a section for clear voice and strong detail, you will share an excerpt in our class anthology and then participate in an Author’s Chair and Community Circle. There, you will have an opportunity to present your story and discuss why other people’s stories are important, too. Today, we will begin your personal narrative.

Explain the Significance of the Task:

• Say: Telling stories builds empathy and community and helps people understand each other better.

Explain the Criteria for Success: 

• Write or project the word “success” where all students can see it.

• Say: This is what success will look like as you write your personal narrative. You will:

  • Tell a clear, meaningful story about an ordinary moment that reveals identity or belonging.

  • Use vivid details, dialogue, and pacing to help readers feel and understand your experience.

  • Show an authentic voice. This means readers will believe how your character thinks, feels, and sees the world.

Allow Students to Discuss Their Ordinary Moment with a Partner:

• Say: Discuss with a partner about the moment you wrote about in Lesson 31. Is this still the moment you want to write about?

  • Sentence Frames:

    • “The moment I chose is ______. I do/do not still want to write about this moment because ______.” If you are writing about something different: “The moment I want to write about instead is ______.”

      • The moment I chose is about an interaction with someone I see every afternoon walking their dog. I still want to write about this moment because it is an ordinary moment that made me feel a sense of community.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Now we’ll review an exemplar and the rubric that will be used to score your narrative.

Display the exemplar where all students can see it. Read it aloud as students follow along.

The Seat at the End of the Table

The cafeteria was loud. Trays clattered, someone dropped a fork, and some seventh graders were arguing about who should get the last order of fries. I stood in the lunch line holding my tray and scanning the tables. My usual spot—the table next to the windows—was full.

I felt that tight, twisty feeling in my stomach. I could sit alone. I had done it before. Or I could ask to sit at another table. Asking felt harder.

I spotted Maya sitting at the end of a table near the vending machines. She had moved here last month and still mostly kept to herself. She was unwrapping her sandwich carefully, like she didn’t want to make a sound.

Before I could change my mind, my feet started walking.

“Hey,” I said, trying to sound normal. “Is this seat taken?”

Maya looked up quickly, surprised. Her brown eyes darted around, like she expected a crowd to pop out and yell, Surprise! “Um, no. You can sit.”

“Thanks.”

For a few seconds, we ate in silence. I wondered if I should say something or pull out the library book I’d just picked up. I noticed the drawing on her journal—a tiger crouched in tall grass.

“That’s really good,” I said, pointing to it. “Did you draw it?”

Her eyes lit up. “Yeah. I draw a lot.”

“My little brother is obsessed with big cats,” I said. “He’d think that’s the coolest thing ever.”

She smiled, just a little. “I could show you some others if you want.”

For the rest of lunch, she flipped through her sketchbook, and I asked questions about the animals she drew. She told me she used to enter art contests at her old school, but she hadn’t done that here yet. “I don’t really know how that works here,” she said quietly.

I thought about how I had felt just five minutes earlier, holding my tray and not knowing where to go.

“Well,” I said, “I can help you. I think you should enter. Here, they hang the winners in the hallway.”

She shrugged, but her forehead crinkled in thought. I could tell she was considering it.

The next week, a beautiful colored-pencil drawing of a jaguar hung on the wall outside the library. Maya’s name was on the drawing, and a big blue ribbon hung beneath it. When I walked past, I felt proud—like I had helped in some small way. But mostly, I felt happy for Maya that she had entered the contest. I knew what it felt like to finally feel like you belonged. It was like what I imagined a migrating animal, like the humpback whales we studied in Mr. Li’s science class, must feel like arriving in warm Southern waters after traveling for months through the ocean.

Maya and I eat lunch together most days now. When we’re allowed outside, we sit under the trees by the fence. She draws, and I read. Sometimes we’re quiet, but it’s a friendly kind of quiet. Fitting in doesn’t always have to be rowdy or loud.

Yesterday, Maya and I noticed a new kid looking nervously around the cafeteria. Maya smiled at me and then stood up and walked over to him. I watched them exchange a few words, and then they walked back to our table.

“This is Ben,” Maya said. “He just moved here from Maine. I noticed him drawing dragons in his journal during English class today.” Ben looked sheepish and pleased.

“Hey Ben!” I smiled. “Can I see your drawings?” Ben sat down and bent over to pull his journal out of his backpack. Maya and I smiled at each other, happy to help someone feel a little less alone. After all, sometimes belonging isn’t about where you sit. It’s about who you make room for.

Discuss How the Exemplar Fits the Prompt: Ask students to share their thoughts on how they know this exemplar fits the prompt. 

• Say: Think about the details of the prompt for this assignment. What are some ways this example fits the prompt? 

  • It focuses on eating lunch in the cafeteria, which is an ordinary moment. But it reveals something important. It has vivid details and uses dialogue and pacing to tell a story. It was easy to follow. The narrator has a unique voice. The figurative language tells me about who they are as a person. Grammar and punctuation are clear, making the story easy to follow.

Share the Rubric: Display the writing rubric for this task. 

Discuss How the Exemplar Fits the Rubric: Ask students to identify a trait from the “Exceeds” column of the rubric and explain how they know the exemplar fits it. 

• Say: Let’s focus on the “Exceeds” column of the rubric. Pick a trait from this column and explain how the exemplar fits it. 

I picked the trait “The story uses effective dialogue, description, and pacing to develop the experience.” I know the story meets this criterion because it has narrative components that I can easily identify and follow. The dialogue makes sense. The description helps me picture what’s going on, and the pace of the story keeps me engaged. 

Transition: 

• Say: Thinking about this exemplar and how it fits the prompt and rubric will help you when you plan your personal narrative. You can use the prompt and rubric as checklists to make sure your plans include all the necessary components.

By the end of this Literacy Lab, students should be able to explain how the exemplar demonstrates each “Exceeds” rubric trait. They should be prepared to apply similar techniques intentionally in their own narratives.

Understanding the rubric will be important for student success in their Showcase Performance Tasks.

• Ask: How can you ensure your writing reaches the “Exceeds” level of the rubric?

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Explain to a partner how understanding the rubric will help you be successful in writing your narrative.

Part A: Planning the Narrative (SL.6.1.c) (10 minutes)

Students will review their Look Back from Lesson 31: What ordinary moment do you want to write about for your personal narrative? and Narrative Techniques Graphic Organizer. Use this planning phase to help students translate their chosen ordinary moment into a structured plan. Emphasize sequencing, sensory detail, dialogue, and reflection as tools to show identity and belonging. Partner discussion reinforces thinking and gives immediate feedback.

• Say: What moment have you chosen to write about? Did your moment change after seeing the exemplar and rubric? Why or why not?

  • I chose to write about meeting the new art teacher. But I want to write about a different moment after reading the exemplar and seeing the rubric. The one I originally chose feels too big. I’ll pick a smaller moment from the same event.

• Say: Review your Narrative Techniques Graphic Organizer. What narrative techniques will be most useful to you as you write your narrative?

  • I want the pacing of my narrative to be really thoughtful, so it’s going to be pretty slow. I want to use a lot of descriptions and detailed dialogue. I won’t have very many short sentences.

Part B: Writing the Narrative (W.6.3.a, W.6.3.b) (20 minutes)

Students will spend time writing their personal narratives over today and the next two Flex Days. Use this writing phase to guide students in drafting their narrative with intentional pacing, dialogue, and descriptive language. Encourage them to apply rubric language and exemplar techniques to ensure their narrative is coherent, focused, and reflective of their identity and sense of belonging.

Say: As you draft, use the technique language we've been practicing in this unit. Name your moves. If you're slowing down a scene, that's pacing. If you're adding what you saw or heard, that's sensory detail. If you're comparing something to something else, that's figurative language. Knowing the names helps you make intentional choices.

• Say: Now that you’ve chosen your moment and planned some of your narrative techniques, you will begin to write your narrative.

• Say: Review the Personal Narrative Self-Check before drafting and check each item before turning in your draft.

Personal Narrative Self-Check

☐ My narrative focuses on one specific ordinary moment (not a summary of many events).

☐ I establish the setting, narrator, and situation clearly.

☐ Events unfold in a logical sequence using transition language (First / Then / Next / Finally).

☐ I included at least one use of dialogue that reveals something about a character or relationship.

☐ I included descriptive/sensory detail to help the reader see, hear, or feel the moment.

☐ I used pacing intentionally (short sentences for tension, longer sentences to slow down).

☐ My narrative includes a reflection that connects the moment to identity or belonging.

☐ My voice sounds authentic; a reader would believe this is how I think and see the world.

My goal for this draft: ___________________________

Use this reflection to help students self-assess the first day of drafting using the Personal Narrative Self-Check. Encourage them to identify a strength in their writing and one area for improvement, reinforcing metacognition and self-directed learning.

Quick Write: Process Reflection

Say these Directions: As you work on your draft over the next few days, focus on your writing process: "One thing that is going well is ________. One challenge for me is ________."

• "One thing that is going well is writing figurative language to describe a scene. One challenge for me is writing realistic dialogue."

Students will continue working on their first drafts over the next two flex days. Have students write in their Journal two areas of their narrative they would like feedback on.