This Key Stage 1 writing pack supports pupils in creating a simple Christmas-themed journey story. The central resource is a WAGOLL story, Getting Ready for Christmas, which follows Sam and Freya as they help their parents decorate the house for the festive season.
Pupils can explore the story, discuss the sequence of events and use the accompanying planning sheet to map out their own journey stories.
The pack encourages pupils to practise key writing skills. You can use it to teach adding the suffix -ed to form past tense verbs, using adverbials to sequence events and incorporating festive vocabulary into their writing. The resources are designed to engage pupils in seasonal writing tasks at the end of the autumn term while reinforcing important narrative techniques.
Inside the pack
- Model text – Getting Ready for Christmas: A simple journey story featuring Sam and Freya, complete with past-tense verbs and Christmas-themed vocabulary. The text highlights story sequencing, task-based character actions and clear use of adverbials like first, then and finally.
- Journey story writing sheet: Provides success criteria for writing a journey story, examples of past-tense verbs ending in -ed, and a selection of Christmas-related words.
- Sequencing adverbials cards: Word cards with adverbials of time to help pupils plan and orally rehearse their stories before writing.
- Getting Ready for Christmas images: Visual prompts showing people preparing for Christmas, designed to inspire story ideas.
- Journey story planning sheet: Guides pupils in noting ideas and ordering the events in their story.
- Themed writing paper: Attractive, seasonal paper for pupils to present their finished stories.
How to use the pack: Pupils can explore the model story, identify how the characters complete tasks and discuss the sequence of events. They can then plan, draft and present their own journey story, using the writing sheet, planning sheet, adverbial cards and images to support their ideas.
National curriculum links
- Year 1: Compose sentences orally, sequence sentences into short narratives and apply simple spelling rules including the -ed suffix.
- Year 2: Write for different purposes, plan ideas before writing and apply spelling rules from English Appendix 1.
This pack provides a structured, engaging way to teach narrative writing, grammar and vocabulary within a festive, seasonal context.
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