Welcome to the Literacy pages.
Feel free to browse through the fiction writing ideas and resources listed below,
or use the menu bar above to browse through the other Literacy areas.

Poetry:

• Making Teacher Angry - A wonderful idea for a poem involving ways to make teachers angry!
• What a Hullabaloo! - Free plans and poems which can be used in your classrooms.
• Registration - Create a modern version of the 'Registration' poem by Allan Ahlberg.
• Pirates, Pirates, Pirates! - Use this format to encourage children to write poetry involving alliteration and lots of adjectives!
• Photographic Poetry - Create a poem in response to photographs you have, or you wish you had.
• Nonsense Poetry - A collection of nonsense poetry for use in your classroom. Contributed by Lynn Platt.
• Pound a Poem Lesson Plans - A lesson plan based on Cancer Research's Pound a Poem competition. Contains great ideas for teaching poetry.
• Pound a Poem Guidance - Guidance for those entering the Pound a Poem competition.
• Poetry Jumbled Sentences - Enlarge these sentences and cut them out. Ask children to arrange them and rearrange them until they have a poem that they like. Contributed by Sue Powell.
• World Cup Acrostic - Use the World Cup Event as a stimulus for writing an acrostic poem. Contributed by Julie Mollet.
• Limericks - Learn about limericks! Contains lots of examples and suggested activities.
• Riddles - Teach your children about riddles when they are familiar with rhyming. Includes a worksheet, example riddles and extension ideas.
• Christmas Poems - Try this idea for poem-writing during the festive season!
• Cinquains - Use the writing tips to write a cinquain poem about one of the photos or pictures. Contributed by PurpleMash.

Stories (Planning):

• Story Plans - Two free worksheets which children can use when planning their stories.
• Story Plans - A very useful set of worksheets (in PDF) which help children to plan their stories. Contributed by Zoe Lowe
• Story Planner - A useful tool (PDF) to help structure children's ideas when planning out their stories. It also includes a excitement level indicator that the children can shade in. Contributed by Andrew Sawford.
• Story Planning Sheet - A planning sheet which can be used to support children with their story writing. Contributed by Adda-May Waters.
• Story Writing Plan - A template for helping children to write stories. Contributed by Shankar Ramachandran.
• Planning Sheets - A set of planning sheets to help children write stories, based around the titles "Storm on the Island" and "Angry". Contributed by Kirsty Scott.
• Writing a Story Prompts - A set of prompts for children to use when they are planning and writing a story. Contributed by Georgia Boel.
• Planning Sheets - A planning sheet (in PDF) for use by groups of children when planning longer stories. Contributed by Sharon Whitchurch.

---

---

Stories (Settings):

• Story Settings - A fantastic resource which encourages children to describe settings without telling the reader directly.
• Settings - There is something up ahead in front of you. What can you hear? What can you see? How do you feel? Choose a photograph and imagine yourself there. Write about how the scene affects your senses. Contributed by PurpleMash.
• Snow Day - Describe what happens on a snowy day. Contributed by PurpleMash.
• Angry Sea - You stand before a vast tumultuous sea. Can you hear the booming crashing waves? Watch the short video and use it to help you describe the angry sea. Contributed by PurpleMash.
• Creepy Wood - Imagine you are in a spooky, creepy wood. What do you see, feel and hear? Use the word prompts and photographs  to help you write a description of the creepy wood. Contributed by PurpleMash.
• Fairground - You are at a busy fairground, with lots of wonderful sights, sounds and smells. Use the photographs and video to help your write a description of what you see. Contributed by PurpleMash.

Stories (Characters):

• Creating Characters - Invent characters based on people found in newspapers and magazines.
• Create your own character - Use this prompt sheet to ask children to turn themselves into a story character! Contributed by Kirsty Scott.
• Character Profile - A useful sheet which encourages children to think carefully about their characters. Contributed by Val Smith.
• Character Sequencing - A wonderful way of reinforcing the importance of beginnings, middles and ends.
• Wanted Poster - A Wanted Poster template (PDF) which can be used when thinking about character profiles and portraits. Contributed by Paula Whysall.
• Super Hero - Write a character profile about our superheroes. Choose from eight different superheroes and a wide range of background photographs. Write a character profile about our superheroes. Contributed by PurpleMash.

Don't miss our special Myst resources on Teaching Themes!

Stories (Ideas):

• Story Path - A fantastic poster which outlines the features of story writing. Contributed by Val Smith.
• Create-a-Story - Excellent activity for those who lack ideas when writing stories (worksheets provided).
• Story Starters - Find starters for your creative writing.
• Story Starters - A fantastic Powerpoint presentation, containing wonderful photos which children can use as stimuli for starting stories. Contributed by Val Smith.
• Writing the Middle - A fantastic way of helping children to write the middle section of their stories.
• Traditional Story Language - A collection of words and phrases which can be used when writing traditional stories. Contributed by Tracy Blacknell.
• Lifesavers - Use sweets to encourage children to write about different types of feelings they encounter.
• Crazy Stories - A fun team-based activity, involving sharing characters, settings and more, to write a crazy story!
• Creative Writing Ideas - A number of ideas which can be used as a stimulus for creative writing lessons.
• Creative Writing Ideas - A selection of starting points for engaging children in creative writing. Contributed by Setari Mirasuka.
• Imagination Box - Use a selection of objects in a box to prompt children's imagination and writing.
• The Magic Door - A wonderful starting point for creative writing. Contributed by Lisa Daniels.
• Pirate Adventure - How will your children complete this pirate adventure? Contributed by Lisa Daniels.
• Desert Island Activity - This half-termly project is based on the Desert Island Discs show.
• Alien Planet - A help sheet, giving children ideas and support, when writing stories. Contributed by Kate Robarts.
• Cinderella Sentence Completion - Ask your pupils to complete this version of the Cinderella story (answers in the headers can be deleted). Contributed by Lani Toti.
• Story Starters - A set of brilliant story starters (PDF) to give children ideas for a story. Contributed by Paula Whysall, who also recommends them as an extension activity for those who have finished their Literacy work.
• Story Writing Rules - A set of golden rules to help children with their story writing. Contributed by Christine Stanger.
• Story Ideas - A set of ideas (in PDF) which children can use when writing stories based on particular themes. Contributed by Sharon Whitchurch.
• Shared Writing - The whole class writes a story together using a word processor.
• Willow Pattern Activities - A number of activities (some of which have links with Art) which are based upon the Willow Pattern story.
• Three Billy Goats - Can you retell the story of the 3 Billy Goats Gruff, making use of the bridge photographs? Contributed by PurpleMash.
• Describing Toys - What is your favourite toy? What is it made from? What does it do and why do you like it? Contributed by PurpleMash.
• Fairy Tale - Create your own fairy tale using the clip art and pictures. Contributed by PurpleMash.

Other Fiction Ideas / Resources:

• Improve Your Writing - A fun reference sheet, which can be used to help children to think about their writing and improve it. Contributed by Val Smith.
• Epigrams - Do your pupils know what epigrams are? Try these activities to explore what they mean.

---

---

Submit your own Literacy Idea!

These contributions are moderated, so they may not appear to other visitors immediately. All ideas submitted here may be added to their own dedicated page on the site at a later date. Please leave your name so that I can credit your contribution, if you would like me to.

You can also submit ideas and resources via email, or using this form.

Links to other sites:

• Man in the Moon - A place to learn lots of wonderful poems. Includes tips for writing your own poetry.
• Story Writing 101 - Find a huge collection of tips and advice for everyone interested in writing. Highly recommended.
• Josie's Poetry - A collection of poetry for young children to enjoy.
• More of Josie's Poems - Poems for everyone, but especially children.
• Rhyming and Literacy - Josie's tips about using rhyming to develop Literacy skills.
• Creative Writing - Useful tips and advice for those interested in creative writing.
• Once upon a website - Use these museum objects as inspiration for written work in your classroom.
• Scribble Pad - Tips and advice for those interested in creative writing, and those who have to teach it!
• PostPals - Devoted to helping children with health problems. Teachers can arrange activities to email/ make things/write letters/ cards to send to the featured children to cheer them up.

Broken Link? Please let me know