Virginia SOL 6.W.1.A
The Standard
Write narratives to entertain, to share a personal experience, or to alter an existing story that uses narrative techniques to develop the characters, event(s), and experience(s).
Virginia Standards of Learning for English
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students write a clear story for a chosen purpose, such as entertaining readers or sharing an experience. They use dialogue, description, pacing, and sequence to develop characters and events.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A strong response has a clear situation, connected events, developed characters, and an ending that fits. Details and dialogue reveal what characters think, feel, or want instead of merely listing actions.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may list events in order without building a problem, turning point, or ending. They may add dialogue that does not reveal character or move events forward. When changing an existing story, they may summarize or copy it instead of creating a meaningful change.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Rewrite the ending of a familiar tale in eight sentences, using dialogue and sensory details to show how one character responds.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups mixed-up scene cards; students arrange them, add a missing turning point, and draft the completed story.
Prompt: Retell a familiar fairy tale from the villain’s viewpoint, using dialogue and details that reveal the character’s motives.
Play Narrative Technique Match: students pair short passages with dialogue, description, pacing, or sequencing, then explain each choice.
Have students turn a family memory into a one-page story for a class anthology, changing names when privacy is needed.
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Printable 6.W.1.A Worksheet
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