Story Writing

Genre: Realistic Fiction -

Wonder

In this unit we will be learning about realistic fiction - what makes a great coming-of-age story.

The focus of our learning will be Wonder by R J Palacio - bright 10-year-old boy born with a severe facial difference who, after being homeschooled, enters public school (Beecher Prep) for the first time, navigating friendships, bullying, and his own journey to be seen as an ordinary kid despite his "extraordinary face".  We will be learning about characterisation (specifically how a character can develop), plot, techniques used by authors to create specific effects (e.g. character perspective), and developing and enriching vocabulary.

Our writing focus will be fiction with a specific focus on writing style techniques: use of relative clauses, complex sentences, sentence openers, short sentences for effect, use of dialogue (direct and reported speech).

Children will be learning creatively using drama techniques, annotation of text and the use of images/imagery.

Development and enrichment of vocabulary will be a key objective of this unit of learning - using a challenging text to access quality language in order to develop understanding of a wider range of vocabulary to enhance independent writing.

The unit outcome will be a variety of short texts (diary, biography, poetry) and a narrative from a character's perspective.