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Year 1 Model Text Resource Pack 19: The Mysterious Book (Narrative; Portal stories, pirates)

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Real Writing
  • Covers every objective for years 1-6
  • Over 150 high-quality model texts
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This Year 1 writing unit is part of our Real Writing collection and is built around an original portal story by published children’s author Gabrielle Kent, titled The Mysterious Book

The model text is available as a PDF in three versions (plain, illustrated and annotated), and annotated and non-annotated PowerPoint presentations are included. Each unit follows a carefully mapped framework and provides two to three weeks of detailed lesson planning.

In this unit, pupils will explore the features of a simple portal story, also known as a home-away-home story, and consider the world the character visits using the magical book. 

They will write their own version in the first person, imagining a book they would love to jump into. This unit can support teaching English objectives and also link to topic work on pirates, adventure stories or fantasy worlds.

Three fully resourced lessons target the following Year 1 English objectives:

  1. Vocabulary: to spell words ending in the suffix -ed (where no change is needed to the root word)
    Pupils will explore how adding -ed changes a verb to past tense.
  2. Grammar: to compose sentences orally, using adjectives
    Pupils will explore adjectives to describe characters, objects and settings in The Mysterious Book.
  3. Grammar: to join clauses using and
    Pupils will explore how to join simple sentences to form compound sentences before writing their own stories.

Additional teaching points include saying out loud what they are going to write about, using capital letters and full stops to punctuate sentences, leaving spaces between words, sequencing sentences to form short narratives and reading aloud their own writing.

Activities and teaching sequence

The unit begins by discussing pupils’ favourite books, encouraging them to explain why they enjoy them. Teachers read the model text and highlight the features of a portal story, asking pupils to identify the story’s beginning, the adventure and the return home. 

Pupils will use retelling image cards to practise oral sequencing of the story and act out events individually, in groups or using small world play.

Pupils explore Tier 2 vocabulary including buried, librarian, library, mysterious, peach, strange and treasure, and use word cards to match meanings. 

They'll discuss the differences between the home and away settings and use worksheets to draw what happens in both places. Pupils will create their own story maps, adapting the adventure and imagining where the magical book could take them.

During the writing phase, pupils will use the writer’s checklist to compose sentences with adjectives and joined clauses, recording their own portal stories. Teachers can encourage more confident writers to include descriptive language and time-related adjectives to enhance story sequencing.

Resources included

  • Model text PDF (plain, illustrated, annotated)
  • Annotated and non-annotated PowerPoint presentations
  • Retelling image cards
  • Tier 2 vocabulary cards
  • Home and Away worksheets
  • Writer’s craft instruction sheets and writing checklists

Outcomes

By the end of the unit, pupils will:

  • Understand the structure and features of a portal story
  • Use adjectives and joining words to compose sentences
  • Spell words with the suffix -ed correctly
  • Sequence events to create a short narrative
  • Read their writing aloud with confidence
  • Produce their own imaginative portal stories, showing creativity and understanding of story structure

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