Year 5 Narrative Unit 1 – Novels and stories by significant children's authors

Teaching sequence phase 1

Note: Children working significantly above or below age-related expectations will need differentiated support, which may include tracking forward or back in terms of learning objectives. EAL learners should be expected to work within the overall expectations for their year group. For further advice see the progression strands and hyperlinks to useful sources of practical support.

Reading and response (6 days)

Teaching content:

• Introduce the unit by reading and responding to a short story by an author with whom children are likely to be familiar. Respond to the story, asking children to express their views with reference to other stories by this author, for example: Have you read anything else by this author? Is/are the setting/theme/characters like other books you have read? Consider what is distinctive about the story, for example realistic characters in a real-life, fantasy or historical setting. Map the story structure.
• Repeat with other stories by the same author.
• Select a novel written by the same author and begin reading as a serialised class story. Focus on the opening chapter and discuss the way the characters and theme are introduced. Discuss any similarities with the first story in style and theme.
• Note details of the setting and ask children to visualise a mental picture, imagining the details of sights and sounds and predicting what might happen in such a place. Record suggestions and refer back to them as the story unfolds. Reflect on how the visualisation helped children to engage with the story.
• Make ongoing notes about the story structure, drawing attention to repetition, with several episodes building to conflict and resolution before the end of the story. Represent the structure on a chart.
• Display further examples of the author's work for children to browse and read independently during the unit.
• Compare and contrast the openings of several more stories by this author. Ask children to suggest what the author aims to do in the opening paragraph or chapter and create a checklist. Children read examples of story openings in a range of other stories and build their understanding of different ways to start a story, for example an event, description or dialogue. Discuss any patterns children observe about the way particular types of story are opened.
• Start with a familiar story, for example from a picture book, and demonstrate how to plan and write different opening paragraphs, such as using dialogue or an event instead of description. Reflect on the way the opening sets the reader's expectations for what will follow.
• Children experiment with writing several alternative story openings for a familiar story.

Learning outcomes:

• Children can express their opinion of a story with reference to other work by the same author.
• Children can visualise a setting and make predictions about events that might happen there.