Model Writing for Ages 7-12

Fiction, Non-Fiction and Poetry Texts Modelling Writing Expectations from the National Curriculum

Leysa Henderson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781138502581
• eBook ISBN: 9781351384100
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Are you looking for excellent writing models to support teaching writing, punctuation and grammar from the 2014 National Curriculum? Model Writing for Ages 7-12 is a compilation of short, photocopiable texts including fiction, non-fiction and poetry that provides teachers with writing models for a wide range of genres, writing styles and topics while incorporating the National Curriculum obligations.

With stories ranging from historical accounts of the Vikings and the Blitz to a more sophisticated version of Little Red Riding Hood, and writing genres ranging from persuasive writing texts to newspaper reports, Model Writing for Ages 7-12 provides teachers with an example for every eventuality. The perfect aid for teaching writing, each text is accompanied by a table listing which statutory assessment criteria it includes, as well as a blank table for pupils to collect examples themselves.

This invaluable text is essential for upper Key Stage 2 and lower Key Stage 3 teachers, particularly literacy coordinators and all those who lack confidence with the grammatical concepts in a text.

Part I

Fiction

1The Cave

Plot based on Pie Corbett’s Kassim and the Dragon

Aiden never did like the mornings, especially when it was a school one, but he knew his mum had a bad habit of pulling him out of bed by his ear so he reluctantly dragged himself out of bed, got changed and hurtled downstairs. As he was rushing out of the house, his mum shouted, ‘Remember, don’t be lured into the Fearsome Dragon’s lair!’ As usual, Aiden totally ignored his mother’s warning. Anyone who knew Aiden knew that he never did what he should do.

However, his confidence started to vanish as he came closer to the forest; it wasn’t called the Forbidden Forest for nothing.

Arriving at its outskirts, Aiden, scared, edged his way cautiously in. Gnarled branches twisted like barbed wire barred his way and faces on the trunks of trees taunted him. Materialising through the branches, a blood-curdling howl pierced the melancholy silence. Around him, he could see shadows stalking like wolves waiting to ambush. Warily, gingerly, Aiden tiptoed deeper into the darkened depths of the forest, wondering why his journey to school always had to start with fear and trepidation. The forest had many secrets and he was a little afraid of finding them out but somehow he was propelled to discover them.

As he rounded the corner, looming out of the darkness, a granite boulder seemed to have appeared from nowhere. Aiden was sure it hadn’t been there a minute ago, ‘Maybe I’ve strayed from the path?’ Aiden said out loud to reassure himself. He walked round the boulder and, on the other side, found that it was not a rock but the entrance to a dark, damp cave. Water could be heard dripping from the ceiling and a faint bubbling sound echoed through the tunnels – was it a stream, wondered Aiden. The entrance stretched its mouth wide open, inviting all explorers to enter at their peril.

Aiden, who was always curious, made a decision that he was going to be late for school and explore the cave instead. After taking a few steps in, he stopped and allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness. While standing there, he remembered he had a wind-up torch in his school bag. ‘I knew this would come in handy sometime,’ Aiden said a little too loudly.

Going deeper into the cave, Aiden came to a crossroads; he decided it didn’t matter which way he went, so he turned left. Unfortunately, he didn’t notice the sign carved on the wall saying Dragon’s Canyon.

The ground started to slope downwards, at first gently and then much steeper. As it became steeper, it became harder to hold the torch and negotiate the rocks but Aiden was determined not to give up. Ahead of him, he spied a faint beam shining directly from the roof on to something that seemed to glisten. Slowly but surely, he approached the object that was shimmering. Confused, he walked round it unable to understand what he was seeing. He couldn’t believe that this had never been found before. Aiden had never seen anything like it before.

Reaching out to pick it up, he held it up to the light, amazed at the rainbows dancing off it. He had never seen such a large diamond in all his life. In his excitement, he grabbed another one and another one but just as he was about to help himself to another one, he heard a spine-chilling, ear-piercing cry that made his hair stand on end and his heart stop beating. He knew, instinctively, that trouble was near.

The cry was a cry of anger, of torment, of greed. The creature had seen Aiden take the jewels, he was stealing what rightly belonged to him. No one had a right to steal his diamonds; no one was going to deprive the Fearsome Dragon of his possessions. He was going to teach this little upstart a lesson.

At first, the dragon’s movement was awkward because he had moved very little over the last decade, but soon his limbs started to work again. Rearing up on his hind legs, the Fearsome Dragon breathed fire from the pit of his belly and aimed at Aiden. The flames shot across the cave and licked at Aiden’s coat-tails – singeing them. Aiden didn’t hang around to wait for more; he turned, still clutching the diamonds, and ran in what he thought, or rather hoped, was the direction he had come from.

Petrified but focused, Aiden practically leapt up the steep slope leaving behind him an avalanche of rocks. With very little effort, he made it to the crossroads. Quickly calculating his direction, he turned right and hoped that the tunnel mouth was only just round the corner.

Daylight lay ahead of him; he was relieved to see the exit and rushed out to breathe the fresh air of freedom.

Momentarily, Aiden strained to hear if he was being followed but not a sound was heard. Not taking any chances, he decided to run home and hide. Not so brave now!

With fear in his heart and wings for feet, Aiden made it home quicker than he had ever done before. Crashing through the door, racing upstairs two by two stairs at a time and finally hurling himself into his room, Aiden was immensely relieved to be safe.

It was then that he remembered the diamonds but when he opened his hand to admire his new-found wealth they were no longer there. In place of the glistening jewels was a pile of dust; the whole adventure had come to nothing.

For the rest of his life, Aiden never forgot the exciting adventure yet also never wanted to repeat it.

Analyse the text

Table 1.1

Teacher’s notes and ideas

1Pupils summarise the story in 300 words, then in 150 words and down to 50 words.

2Get the pupils to write down the order of the story (see below). They can then plan their own story using the same structure but adding their own detail.

3Take each section of the story and teach a new element, either vocabulary, sentence structure or figurative language between each section. The pupils can edit the story as they go along. So, for example you could teach personification to describe the journey through the Forbidden Forest; pupils could then go back and see where they could potentially add personification earlier on. Also, later on in their story, they should attempt to include personification.

4During the editing process, pupils read their story to a partner and the partner acts it out, ensuring that they follow the exact instructions and do not fill in the gaps. This helps the writer to identify areas that they could improve.

5Write a story from the dragon’s perspective. It could include its back story as to how it came to live in the cave. It could also feature how the dragon acquired the diamonds and why he was protecting them. Pupils could extend the story to show what happens to the dragon after the diamonds were stolen. For example, maybe he died because the diamonds were his elixir for eternal life and once gone it made him mortal.

6This story is an extended and embellished version of Kassim and the Dragon, written by Pie Corbett. You could use this as a start point for the imitation stage and then use this story to highlight the invention stage.

Structure of the story

1Aiden reluctantly gets ready for school

2Mum warns him of danger

3Walks to the edge of the Forbidden Forest

4Description of the Forbidden Forest as he walks through it

5Finds a cave entrance

6The journey through the cave

7Finds the diamonds

8The dragon c...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part I Fiction
• Part II Non-fiction
• Part III Poetry
• Part IV Grammar