Narrative Techniques: Teaching Small Moment Writing

Some call it exploding a moment. Others call it zooming in on small moments. However you pose it, teaching small moment writing can really help your kids take their stories to the next level!

But the art of slowing down and describing small details can be a challenge for many students. So how do we go about teaching this narrative technique? Let’s dive into some minilessons and resources you can use in your classroom to really bring out the best in your students!

Using mentor texts as examples

A great place to start is by hand picking some exceptional mentor texts to show your kids exactly how the pros do it! Take a quick browse through your school library or use a pre-prepared list, like the one included in my Zooming in on Small Moments Minilesson resource.

As you read with your students, ask them:

What moment has the author focused on?
What did it make you feel/visualize?
Which words made you feel/see that?

Really focus in on the effect this technique has on the reader. It’s also a great way to explore text to self connections and discuss a time your kids have experienced something similar! This analysis can be shared verbally or recorded to create an anchor chart for future lessons!

Introduce ways to explode a moment

One way to encourage your kids to put on their detective hats while reading mentor texts is to introduce the ways authors explode or zoom in on moments, e.g. by describing their own actions, others’ actions, thoughts, feelings, or the setting. Your students can now connect what they are reading to these categories and begin make connections within their own writing.

What’s more, a great activity to explore these categories further is to give your students examples to discuss and sort. I’ve created a lesson on this in my Zooming in on Small Moments Minilesson resource, which includes:

A descriptive paragraph zooming in on a small moment for students to cut up into sentences
A sample anchor chart to organize and display their findings including type of detail, the sentence examples and the effect they have on the reader.

Putting an end to “breakfast to bed” writing pieces!

You know the type of writing I’m talking about! We want to encourage our kids to dive straight into the action, feeling or surroundings instead of simply stating what they did, again, and again, and again! A great way to do this is to choose an event or special day and then brainstorm all the moments.

For example, visiting grandma may have included watering the garden, cooking pizzas, doing a puzzle together and building a cubby house. Your students can then pick one of those moments to focus on and take notes on:

their actions
others’ actions
their thoughts
their feelings
what was around them

You can also ask students to revisit a past piece of writing they love and edit it to zoom in on a key moment!

I’m excited for you to give these ideas a whirl! Teaching small moment writing isn’t just about improving individual skills—it’s about sparking a buzz in your classroom. When students dive into the nitty-gritty of their experiences, magic happens! Their stories become magnetic, drawing in their classmates and creating a real writing community. So, let’s dive in together and watch our students’ writing—and our classroom culture—come alive!

Mentor texts for teaching small moments

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe
Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth by Robert Burleigh

Grab the ready-to-go resources!

Get the Zooming in on a Moment resource and have everything you need to teach students how to write about small moments in 7 days, including lesson plans, hands-on activities, revision handouts and more!

Grab it in my store, or on TpT here!

Or get the bundle! Looking for a whole 3-month unit to help your students improve their narrative writing?
Then look no further! I’ve created this engaging bundle which includes mini lessons on teaching small moment writing, along with writing amazing beginnings, great endings, adding sensory details, and more!