Narratives are the way that we tell stories. We use these in all aspects of every day in life to interact; to share what is happening in our lives.
We bring narratives into children’s lives at an early age, through books and stories. We introduce the idea of personal narratives when we put the stories of our own lives into a sequence and tell them to others; it’s a great way to share funny things that have happened or interesting places we have visited. We all know someone who is great at personal narratives- their stories are engaging, funny and well presented.
Personal narratives take lots of practice. If you have ever regaled a story of something that has happened to you, you will know that the delivery improves every time you share it. The sequence, the words we choose and the way we deliver it all add to the richness of what we share.
And this is just the same when children learn to ‘story tell’ – to share their personal narratives. To start with the information may be out of sequence, it might be hard to follow, and there may be many pauses as the child tries to retell the story in the right order. This is all totally normal. In fact, police interviewers have noted that a perfectly polished story, at first air, is a sign that all may not be factually correct! (Fallah et al 2025).
Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) can find narratives particularly difficult. The vocabulary, word order and the sequence words required in a narrative can be challenging. With this in mind, here are 5 top tips for supporting personal narrative development for pupils with SLCN:
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Pre-teach narrative related language
Make sure the child has the words that they need to be able to retell a story. You can model and prompt these, using visual resources to support the child. Activities that support the development sequencing language (first, next, last) and conjunctions (and, but so) feed into narrative perfectly. These can be supported in the classroom; for example, when lining up for lunch or assembly, or during PE lessons.
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Fish for a good story
A great story can often be prompted from a great question; “Can you tell me about a time that has made you laugh a lot?” “Tell me about a time when you felt excited…”
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Make it interactive
Support children to tell you more by asking “What happened next?” and “How did that make you feel?” to add richness to the story.
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Encourage expressive vocabulary
Model and encourage children to use interesting words in their narratives by commenting and adding alternative words. For example, “You opened the box slowly – how suspenseful!”
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Celebrate pauses and mistakes!
Spoken personal narratives will naturally be shared with mistakes – let the words and ideas flow, and leave the polishing for later.