Oral Language activities to support the development of Narrative
writing

Modelled stories
Labelling characters and actions in a story.
Toys and story props can be used to form a story circle using a known story and then
an unknown story. You can also use magnetic and felt board characters. Story sacks
are great for developing stories. For the unknown we can use teddy/ or character toy
in the classroom and take her/him on a series of magical adventures and then get the
children to retell and sequence the story in their groups or pairs. We could include
stories like
 Going shopping
 Making choices
 Going on a picnic
 Acting bravely
 Going on a holiday
 Being surprised
 Getting lost
 Getting into trouble
 Finding an interesting items
 Winning and losing
 Helping someone
 Accidents
 Feeling afraid
 Mistaken identity
When it comes to the plot keep it simple and make sure what ever is happening in
the story matches the child’s experiences in some way as they must be able to
relate to the story. Make it memorable so that the child can retell it. We can take
the character on a walk and find numerous things, or meet different people or
there could be a number of ways to solve the problem. We include
First….next….and in the end.
Have a story- telling chair in the classroom to allow the children to retell the
story.
Here we can invite lots of discussion about the story. Link with text innovation
and text reconstruction.
Our Special character.
The children can decide on the characters name and where the character lives. The
children can also decide on personality traits and what the character likes doing.
Once the character is established situations can be created to welcome the
children’s response and find universal themes to create stories around. One day
our character arm is in plaster….what happened. Another day our character has
disappeared and left a note……
Our character has received an invitation……..
These stories can be linked with stories from children’s literature developing the
same theme.
Creating stories with conventional character features.
Include the story beginnings …..once there was …..along time ago……It
happened
Create story plot……problem and resolution
Use story expressions……..all of a sudden….just when …….
Get the children to retell the story, retell the story and change the beginning, retell
the story and change the ending, retell the story and change the setting.
Story bag or Story box
This begins with a bag or box containing some interesting and unusual artefacts
for example and old key, magnifying glass, a crystal, a map, a precious stone, a
feather, binoculars, a secret message, a glove puppet, a candle, an unusual coin, a
photograph, an old mirror, a Russian doll, a lantern ect. Tell the children that you
are going to make a story about the day they went on an unusual trip. Ask for
suggestions about where the story might be set and how it might start. As you
pass the bag/ box around the children can take out an object and weave a story
around what happened when it was found. We can begin with just one or two
objects to create the story.
Prop boxes for re-enacting stories.
Make character name tags for the different stories and fairytales and include
items from the story.
Story treasure hunt.
Collect objects that appear in a story. For example if you were focusing on
Whatever next by Jill Murphy include a pair of Wellingtons, a teddy bear, an
apple, a toy owl ect. Hide these objects for the children to find and create the
story. This works well with The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Small world play.
Use markers for each stage in the story. For example in We’re going on a Bear
Hunt the markers are showing the journey with last one being the cave. The
children can then recreate the story. For group activity you could cut up and
laminate a scanned copy of the book for sequencing and retelling activities to
match the sections in the story.
Story Stages.
Orientation…..setting Tina goes for a walk
Initiating event……..She goes to the park and plays on the swings
Complication……….A dog barks at her and she runs off and gets lost
Resolution……Her Mammy searches everywhere and finds her
Ending………They go home together
Orientation ……….Sam is in the playground
Initiating event ……the children are playing a game of football
Complication ……..A boy steals the ball
Resolution…………The teacher gets the ball back
Ending…………….They forgive the boy and let him play
Use character cards and setting for the children to create the stages in the story in
groups and pairs
Story Connectives/Pass-it-on ( FS RB PG 32)
Orientation…..Once upon a time
Initiating event…..One day
Complication….Suddenly
Resolution…….So
Ending…..Finally
Encourage the children to create these in groups.