Planning questions
- Where do you search for the lock?
- What does it open—a door, a box, or something else entirely?
- What challenges do you face, and what do you discover?
NarrativeYears 3–9
The Keywith No Lock
You find an old key on the ground, but there is no sign of the lock it belongs to. What happens when you finally find it?
Bring your characters and setting to life, and give your story a clear beginning, complication and resolution.
NarrativeYears 3–9
The Keywith No Lock
You find an old key on the ground, but there is no sign of the lock it belongs to. What happens when you finally find it?
Bring your characters and setting to life, and give your story a clear beginning, complication and resolution.
Planning and teaching notes
Writer’s checklist
- Plan the characters, setting and main problem.
- Shape the events so the reader can follow what happens.
- Choose words carefully and vary your sentences.
- Use paragraphs, punctuation and spelling to make meaning clear.
- Reread and edit before you finish.
Teaching notes
Show the image and read the first sentence together. Ask where a key like this might have come from, and list places its lock could be hiding before anyone starts to write.
Support: Plan three places to search, and save the right one for last.
Extend: Hint early at what the key opens, so the ending feels earned rather than lucky.
Choose one skill from your current teaching. Model it and practise it together before students write, then check it again in a later task.
How to teach narrative writingOriginal NAPLAN-style practice for Years 3–9. Not an official ACARA prompt. Print and share with your class.
Feedback on the story they write
Writing Boost marks students’ writing and gives each writer feedback for their next draft.
-
Typed or handwritten
Bring typed work into Writing Boost, or review a transcript of a handwritten piece before sending it for feedback.
-
Feedback on each criterion
Students see what is working and where to focus next, with a specific change to try in their draft. From “improve your vocabulary” to a next step a writer can act on.
-
Revise and compare drafts
Feedback stays close while students revise. Compare versions to see what changed and talk about why. Students make the changes. The writing stays theirs. See a writing example
-
See the whole class
See criterion results across your class, spot shared needs and strengths, and open the student work behind them.
Illustrative product views with example writing and fictional class data.
See Writing Boost in a demo
-
Narrative -
Narrative -
Narrative
