Teachers of fifth-graders can do narrative writing exercises with their students using the Internet. Have your students research narrative poetry websites. Once the student finds a website, she can pick out a narrative poem and rewrite it as a regular story. Or, a student can write his own narrative poem about an experience from his own life using the same style of poem he has chosen.
Students like to be involved in projects that pertain to holidays and special occasions. Writing poetry that will be displayed in the classroom is a narrative writing activity. For example, for Earth Day students can write a poem from the Earth's perspective to the people who live here. Include ideas such as Earth-friendly ways to be kinder to the planet and ways for people to live greener lives.
Fifth-grade students love to let their imaginations run wild. A narrative writing activity and prompt to get the imagination running is to have students imagine that they woke up one morning and they were invisible. Have them write a short story describing their adventures. Another idea is to have fifth-graders write a story about a great day that has happened to them or one that they would like to have happen.
There are a few ways to approach this narrative writing idea. As a teacher, you can assign your students the task of writing about a place they went to, an activity they did or anything else that happened on their summer vacation. As a parent, to keep your child in the learning mode, encourage them to write a small book of short stories about events that take place over the summer. At the end of summer put the book together and share it with family and friends.