Moving House: Plan and Write a Story
- Grades
- Grades 5–7
- Pages
- 9
- File type
- Subject
- Creative Writing, Writing, ELA
- Resource types
- Activities
- Ontario expectations
- D2.1 — draft texts of various forms
From the author
About this resource
Essential Writing Practice (9-13 years)
Use the story planner to plan and write a story 'Moving To A New House'. Read the example to see how a story can be structured (opening, development of plot, complication, suspense and tension and resolution). Don't forget to work on how the characters feel.
An essential series of themed prompts to help children aged 9-12 years to practise their creative writing skills. The packs include an outline to help the child plan his or her own story, article, letter or play script and examples to build on, using harder more challenging vocabulary to stretch more able pupils.
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In the classroom
Teaching tips & learning objectives
Learning objectives
- Identify the ingredients of an entertaining story: opening, characters, setting, plot, suspense, dialogue, and ending
- Plan an original story through the opening-to-resolution structure
- Write a complete first-person or third-person narrative about facing a big change
Teaching tips
- Read the model before identifying its narrative techniques.
- Complete the partly filled plan together before students plan their own story.
Skills covered
- Narrative planning — students plot introduction, middle, and ending against the file's paragraph plan and structure checkpoints.
- Suspense and tension building — the plan pages explicitly prompt 'What might happen to trigger off a series of events?' and 'Build up tension and suspense.'
- Dialogue writing — the model demonstrates dialogue moving the story along ('Why can't we go for a walk,' I pestered Dad).
Good to know
Questions teachers ask about this resource
What does the model story contribute beyond an example to read?
It becomes the working material: students explain why its opening hooks the reader, fill in its characters and setting, extend its plan for the middle and ending, and sort its vocabulary into a word-class table — the story's plot ('facing a big change after moving house') is given as the anchor.
How much support does the final writing task give?
The prompt supplies a moving-house scenario that begins with loneliness and introduces a new friend. Planning questions guide the story stages, and two lined pages provide drafting space.
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Ontario curriculum
Ontario curriculum expectations
Ontario expectations
Ontario expectations
- D2.1 — draft texts of various forms and genres, including narrative, persuasive, and informational texts, using a variety of media, tools, and strategies
Core concepts
Core concepts
- Narrative writing
- Story structure
- Suspense
- Dialogue
- Sentence variety
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