What is the difference between a verb and an adverb?

A verb is the action or doing word, like run, think or jump. An adverb describes that verb and tells you how, when or where it happened, like quickly, yesterday or outside.

How can I help my child with writing at home?

Talk the idea through before they pick up a pencil. Planning out loud takes the pressure off the blank page. Keep the pieces short, praise one thing they did well, then let them read it back to you.

What is a story mountain?

A story mountain is a simple plan that splits a story into five parts: the opening, the build-up, the problem, the resolution and the ending. It helps a child see the shape of a story before they start writing.

How To Improve Children's Story Writing & Planning - Story Mountain

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Advice and Tips StoryTime / Reading English English 3 to 5 Years Old 5 to 7 Years Old Key Stage 1 Key Stage 2 Booklet Guides

How To Help Children With Story Writing

Throughout their school life, children will have listened to many stories being read to them. Many children also have parents who read to them regularly and encourage their children to read a variety of stories either to themselves, to siblings or to anyone who will listen!

This all provides good foundations for children when it comes to writing their own stories. They will have ideas, characters and scenarios they can draw upon to help them write their own story.

Children should be exposed to a variety of genres. Story genres can include: horror, adventure, crime and detective, science fiction, comedy, fairy tales etc. This will give them the best chance of picking up a variety of ideas and writing styles, that they can then use in their own writing. They might already have a style or genre they prefer.

Helping Children Plan and Write A Story

Helping children plan and write a story is a wonderful way to nurture their creativity and communication skills.

Stages Of Story Writing:

Plan your story.
Write your story
Re-draft / edit your story

1. Plan Your Story

The planning stage is very important, but many children hate this part and see it as a waste of time. They just want to get onto the writing the story. However, having a rough plan can help children develop their ideas and structure the story. The story plan is not set in concrete, if children want to change their ideas as they write, then that is fine.

There are many ways to plan a story. Here are some story plan ideas:

a brainstorm / spider diagram showing what will happen in the story
using a storyboard
using a story mountain
making notes / bullet points to jot down what will happen in the beginning, middle and end.

Start by encouraging them to brainstorm ideas for their story. This can involve asking questions about characters, settings, and events, allowing them to imagine and create the foundation of their narrative. Once they have an idea, help them outline the main parts of the story, such as the beginning, middle, and end. This planning stage not only provides a roadmap for their writing but also teaches them the importance of organising their thoughts.

2. Write Your Story

After planning, guide children in writing their stories. Encourage them to express themselves freely while paying attention to details that make the story interesting. Highlight the use of descriptive language, varied sentence structures, and dialogue to bring the characters and events to life.

3. Re-draft / edit your story

Emphasise the importance of revising and editing to improve the story's clarity and flow. By involving children in the process of planning and writing a story, you not only support their literacy development but also foster a love for storytelling and creative expression.

Help Children Write Stories

Planning your story before writing it is very important. A story plan will help organise your ideas, develop characters and help ensure your story is interesting from beginning to end. Many stories follow the same basic format.

A story mountain is a good way of helping KS2 children develop their story ideas.

It shows children the kind of story features that need to go into each part of their story. Use this story mountain to help children plan their stories, before writing them. Ideas for what to include in the opening, build-up, problem, resolution and conclusion of a story. A useful story writing frame!

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You might also like to read:

How To Improve Spelling and Writing

How To Improve Your Child's Creative Writing

How To Write More Interesting Sentences

What Is A Simple, Compound, Complex Sentence

Other Free Literacy Worksheets for Children:

Free Worksheet - Story Ideas Helpsheet

Free Worksheet - Writing Descriptive Sentences

Free Worksheet - Making Sentences More Interesting

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Common questions

Questions parents ask

What is the difference between a verb and an adverb?: A verb is the action or doing word, like run, think or jump. An adverb describes that verb and tells you how, when or where it happened, like quickly, yesterday or outside.
How can I help my child with writing at home?: Talk the idea through before they pick up a pencil. Planning out loud takes the pressure off the blank page. Keep the pieces short, praise one thing they did well, then let them read it back to you.
What is a story mountain?: A story mountain is a simple plan that splits a story into five parts: the opening, the build-up, the problem, the resolution and the ending. It helps a child see the shape of a story before they start writing.

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How To Improve Children's Story Writing & Planning - Story Mountain