Narrative Basics Lesson 1: Characters
Teach students to create rich character descriptions through, including their relationships, histories, feelings and behaviour.
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18
Narrative Basics Project: Worrying about a friend
Practise writing a scene that blends physical action, thoughts, feelings and dialogue.
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8
Narrative Basics Project: Revealing secrets and plans
Practise writing an evocative scene that blends dialogue, action and character.
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9
Narrative Basics Project: Making a getaway
Practise writing an exciting chase sequence with strong verb choices and compelling environmental details.
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8
Gothic in the Deathly Hallows: Guiding the reader's eye
Use language to direct the reader's eye to important elements in a scene.
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7
Expressive Punctuation: Semicolons
Use semicolons to express relationship between ideas or to separate items in a list.
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15
Nominalisation in history and social science writing_OLD VERSION
Understand the function and importance of nominalisation and verbal conjunctions in non-fiction writing.
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26
Narrative Basics Lesson 2: Action
Teach students how to blend different types of action to create richer and more emotionally varied scenes.
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14
Narrative Basics Lesson 3: Setting
Teach students to write more layered descriptions of settings and objects in their stories.
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13
Narrative Basics Lesson 4: Speech and Dialogue
Teach students to write richer and more authentic dialogue in Middle Years narratives.
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21
High-concept storytelling in Gone 1: Big concept, small beginnings
Introduce a high-concept narrative through controlled release of detail.
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8
High-concept storytelling in Gone 2: Meet the heroes
Establish a central group of divergent characters.
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6
High-concept storytelling in Gone 3: Ramping up
Expand scale to reveal more of a high-concept world and increase tension.
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7
High-concept storytelling in Gone 4: Speaking for the group
Use a small reaction to illustrate a bigger underlying emotion.
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5
High-concept storytelling in Gone 5: Revealing the big picture
Combine reasoning and emotion to reveal the big picture and plot a course of action.
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6
High-concept storytelling in Gone 6: Ending big, promising bigger
Finishing a chapter big, but promising bigger to keep the audience reading.
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7
First person in That Eye, the Sky 6: The bad event
Resolve the tension created in a sustained first person narrative.
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8
First person in That Eye, the Sky 1: Saying goodbye
Learn how subjective, first person point of view can add richness and complexity to a simple plot.
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9
First person in That Eye, the Sky 2: Summarising the characters
Practise summary description and introduce background characters for reuse in a later lesson.
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7
First person in That Eye, the Sky 3: Sounds of the night
Learn how first person point of view and resonant details can add richness and complexity to otherwise simple action.
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8
First person in That Eye, the Sky 4: Increasing the tension
Use the limited perception of a first person narrator to increase tension.
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8
First person in That Eye, the Sky 5: Racing to the scene
Maintain tension through a first person perspective.
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8
Science fantasy worldbuilding in Phoenix 1: Establishing norms
Establish the norms of a science-fantasy world in an opening scene.
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8
Science fantasy worldbuilding in Phoenix 2: Current events
Deliver world building exposition through the narrative device of a newscast.
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7
Science fantasy worldbuilding in Phoenix 3: A whole new world
Describe a whole planet through a series of details.
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10
Science fantasy worldbuilding in Phoenix 4: Close encounters
Describe an alien in both broad strokes and specific details.
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7
Science fantasy worldbuilding in Phoenix 5: Exotic technology
Describe a piece of fantastic technology through objective details and subjective reactions.
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8
Science fantasy worldbuilding in Phoenix 6: Lasers, camera, action!
Describe a multi-agent battle scene which follows a miniature dramatic arc.
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9
Science fantasy worldbuilding in Phoenix 7: Cosmic threats
Describe a threat or phenomenon that doesn't fit our normal model of reality.
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7
Genre Mix 01 (Middle years)
Practise quickly mimicking a voice or style.
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7
Genre Mix 02 (Middle years)
Practise quickly mimicking a voice or style.
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7
Genre Mix 03 (Middle years)
Practise quickly mimicking a voice or style.
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7
Genre Mix 04 (Middle years)
Practise quickly mimicking a voice or style.
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7
Genre Mix 01 (General)
Practise quickly mimicking a voice or style.
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7
Genre Mix 05 (Middle years)
Practise quickly mimicking a voice or style.
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7
Expressive Punctuation: Commas
Develop greater sensitivity to how you can use commas for expressive effect.
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17
Expressive Punctuation: Em dashes
Use em dashes as a piece of expressive punctuation.
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11
Expressive Punctuation: Contrasting sentence lengths
Learn to adjust sentence length for expressive effect.
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11
Gothic in the Deathly Hallows: Creating a sense of decay
Write a creepy descriptive passage with a sense of gothic decay.
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9
Gothic in the Deathly Hallows: Isolating the heroes
Use language to create an uneasy sense of vulnerability.
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8
Sci-fi Genre (Middle years)
Practise quickly mimicking a voice or style.
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7
Horror Genre (Middle years)
Practise quickly mimicking a voice or style.
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7
Comedy Genre (Middle Years)
Practise quickly mimicking a voice or style.
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7
Everyday Life Genre (Middle Years)
Practise quickly mimicking a voice or style.
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7
Memoir Genre (Middle Years)
Practise quickly mimicking a voice or style.
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8
How to Writelike
Get familiar with how Writelike works.
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11
Memoir Basics 1: What's in a memoir?
To indroduce key features of memoirs.
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9
Noun groups
To identify noun groups and their components in any piece of text.
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18
Memoir Basics 3: Adding feelings, judgments, and explanations
To enrich descriptions of a memorable event by sharing feelings, judgments and explanations.
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15
Memoir Basics 2: Using memory to tell a story
To introduce the concept of using memory as a narrative device in memoirs.
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12
Memoir Basics 4: Writing an eye-catching opener
Explore how the opening of a memoir needs to be eye-catching and quickly give the reader a sense of plot, themes, and style.
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10
Verb groups
Recognise the components of a verb group in any type of text.
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19
Christmas Genre (Middle Years)
Practise quickly mimicking a voice or style.
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7
Adjective groups
Teach students how to recognise an adjective group and classify its components into describers, classifiers, intensifiers and qualifiers.
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16
Intro to Word Groups
To put students in the right frame of mind for tackling the word groups lessons and grammar in general.
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11
Conclusion to Word Groups
Practice using metalanguage and skills from the Word Groups lessons to analyse and model sentences.
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13
Short story hooks with Paul Jennings
Learn different narrative hooks to open a short story.
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7
Adverb groups
Teach students to recognise adverbs and adverb groups and classify their components as intensifiers and qualifiers.
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15
Prepositional phrases
Teach students to recognise prepositional phrases, understand their function, and use them to create meaning and expand detail.
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28
Writelike Shakespeare: Macbeth's 'Tomorrow' soliloquy
Learn to write a Shakespearean soliloquy in the style of Macbeth, including concept, structure, phrasing, and verse.
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23
Writelike Jane Austen: Mr Darcy at the dance
Explore Jane Austen's voice and practice writing social observation from a detached point of view.
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20
Writelike Mary Shelley: Frankenstein's monster's lament
Explore Mary Shelley's voice, and practice writing a complaint with gothic intensity.
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16
Writelike Charles Dickens: The fog in Bleak House
Explore Charles Dickens' voice and practice writing large-scale description using thematically organised detail.
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10
Emotion 1: Emotional cause and effect
Recognise emotion-behaviour loops in narrative, and use them to create stories in which events have emotional meaning.
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20
Emotion 2: Representing character emotion
Write stories that feature realistic and complex character emotions.
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21
Emotion 3: Evoking emotion in the reader
Write narratives that create mood and evoke interest, empathy, and contrasting emotions in the reader.
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21
Goals and motivations
Write narratives that feature compelling, coherent character goals and motivations.
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17
Contrast & juxtaposition
Learn to use contrast and juxtaposition to create compelling descriptions, emotional effects, and conflict.
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24
Detective comedy 1: Setting up the shabby detective
Examining detective story tropes, starting with describing the detective and their agency.
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8
Detective comedy 2: Introducing the client
Examining detective genre tropes, such as introducing the client.
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9
Detective comedy 3: Getting the job
Examining detective genre tropes, such as getting the job.
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8
Detective comedy 4: Some action!
Examining detective genre tropes, such as dramatic action.
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6
Detective comedy 5: Reflecting on the job
Examining detective genre tropes, such as reflecting on the job.
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7
Observing and describing in Storm Boy 1: Describing a place
Describe a place from a zoomed-out point of view that includes system dynamics.
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7
Observing and describing in Storm Boy 2: Describing a person
Describe a person in terms of their relationship to their environment over time.
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6
Observing and describing in Storm Boy 3: Describing a crowd
Describe a crowd of people or animals in a way that captures collective character and individual detail.
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9
Observing and describing in Storm Boy 4: Describing a relationship
Describe a relationship through a series of examples.
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8
Observing and describing in Storm Boy 5: Describing the weather
Describe a weather event as a dynamic system over time.
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9
Observing and describing in Storm Boy 6: Describing action
Create a vivid description of characters acting within a dynamic landscape.
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6
Simple sentences
Identify real-world elements within simple sentences and get a feel for writing them.
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11
Connectors and an introduction to complex meaning
Understand how connectors create relationships between events, and use a variety of connectors to control meaning.
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15
Conflict & resolution
Learn to create, develop, and resolve rich narrative conflicts.
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19
Change, cause & effect
Learn to write stories that hang together and result in a change in character or circumstances.
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20
Point of view
Learn to choose the right point of view for a story and get the most out of the choice.
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15
Understanding clauses
Identify clause components in sentences, and understand the nuances of the different components.
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11
Valuing & judging
Learn to make stories more meaningful through characters and narrators that can hold values, express opinions, and change over time.
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20
Lists & hierarchies
Learn to gather raw facts and explore ways of organising, relating, and presenting them.
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30
Narrative distance
Learn how to write at—and move between—different levels of narrative distance.
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11
Complex sentences
Learn how you can use complex sentences to create a variety of effects in your writing.
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18
Four and a half types of sentence
Distinguish between statements, commands, questions, exclamations and fragments in any piece of text.
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13
Memory and typing drills with Burning for Revenge - Long snippets (UK)
Practise basic typing, spelling, punctuation and reading skills.
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19
Memory and typing drills with Burning for Revenge - Mid-length snippets (UK)
Practise basic typing, spelling, punctuation and reading skills.
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16
Memory and typing drills with Burning for Revenge - Short snippets (UK)
Practise basic typing, spelling, punctuation and reading skills.
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16
Proofreading exercises with Burning for Revenge - Short snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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16
Proofreading exercises with Burning for Revenge - Mid-length snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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16
Proofreading exercises with Burning for Revenge - Long snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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19
Proofreading exercises with Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Short snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Proofreading exercises with Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Mid-length snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Proofreading exercises with Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Long snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Proofreading exercises with The Hunger Games - Long snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Proofreading exercises with The Hunger Games - Mid-length snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Proofreading exercises with The Hunger Games - Short snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Proofreading exercises with All the Light We Cannot See - Long snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Proofreading exercises with All the Light - Mid-length snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Proofreading exercises with All the Light We Cannot See - Short snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Character Basics Activity 01: Names and labels
Give a character a name or label to identify them.
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1
Character Basics Activity 02: Physical details
Teach students to create rich character descriptions through the use of physical detail.
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1
Character Basics Activity 03: Behaviour
Teach students to create rich character descriptions by using general character behaviour, habits, or routines.
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1
Character Basics Activity 04: Their history
Teach students to create rich character descriptions by describing important events from their past.
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1
Character Basics Activity 05: Perception
Learn to bring readers closer to a character by describing the character's perceptions.
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1
Character Basics Activity 06: Feelings and emotions
Teach students to create rich character descriptions by showing their emotional responses to events.
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1
Character Basics Activity 07: Thoughts and beliefs
Teach students to create rich characters by describing their thoughts and beliefs.
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1
Character Basics Activity 08: Motivations and desires
Teach students to create rich character descriptions by describing their motivations and desires.
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1
Character Basics Activity 09: Relationships
Teach students to create rich character descriptions through their relationships with other characters.
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1
Character Basics Activity 10: Judging characters
Teach students how to use authorial or narrator judgement as a way to describe characters.
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1
Character Basics Activity 11: Summary descriptions
Teach students to quickly summarise a character to capture key details.
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1
Character Basics Activity 12: Detailed descriptions
Teach students to create rich character descriptions using expanded detail.
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1
Character Basics Activity 13: Checkpoint
Teach students to create rich character descriptions through their relationships, histories, feelings and behaviour.
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1
Action Basics Activity 01: Physical action
Write a sequence of physical actions.
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1
Action Basics Activity 02: Environmental action
Write a series of actions where the environment is the active force.
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1
Action Basics Activity 03: Internal action
Write a short passage that includes internal actions.
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1
Action Basics Activity 04: Interpersonal action
Write a short passage that includes interpersonal actions.
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1
Action Basics Activity 05: Sequencing action
Write an action sequence with multiple simultaneous actions.
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1
Action Basics Activity 06: Action and reaction
Write a series of actions and reactions.
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1
Action Basics Activity 07: Meaning of action
Write an action, then explain what the action means to a character.
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1
Action Basics Activity 08: Summarising action
Write a summary of an event, focussing on the key points of the action.
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1
Action Basics Activity 09: Expanding action
Write a short sequence with lots of detailed action.
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1
Action Basics Activity 10: Checkpoint
Teach students how to blend different types of action to create richer and more emotionally varied scenes.
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1
Setting Basics Activity 01: Physical details
Write a description of a place in terms of concrete physical details.
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1
Setting Basics Activity 02: World in use
Write a short scene that integrates character action and description of the physical world.
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1
Setting Basics Activity 03: Change over time
Write a short description of a world that is changing of its own accord.
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1
Setting Basics Activity 04: Evoking history
Write a description of an object that includes something about its history.
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1
Setting Basics Activity 05: Meaning and value
Write about an object and describe it through what it means or how it's valued by a character.
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1
Setting Basics Activity 06: Spatial relationships
Teach students to write more layered descriptions of objects and places in their stories.
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1
Setting Basics Activity 07: Summary description
Write something using only the most basic facts about the world.
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1
Setting Basics Activity 08: Expanded description
Write an expanded description of a place to create a clear and specific image.
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1
Setting Basics Activity 09: Checkpoint
Teach students to write more layered descriptions of objects and places in their stories.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 01: Greeting
Write a line of dialogue where one character greets another.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 02: Commanding
Write a line of dialogue where one character commands another to do something.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 03: Asking questions
Write a short dialogue where a character asks a question.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 04: Giving information
Write a line of dialogue where one character is giving information, in a way that reveals something about them.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 05: Telling a story
Write a dialogue where one character is telling a story.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 06: Encouraging
Write a dialogue where one character encourages another.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 07: Teasing
Write a dialogue where one or more characters tease another.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 08: Intimidating
Write a dialogue where one character is trying to intimidate another.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 09: Making plans
Write a short dialogue where characters make plans with each other.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 10: Writing dialogue
Practise writing dialogue with correct punctuation.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 11: Speech tags
Write a short dialogue exchange using speech tags to show which character is talking.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 12: Reported speech
Summarise an exchange between two characters by using reported speech.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 13: Blending dialogue with action
Write a short dialogue where speech and action are blended together.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 14: Capturing voice
Write a line of dialogue that captures a character's unique voice.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 15: Capturing emotion
Teach students to write richer and more authentic dialogue by capturing character emotions.
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1
Dialogue Basics Activity 16: Checkpoint
Write a short scene with rich and authentic dialogue.
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1
Snippet-a-Day Memoir 01
Practise studying the patterns and details in a snippet, and applying the same style to new content.
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7
Snippet-a-Day Memoir 02
Practise studying the patterns and details in a snippet, and applying the same style to new content.
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7
Snippet-a-Day Middle-Years Fiction 01
Practise studying the patterns and details in a snippet, and applying the same style to new content.
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7
Snippet-a-Day Middle-Years Fiction 02
Practise studying the patterns and details in a snippet, and applying the same style to new content.
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7
Teaching Narrative Writing with Frankenstories
Show teachers how to use Frankenstories to teach collaborative & creative narrative writing.
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21
Teaching Argument Writing with Frankenstories
Use Frankenstories to help your students develop sophisticated argumentation skills.
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37
Teaching Persuasive Writing with Frankenstories
Learn how to use Frankenstories to teach your students persuasive writing & speaking skills.
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17
Two types of reasoning
Introduces students to two types of everyday reasoning: cause & effect and criteria & match.
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11
Teaching with Writelike
Teach you how to teach with Writelike.
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33
Seven types of argument
Introduce students to factual, causal, valuational, and ethical arguments—and more.
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18
Nominalisation
Learn how to express processes, and qualities as nominalisations, and use them effectively when writing about complex events and concepts.
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13
Eight argument components
Learn the roles of issues, claims, reasons, evidence, rebuttals, limits, assumptions, & backing in argumentation.
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16
Forms of evidence
Learn to distinguish between several forms of evidence and develop a basic awareness of each form's strengths & weaknesses.
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12
Persuasive context
Learn to evaluate speaker, issue, audience, goal, & timing in a persuasive or rhetorical situation.
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10
Persuasive levers 1-4: Character, Emotion, Argument, & Combined
All four Persuasive Levers lessons in one: Character, Emotion, Argument, & Combining levers
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26
Persuasive levers 1: Character
Learn to use character as a powerful lever of persuasion.
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8
Persuasive levers 2: Emotion
Learn to use emotion to move an audience in a persuasive situation.
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7
Persuasive levers 3: Argument
Learn to use evidence and reasoning to persuade an audience.
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6
Persuasive levers 4: Combining persuasive levers
Examine some noteworthy examples of persuasion and try to explain how they work.
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7
Teaching with Frankenstories
Show teachers how to get the best results when teaching writing with Frankenstories.
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18
Describing historical arts & technologies
Write descriptive reports that cover the when, where, what, and so what of historical arts & technologies.
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16
Describing historical figures
Write descriptive reports that cover the when, where, what, and so what of historical figures & personalities.
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14
Describing historical events
Write descriptive reports that cover the when, where, what, and so what of historical events.
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11
Proofreading exercises with The Great Treehouse War - Short snippets (US/UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Proofreading exercises with The Great Treehouse War - Mid-length snippets (US)
Practice fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Proofreading exercises with The Great Treehouse War - Mid-length snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Proofreading exercises with The Great Treehouse War - Long snippets (US)
Practice fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Proofreading exercises with The Great Treehouse War - Long snippets (UK)
Practise fixing basic spelling and punctuation mistakes.
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17
Frakenstories & The Writer's Practice
This lesson is a set of teacher notes for the Writer's Practice prompt set in Frankenstories.
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10