Please find enclosed our latest creative writing competition My First Story, which is now open to all 4-7 year-olds!

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1 Dear Teacher, Please find enclosed our latest creative writing competition My First Story, which is now open to all 4-7 year-olds! I m sure you ll agree that young children have fantastic imaginations and My First Story has been designed to encourage pupils to put pen to paper and write their own original story. My First Story is a literacy all-rounder, from sentence structure, phonics and spellings to descriptive writing, using time connectives and supporting pupils understanding of plot, setting and character. It s a great way to get your classroom captivated with creative writing! Every pupil who enters a story will have the opportunity to be published alongside their peers, not just from their school but all around the country. Seeing work in print is proven to help boost children s confidence in writing. Every participating school will receive a complimentary copy of the book their pupils stories feature in. We will award 500 to the school with the best set of entries. Enclosed is everything you need to take part, which includes 5 different themed templates to assist pupils with writing their stories. The competition is free to enter and we supply a freepost address for your convenience. If you require any additional entry forms you can photocopy them, download them at our website, your requirements or give us a call! If you have any questions, please don t hesitate to get in touch. We look forward to reading your pupils stories. Best wishes Jenni Bannister Young Writers

2 Please leave your feedback in this box: FREEPOST RSLY-AUJA-RAHY Bonacia Ltd Young Writers KS1 Remus House Peterborough PE2 9BF Contact Name: Please make any changes in the boxes provided School Name: School Address: Town: County: Postcode: Telephone No: Fax No: Number of entries enclosed in this envelope Closing Date 24th July 2015

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7 LESSON PLAN This lesson plan is a great way to engage pupils aged 4-7 with our My First Story creative writing activity, utilising their recount, spellings and character, setting and plot knowledge. Learning Objectives Includes speaking, listening, reading and writing requirements Use sequencing and a story template to plan their story Preparation Use descriptive language Compose their own short story for our My First Story competition Photocopy the pupil entry form for each pupil (you can request further entry forms from us or download them at Download our sequencing activity that is part of this lesson plan at and cut out the pictures from each different-themed sheet. Put all the pictures with the same number in one pile, so you have 6 piles for the lesson. Introduction Explain to pupils that today they will be writing a short story using a story starter and template. With five different themes to choose from, your pupils are sure to be inspired! TURN OVER FOR THE TEACHING ACTIVITY

8 Main Teaching Activity What is a Story? (10 minutes) Give your pupils a couple of minutes to tell you their favourite stories. Choose one and ask pupils, as a class, to tell you what happens in the story. Explain that this is the plot. Now explain what setting and character are. Now ask pupils to summarise what happens at the beginning, middle and end of the story. Sequencing Activity (30 minutes) To help pupils write a story that flows from beginning to end, explain that pupils will be working on a sequencing activity in 6 small groups. Pick a picture from each pile, so you have 6 pictures in total. Mix them up and hand them to the first group. Repeat for the 5 other groups. The groups need to work together to swap pictures with other groups until they have the 6 correct pictures for their story. Next, the group need to put the pictures in numerical order. Finally, the group need to talk about each picture and share their ideas. When they have agreed what is happening in the first picture, one child needs to write this down. The next child will write down the group s sentence for picture two and so on so each child has the opportunity to write and be part of the group effort to write their story. Bring the class back together and pick a story to read out to the class. Ask the class to identify the character(s), setting and plot to ensure pupils understand the structure of the story. Now pupils are ready to write their own stories! Composing a Story (30 minutes) Once the activity is finished, either let pupils choose which themed template they d like to use, or pick one for the whole class and ensure each pupil has a template / entry form to complete. Now ask pupils to use the pictures to help tell their own story. Plenary (5-10 minutes) Ask pupils to work in pairs or small groups and to read their stories to one another. Peers are to feedback something they like and something they feel could be improved. Notes This activity takes about an hour and 10 minutes. Alternatively, introductory work can be done in class (40 minutes) and the story can be written as homework. Suggestions You can extend the activity by asking pupils to read their stories out to the rest of the class or in small groups Let pupils decide which template they d like to use, to help inspire reluctant writers or to inspire and provide variety for your pupils Challenge able writers to write a story without a template Less able pupils can work in pairs or a small group and have an adult s assistance Pupils could try writing in the style of diary entry Pupils can write out their story and illustrate it for display in the classroom All our resources are free and can be downloaded at or you can give us a call or to request further entry forms. YoungWriters Tel: info@youngwriters.co.uk Web:

9 JUNGLE STORYBOARD/ENTRY FORM Child s Name:... Surname:... Age:... Child s Address:... School Name:... Class:... School Address:... Where would you go on an adventure? Tell us your story! TURN OVER TO CONTINUE YOUR STORY!

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11 SPACE STORYBOARD/ENTRY FORM Child s Name:... Surname:... Age:... Child s Address:... School Name:... Class:... School Address:... Where would you go on an adventure? Tell us your story! TURN OVER TO CONTINUE YOUR STORY!

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13 MAGICAL STORYBOARD/ENTRY FORM Child s Name:... Surname:... Age:... Child s Address:... School Name:... Class:... School Address:... Where would you go on an adventure? Tell us your story! TURN OVER TO CONTINUE YOUR STORY!

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15 UNDER THE SEA STORYBOARD/ENTRY FORM Child s Name:... Surname:... Age:... Child s Address:... School Name:... Class:... School Address:... Where would you go on an adventure? Tell us your story! TURN OVER TO CONTINUE YOUR STORY!

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17 DINOSAUR STORYBOARD/ENTRY FORM Child s Name:... Surname:... Age:... Child s Address:... School Name:... Class:... School Address:... Where would you go on an adventure? Tell us your story! PRESENT FUTURE PAST TURN OVER TO CONTINUE YOUR STORY!

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19 STORYBOARD/ENTRY FORM Child s Name:... Surname:... Age:... Child s Address:... School Name:... Class:... School Address:... Story Title:... Where would you go on an adventure? Tell us your story! TURN OVER TO CONTINUE YOUR STORY!

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