how to teach kids story writing in ks1 and ks2

[raa12]

my daughter is going to year 3 in this September. she has achieved 2b in literacy. her teacher told me that she needs to work on her story writing. I need some tips to improve her story writing skills. thanks

Make it fun and practice lots.

My dc's and I play a game where we make up a bit of a story each then the next person adds a bit. When they got good at that we started making up a story each about different toys then i get them to tell me more details, they started out as pretty rubbish stories but have got better with practice.

thanks xihha for the tip, she likes spending time with me and I hope its going to work :)

Or make a game where you give her a setting a character and a random object and age has to think of a story based around those things.

You can also re tell a story she knows, but change bits. So, for instance, keep the essential storyline of...say... Jack and the Beanstalk, but she has to substitute Jack and the Giant with different characters, so the story takes a different turn. It's sometimes good to use an existing structure so there isn't so much thinking to do straight off.

This book is a good one to buy with some structure to it but lots of different genres to try out (and with story planning tips too). I've bought it for quite a few children who've loved it)

www.amazon.co.uk/Write-Your-Storybook-Louie-Stowell/dp/1409523357/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375564870&sr=8-1&keywords=usborne+write+your+own+story+book

The story cubes in the list below are good too (roll a set of dice and write a story based on the results)

You can buy story cards, I used these for my daughter. She loved them. The set we had consisted of character cards, scene cards and subject cards.

She would choose how many characters she wanted ie 3 then she would choose 3 character cards that would tell her if its a Queen,Prince, Dragon etc.

Then you choose a scene card which is the setting for your story and the final card would be the subject such as a romance/childhood story etc.

I purchased a nice notebook and pen specifically for her to write her stories in and she would use these cards and book once a week to write her own story. Eventually she started to carry her notebook around with her because she started to notice things while out and about she felt would be good in her story.

She writes such lovely stories now. They were really great for her.

Over the years, I've made up bedtime stories for the dds. I ask them to give me three objects/characters, and I weave a story with them - they love it.

Now they do it naturally, themselves. So I would say, play story telling games, tell them stories, fantasise out loud about strangers walking past (where are they going? Why? What do they like to eat/play/work at? What do they hate? What problem do they have? How could it be fixed? Who helps them? etc).

In other words, join in

I can recommend the following book.

www.amazon.co.uk/Teach-Story-Writing-Writers-Workshop/dp/1853469165/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375700643&sr=1-3&keywords=how+to+teach+fiction+writing+pie+corbett

When I started teaching years ago, I found teaching story writing really difficult as I couldn't see how to break it down into suitable chunks. This book (there is a KS2 one as well) helped a lot! He explains what children need to be able to draw on to write a story in the first place and that the best order is retelling, adapting and mimicry and then writing your own. My words by the way not his! Made a huge difference as I could then see what it was they were struggling with and what I could do to help!
He also does a Jumpstart storywriting book as well which is good for simple activities. Actually just about everything he has written is useful, I heard him at a conference once and came away thinking that maybe teaching writing isn't that awful after all! [I'm a real maths freak!]

www.talk4writing.com/id6.html
Further explanation of Pie Corbett and Talk for Writing.

On long car journeys we play a game where you could finish someone else's sentence...

Say DH will start: 'One fine day in August....

DD1 will add: eight aliens landed on Grandma's front lawn.'

I might add: 'As you might expect....

DD2 might add: they wore yellow pyjamas.'

And so on....

The sillier the better - but it really helps the imagination.

HTH

They need to be able to do it verbally first so def work on this - we've got a game called 'tell a story' from orchard games which is really good for this.

Hi Raa, its good to hear a child is NOT failing! A great program I found for my grandchildren to teach them Phonics also has the side benefit of teaching creativity, which sounds like the missing factor for your daughter. educationalfun.info go check it out. You could also try reading to her and using your voice, tone and inflection to bring your stories alive. Your comment has bought to mind something I will need to address, thanks. I have noticed in my granddaughters reading group the teacher uses a dead monotone voice to read to them, it puts me to sleep so I can imagine what it does to the kids, I will need to say something to the teacher.

Regards
Daniel Warren

What about do brainstorming and spider diagrams? And encourage dc to use descriptive words etc.

Hi raa12

with DD2 who was asked to write sentences for spelling words - she used to use the words she was given in a story.

If you get spelling lists and are asked to write sentences - perhaps you can do something similar?

Rory's Story Cubes are good for getting the ideas flowing.