Planning questions
- Who is competing, and what are they racing for?
- What surprise changes the race?
- Does the fastest person win—or does something matter more than winning?
NarrativeYears 3–9
The Race
Write a narrative about a race. It could be an unusual competition, a race against time or something else entirely.
Bring your characters and setting to life, and give your story a clear beginning, complication and resolution.
NarrativeYears 3–9
The Race
Write a narrative about a race. It could be an unusual competition, a race against time or something else entirely.
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
Collect kinds of race beyond running: against a storm, a clock or a rival. Then ask what the character stands to win or lose.
Support: Decide what the character is racing for before you plan who wins.
Extend: Change the pace of your sentences: short ones as the race speeds up, longer ones when the character stops to think.
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.
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Typed or handwritten
Bring typed work into Writing Boost, or review a transcript of a handwritten piece before sending it for feedback.
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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.
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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
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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
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