Epic Story Creator is a four-page story planning sheet for Year 4 English. Pupils describe a hero's name, age, appearance and personality. Then they note what the character can see and hear in a magical forest. Next they plan three paragraphs: the beginning, the problem and the ending. The last section is an editing task with five spelling and punctuation mistakes to find. The sections follow the England National Curriculum writing composition objectives for Year 4.
Writing - composition
“Discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar”
Section 4 gives pupils another writer's paragraph to read closely before they rewrite it.
Writing - composition
“Discussing and recording ideas”
Sections 1 and 2 are for jotting down ideas about the hero and the forest.
Writing - composition
“Organising paragraphs around a theme”
Section 3, where each paragraph box has one job.
Writing - composition
“In narratives, creating settings, characters and plot”
Sections 1 to 3 cover all three: the hero, the forest and the three-part plot.
Writing - composition
“Assessing the effectiveness of their own and others' writing and suggesting improvements”
Section 4 asks pupils to judge another writer's paragraph and correct it.
Writing - composition
“Proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors”
Section 4, with five spelling and punctuation mistakes to find.
Writing - composition
“Read aloud their own writing, to a group or the whole class, using appropriate intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear.”
Section 4 asks pupils to read the paragraph out loud first. Pupils can read their finished story to the class later.
A character profile with lines for name, age, appearance and personality. Pupils brainstorm adjectives from a picture of an adventurer.
A tip on using the senses, then two boxes for what the character can see and hear in the forest.
Three boxes. Paragraph 1 introduces the character and setting, Paragraph 2 sets up the problem and Paragraph 3 fixes it.
Pupils read a paragraph out loud to themselves, find the five mistakes and rewrite it correctly.
Before an extended write
Spread the four sections across two lessons, then let pupils write the full story from their paragraph plan.
Editing warm-up
Set section 4 on its own at the start of a writing lesson to get pupils checking spelling and punctuation.
Talk partners
Pupils swap hero profiles and tell each other one detail that would make the character clearer.
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