KS2 English textbook

Chapter 11: Writing stories

Strand Composition
Level Year 4
Practice 91 questions with step-by-step solutions

National Curriculum for England, Key Stage 2 English, Year 4. Content: Plan a narrative by discussing similar writing and recording ideas; create settings, characters and plot (WC1, WC4), Organise paragraphs around a theme (WC3, G4-5), Use a range of sentence types, fronted adverbials with commas, and expanded noun phrases (WV1, WV5, WV7, G4-3), Use direct speech with its punctuation (WV9, G4-7), Use varied vocabulary and cohesion: connecting words and accurate pronouns (WC2, WC7, WV3, G4-6), Edit a draft, and read your own writing aloud with intonation, tone and volume (WC7, WC9).

Open Year 4 chapter

By the end of this chapter you will be able to

Plan a story with a setting, characters and a plot made of five parts
Build tension with short sentences, precise verbs and an answer that is delayed
Group related ideas into paragraphs, each with a topic sentence
Start sentences with fronted adverbials, and put a comma after them
Write expanded noun phrases, and direct speech with correct punctuation
Improve a draft with pronouns and connecting words, then read it aloud

You should already know

Finding the plot parts and the setting in a story (Chapter 8 of this book)
Fronted adverbials, clauses and conjunctions (Chapter 6 of this book)
Noun phrases, pronouns and Standard English (Chapter 7 of this book)
Direct speech and its punctuation (Chapter 5 of this book)

Where this leads

Writing non-fiction with headings, and editing it (Chapter 12 of this book)

Lessons in this chapter

Read the whole chapter on one page (good for printing).

Practise with real exam questions

The DfE publishes every past KS2 test, with mark schemes, for free.

KS2 English past papers