Teach pupils how to explore and create their own Just So Stories with this KS2 text types resource pack. Pupils will start by reading the model WAGOLL text How the Camel Got His Hump by Rudyard Kipling.
The model text shows how to structure a traditional tale, use animal characters that speak, and explain how animals gained their distinctive features.
Pupils can annotate the text to identify key grammar and punctuation skills, such as inverted commas, fronted adverbials, semi-colons, brackets and commas to mark parenthesis, and how past tense is used consistently.
Once pupils understand the structure and features of a Just So Story, they will use the Exploring Ideas worksheet to record their own ideas. They can list animals, decide on their special features and plan how those features came about.
The planning sheet helps pupils organise events into a clear sequence, covering beginning, problem, resolution and ending, ensuring that the animal’s feature remains permanent in the story.
What’s included in this resource
- Model text – How the Camel Got His Hump: A WAGOLL showing classic Just So Story features, speaking animal characters, clear story structure, past tense, inverted commas and fronted adverbials
- Just So Stories writing sheet: Two versions for LKS2 and UKS2. LKS2 includes guidance on inverted commas and fronted adverbials, while UKS2 includes semi-colons and brackets for parenthesis
- Exploring ideas worksheet: A PDF for pupils to collect and develop ideas for their own stories
- Just So Stories planning sheet: A worksheet to structure story events from beginning to end
- Writing paper: Themed sheets for presenting finished stories neatly
Curriculum links
- Year 3/4: Pupils plan writing by discussing similar texts to understand structure, vocabulary and grammar. They use and punctuate direct speech and include fronted adverbials
- Year 5/6: Pupils plan writing with audience and purpose in mind, selecting the appropriate form and using models to guide their work. They use semi-colons to link independent clauses and brackets, dashes or commas to mark parenthesis
This resource gives you everything to guide pupils from reading and analysing a classic Just So Story to writing their own creative and structured tales, building both their narrative skills and punctuation accuracy.