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C. Reading / D. Writing · Reading and Writing in French: Telling, Convincing and Connecting

Le processus d'écriture: Writing a Personal Narrative

D2 D1 D3 C1 C2About 55 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can read a personal narrative and find its beginning, events, problem and ending.
  • I can plan a true story about myself with a graphic organizer.
  • I can write a draft in paragraphs, in the passé composé, with linking words.
  • I can revise using feedback (two stars and a wish) and edit with a Grade 6 checklist.
  • I can publish my story and reflect on what helped me as a writer.

Words to know

un récit personnel
A personal narrative: a true story about something that happened to you.
un paragraphe
A group of sentences about one part of the story. A new paragraph starts on a new line.
un brouillon
A rough draft.
les marqueurs de relation
Linking words: d'abord, ensuite, tout à coup, finalement...
la rétroaction
Feedback (a word often used in Canadian schools).
un banc de neige
A snowbank (Canadian French; in France, une congère).
réviser / corriger / publier
To revise (improve) / to edit (fix mistakes) / to publish (share).

Your life is full of stories!

In Grade 5 you used the writing process to write an invented short story in the present tense. This year you have learned the passé composé, so now you can write a true story about something that happened to you: a récit personnel.

You will go through every stage: plan, draft, revise, edit and publish. And you'll ask yourself at the end: What helped me most?

PlanifierplanRédigerdraft (brouillon)RéviserreviseCorrigereditPublierpublishgo back and change your draft as often as you needThe writing process
The five stages of the writing process. Réviser means improving the ideas; corriger means fixing spelling and grammar. Writers often loop back to their draft.
Worked example

Let's read a model personal narrative

La mitaine perdue

Samedi dernier, je suis allé au parc avec mon chien, Biscuit. Il a neigé toute la nuit, et tout le parc est blanc.

D'abord, nous avons couru dans la neige. Biscuit a sauté dans un gros banc de neige ! Ensuite, j'ai lancé une balle, et Biscuit a joué avec moi pendant une heure.

Tout à coup, j'ai remarqué un problème : ma mitaine rouge n'est plus sur ma main ! J'ai eu peur, parce que c'est un cadeau de ma grand-mère. Nous avons cherché partout.

Finalement, Biscuit est arrivé avec quelque chose dans la gueule : ma mitaine ! Je suis rentré à la maison avec deux mitaines et un chien très fier. Maintenant, je mets toujours mes mitaines dans mes poches.

Noah

  1. Who, where, when (début): Noah, his dog Biscuit, the park, last Saturday after a night of snow.
  2. Events in order: they run in the snow, Biscuit jumps into a snowbank, Noah throws a ball.
  3. The problem: Tout à coup (suddenly), Noah notices his red mitten is gone. J'ai eu peur (I was scared) shows his feeling. n'est plus = is no longer.
  4. The ending: Biscuit brings back the mitten in his mouth (la gueule, for an animal). The last sentence tells what Noah does now: a lesson learned.
  5. Tenses: the passé composé with avoir (a neigé, avons couru, a sauté, j'ai lancé) and with être (je suis allé, est arrivé, je suis rentré: Noah is a boy, so no -e). The present tense is used for things still true (c'est un cadeau, je mets toujours).
  6. Paragraphs: 4 paragraphs, one for each part of the plan.

Noah loses his grandmother's mitten at the park, and his dog Biscuit finds it. The story has a beginning, events, a problem and an ending with a lesson, in 4 paragraphs.

A red knitted mitten lying in fresh snow surrounded by dog paw prints.
La mitaine perdue: a small, true moment like finding a lost mitten can become a great personal story. AI-generated image
Débutqui, où,quandÉvénementsd'abord,ensuiteProblèmetout à coupj'ai eu peurFinfinalement,maintenantPlan de récit personnel1 paragraphe par partie
A personal narrative plan: beginning, events, problem, ending. Write one paragraph for each part.
To...Linking words (marqueurs de relation)
startSamedi dernier, ... / L'été passé, ... / Un jour, ...
continueD'abord, ... Ensuite, ... Puis, ... Après, ...
surpriseTout à coup, ... / Soudain, ...
explainparce que ... / alors ... / mais ...
finishFinalement, ... / Enfin, ... / Maintenant, ...
Linking words help your reader follow the story.

Revising with two stars and a wish

Ask a reader (a parent, a sibling, a friend) to give you feedback:

  • Deux étoiles ⭐⭐: two things that work well (I like the problem! / Great linking words!).
  • Un souhait: one wish to make it better (I want to know how you felt.).

Then revise: add a feeling or a detail for the senses, replace a plain word (bien → génial), vary how sentences start, and make sure each paragraph has one part of the plan.

Grade 6 editing checklist (corriger)

Read your draft once for each line:

  1. Avoir or être? House-of-être verbs use être: je suis allé(e).
  2. Agreement with être: elle est arrivée, nous sommes rentrés. No agreement with avoir: elle a mangé.
  3. Past participles: -é, -i, -u, and irregulars (fait, pris, vu, eu).
  4. Adjectives and possessives agree: ma mitaine rouge, notre parc, leurs amis.
  5. Accents and apostrophes: été, très, j'ai, l'école.
  6. Capitals and punctuation: a capital at the start of each sentence; a space before ?, ! and :; « » around speech; small letters for months and days.
Just for fun

Funny-but-true: a rough draft in French is un brouillon, from the verb brouiller, "to mix up." So a messy first draft is doing exactly what its name says! ✏️🌀

Worked example

Let's revise and edit a draft

Here is Maya's first draft (brouillon):

hier je suis allé a la piscine avec mon amie. On a nagé. Mon amie est venu avec sa sœur. Nous avons nagés. C'est bien.

  1. Feedback, two stars: a clear place and time; uses the passé composé. A wish: more details and a feeling.
  2. Edit capitals and accents: Hier, je suis allée à la piscine... Maya is a girl, so allée; à needs its accent.
  3. Edit agreement: Mon amie est venue (a girl, être verb → -e). Nous avons nagé (avoir: no agreement).
  4. Revise: add a detail: Nous avons joué au ballon dans l'eau froide.
  5. Revise: replace the plain ending: C'est bien. → J'ai adoré ma journée !
  6. Revise: linking words: D'abord, ... Ensuite, ... Finalement, ...

Hier, je suis allée à la piscine. D'abord, mon amie est venue avec sa sœur. Ensuite, nous avons nagé et nous avons joué au ballon dans l'eau froide. Finalement, j'ai adoré ma journée !

Hands-on activity

Write and publish your personal narrative

You need: paper (or a computer), pencils, and a family audience.

  1. Plan: choose a true, small moment (a first time, a funny accident, a surprise, a lost-and-found). Fill in the 4-part plan with French words and notes.
  2. Draft: write 4 short paragraphs (3 or 4 sentences each) in the passé composé. Skip lines so you have room to fix things.
  3. Feedback: read it aloud to someone. Ask for deux étoiles et un souhait.
  4. Revise: make at least 3 changes (add a feeling, replace a word, add linking words).
  5. Edit: use the Grade 6 checklist, one line at a time.
  6. Publish: copy it neatly or type it, add a title and a drawing or photo, and read it to your family, or make it a page in a family blog with a grown-up.
  7. Reflect: write two sentences in English or French: What helped me most? What is my next goal?

Your turn

1

Where did Noah go last Saturday, and with whom?

2

What is the problem in the story?

3

Why was Noah scared?

4

Find 2 être verbs in the story.

5

Which linking word introduces the problem?

6

What lesson does Noah learn?

7

What is un banc de neige?

More practice: warm-up

1

What is un brouillon?

2

Translate: Tout à coup.

3

Name the 5 stages of the writing process.

4

What does deux étoiles et un souhait mean?

5

Translate: J'ai eu peur.

More practice: on your own

1

Fix: Ma sœur et moi, nous avons allées au cinéma. (two girls)

2

Fix: Ils ont mangés des crêpes.

3

Revise to add a feeling: J'ai trouvé mon chat.

4

Put in order with linking words: Je suis rentré. / Je suis tombé dans la neige. / Je suis sorti jouer.

5

Give deux étoiles et un souhait for Noah's story.

Challenge

1

Write the first paragraph (début) of your own personal narrative: who, where, when, in 3 sentences in the passé composé.

2

Find and fix 5 mistakes: Dimanche dernier, ma famille et moi, nous avons allé au Lac. Ma mère a pris des photo. Nous sommes rentré a 17 h.

3

Write 2 reflection sentences about your writing: what helped you most and your next goal.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

A personal narrative is...

2.

Which linking word introduces a surprise?

3.

Which sentence is correct for a girl?

4.

Which sentence is correct?

5.

When you revise, you...

6.

In deux étoiles et un souhait, the souhait is...

7.

How should a new part of the story begin?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: The curriculum asks Grade 6 students to use the stages of the writing process, including pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing and publishing, and to reflect on their strategies (D2). They write for a purpose and audience (D1), apply French conventions (D3), and read a model text to understand its structure (C1, C2).

How to help:

  • Help your child choose a small moment (one afternoon), not a whole vacation.
  • Give real "two stars and a wish" feedback. Be specific and kind.
  • Let your child edit in several passes: one pass for verbs, one for agreement, one for punctuation.

Common difficulties:

  • Switching tenses randomly. Use the passé composé for events, the present for things still true.
  • J'ai allé and missing agreement with être.
  • Very long single paragraphs. Use the 4-part plan.

Canadian French used (heard in Québec and other parts of Canada): un banc de neige (snowbank), des mitaines, la rétroaction (feedback), la cabane à sucre.