Planning Narratives
Plan narrative writing by considering how authors have developed characters and settings, drawing on techniques observed in texts read, heard, or performed
Share and support
Teaching Table
Set out your lesson
Notice how an original mentor text reveals character and setting, then transfer the techniques into a new narrative plan.
Ask: Who will read your story, and what do you want them to notice or feel? Explain that audience means intended readers and purpose means the job of the text. Ask for one action that could show care without the word caring. Accept checking a cracked cup before handing it to someone. If the learner only gives labels, model the action. A plan is short notes for a story, not a finished story.
Check readiness directly. Prerequisite availability is not attainment.
Use paper and a pencil. All required texts, notes and planning fields are on the stage sheets. Start with the readiness check. Read Show, then work on Guided. Use a separate sheet for Try. There is no time or word-count target. Read the active sheet on screen and write on plain paper. No printer, cutting, purchase or internet is needed. An adult may read instructions or passages without interpreting them. Record read-aloud help, prompts and scribing. Oral answers can show reasoning; dictation and adult scribing do not show independent written composition or handwriting. Split the lesson or pause as needed. Adult-only: keep keys and scripts away from learner pages. Share only the current Show model. Put Show and Guided work aside before Try. Keep the fresh passage or fact notes available in Try; text analysis is not a memory test. Give no target answers, phrases or interpretations during the first attempt. If help is needed, give it and record the work as supported. Use the supplied fiction. No real names, family stories, private experiences, uploads or public sharing are needed. No physical performance is required.
Record the actual response and assistance. These tasks do not establish mastery.
Use the complete materials on screen or print only the current sheet. Keep adult guidance out of learner view. Retain an earlier model only when the current step supplies it as context.
Teaching limits and safe use
These are finite task opportunities, not proof of mastery. Record what was attempted and what support was used.
The mentor texts are original teaching passages, not excerpts from published books or named authors. Plans may change during writing. Dictation shows planning choices but not independent written composition.
Age bands do not establish readiness. Check the learner’s response before continuing.
Record the actual response and assistance. These tasks do not establish mastery.
Compare teaching approaches
Teaching approaches
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1 approach
Notice how an original mentor text reveals character and setting, then transfer the techniques into a new narrative plan.
Notice how an original mentor text reveals character and setting, then transfer the techniques into a new narrative plan.
Family records and proof options
Keep a record of your learning
Save photos, notes, and attendance. Export a proof packet for compliance or portfolio reviews.
Learning resources
External links for extra practice. They do not replace Gakuva’s teaching approach.
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The teaching approach appears above.
Check understanding
- Identify specific authorial techniques for character development from a mentor text
- Plan a character using techniques such as showing through action borrowed from a studied author
- Analyse how an author builds setting and apply similar techniques in planning own narrative
“When your child is about to write a story, do they think ahead about what their main character is like and where the story will take place before they start writing?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Meta
- Subject
- English
- Domain
- Writing Composition
- Age range
- Ages 10–11
Standards