How can you tell they’ve got it: Planning Narratives?

If they’ve got it, you’ll see things like: Identify specific authorial techniques for character development from a mentor text; Plan a character using techniques such as showing through action borrowed from a studied author; Analyse how an author builds setting and apply similar techniques in planning own narrative. Or just try it together: When your child is about to write a story, do they think ahead about what their main character is like and where the story will take place before they start writing?

English Writing Composition Ages 10–11

Planning Narratives

Your child can plan a story using tricks they noticed in books. They build a character by showing them through their actions.

In curriculum terms

Plan narrative writing by considering how authors have developed characters and settings, drawing on techniques observed in texts read, heard, or performed

Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Identify specific authorial techniques for character development from a mentor text
Plan a character using techniques such as showing through action borrowed from a studied author
Analyse how an author builds setting and apply similar techniques in planning own narrative

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Try this together

When your child is about to write a story, do they think ahead about what their main character is like and where the story will take place before they start writing?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Connecting New & Old Ideasages 7–8Drawing on techniques observed in texts read requires the habit of connecting new information to existing knowledge from reading

Writing Craft Vocabularyages 8–11Planning narrative like authors requires vocabulary of 'technique', 'structure', 'voice', and 'style'

Choosing Form and Tone for Your Audienceages 9–10Authorial techniques planning builds on identifying audience/purpose

Planning Narrativesthis skill · ages 10–11

Unlocks

Writing Character & Dialogueages 11–14KS3 narrative technique builds on KS2 planning narrative writing from author techniques

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.

Show candidate curriculum codes · 3 ACARA · 2 NSW · 3 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9E4LE05medium confidenceYear 4 · Literature

create and edit literary texts by developing storylines, characters and settings

AC9E4LE03medium confidenceYear 4 · Literature

discuss how authors and illustrators make stories engaging by the way they develop character, setting and plot tensions

AC9E5LE05low confidenceYear 5 · Literature

create and edit literary texts, experimenting with figurative language, storylines, characters and settings from texts students have experienced

NSW syllabus codes & stages only

EN2-CWT-01medium confidenceEnglish K-10 · Stage 2

EN3-CWT-01medium confidenceEnglish K-10 · Stage 3

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2E4LE05medium confidenceEnglish · Level 4 · Literature strand

VC2E5LE05medium confidenceEnglish · Level 5 · Literature strand

VC2E6LE05low confidenceEnglish · Level 6 · Literature strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Layout and Formatting in Informational Writingages 10–11 Research & Note-Takingages 10–11 Writing a Précisages 10–11 Choosing Form and Tone for Your Audienceages 9–10

All Writing Composition skills →