P5/6 were very lucky to have Mrs Keith in to help us with our story writing. She explained, from a published authors point of view just how long the process of writing a book is. She showed us the planning that went in to Hienemann Active Maths Books and the children’s story books she has created.

We looked closely at how to begin a story and the different ways we can do this. There are 6 different ways to begin a story: using a question, dialogue, describing a character, setting, object or action.

We looked at books in pairs to decide how the author has started the story to hook the reader in.

For our writing lesson, we had a go at beginning the story to beauty and the beast in the 6 different ways and chose our favourites. Miss Park collated them together for display as she was so impressed! We then started our own Christmas themed story using one of the 6 techniques and passed it on in a circle to continue the story around the room. We can’t wait to read how our story ended up and discuss what happens if we don’t have a clear plan and if different people have an in put.