Copyright for teachers

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Activity 1: Story structure

Choose a picture book that students know well. Read it aloud, drawing attention to both the text and the illustrations. Discuss the structure of the story and the five key elements that make up a narrative:

• Characters
• Setting
• Plot
• Conflict
• Resolution

Talk about how these elements work together to tell the story. Ask students to write down the five elements and identify them in relation to the book you’ve read.

Activity 2: Illustrations

Explore the illustrations in the book. Discuss whether the words and pictures have a symmetrical relationship (where the images and text tell the same story) or an enhancing relationship (where the images add meaning beyond the words).

Ask students to choose an illustration from the book and recreate it. Then, have them decide: does their picture tell the same story as the words, or does it add something more?

Activity 3: Narrative

Discuss narrative style with the class. Ask students to identify whether the story is written in:

• First person
• Second person
• Third person
• Alternating perspectives

You may wish to provide short examples of each style to help students understand the differences.

Activity 4: Book covers

We often hear the saying, 'Don’t judge a book by its cover', but covers still influence how we choose books. Ask students to think about why a book cover is important. Discuss how a cover:

• Suggests what the book is about
• Reflects the illustration style
• Sets the tone or mood of the story

Introduce the idea of a synopsis (a short summary of the story), and ask students to write a synopsis for the book you’ve read.

Activity 5: Readathon scavenger hunt

Organise a readathon for your class or year level. Set it up like a scavenger hunt, where students are challenged to find and read a variety of books, both fiction and non-fiction, across a range of topics.

Encourage students to track what they read. At the end of the readathon, bring the class together to create a master list of all the books that were read.

Activity 6: Collaborative storytelling

Provide the class with a story framework that includes a:

• Location
• Challenge
• Resolution

As part of the story, the main characters must split up and work separately toward solving the challenge. Divide the class into groups and have each group write a chapter from the point of view of a different character, explaining how their character contributed to the resolution.

Each group can also be given a mystery prompt to include in their chapter. For example: A loud roar was heard in the distance. It was too far away to see clearly, but it sounded like a dragon. This prompt could guide one group to include a dragon in their part of the story.

When all groups are finished, read the story aloud as a class, with a representative from each group presenting their chapter.

Activity 7: Fairytales with a twist

Choose a well-known fairytale or nursery rhyme and read it together as a class. Then, ask students to rewrite the story in the first person, from the point of view of a main character.

Encourage them to modernise the story by setting it in the present day or imagining how the character would act in today’s world.

Activity 8: Collage and class story

Create a large, layered collage that represents your school or classroom. Use a picture frame to help create depth and perspective. Students can draw themselves doing different roles or activities around the classroom and add their drawings to the appropriate layer.

Once the collage is complete, work together as a class to write a short story that brings the scene to life. The story could describe a day in the life of your class or highlight a special event shown in the collage.