Planning questions
- What kind of animal is it, and what does it say?
- How does your character react?
- What adventure or problem do they face together?
NarrativeYears 3–9
The Talking Animal
One day, your character discovers that an animal can talk. It might be a pet, a wild animal or even an insect.
Bring your characters and setting to life, and give your story a clear beginning, complication and resolution.
NarrativeYears 3–9
The Talking Animal
One day, your character discovers that an animal can talk. It might be a pet, a wild animal or even an insect.
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
Ask which animal students would most like to hear speak, and what it would say first. Talk about how the way it speaks could show its personality.
Support: Choose the animal and write its first line of dialogue before you plan the rest.
Extend: Give the animal a reason to talk to this character, and only this character.
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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