Book Day story unit · KS1 (Reception to Year 2)
The Night the Books Woke Up
Learning objective: Talk about favourite books and use covers, pictures and titles to predict what a story is about.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Fantasy · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: The Impossible Library
Talk questions
- Which book character would you most like to meet? Why?
- How did the covers and pictures help find each character's home?
Writing task
Draw a book cover for a story you would love to read. Write its title and one sentence: 'In this story, ___.'
Word bank
- cover
- the outside of a book, which shows its title and often a picture
- title
- the name of a book or a story
- character
- a person or an animal in a story
- page
- one side of a sheet of paper in a book
- library
- a place full of books that you can borrow, read and bring back
Success criteria (adventure story)
Reception to Year 2: I can write a beginning, a middle and an end. I can use describing words. I can use capital letters and full stops.
National Curriculum statements
- “discussing the significance of the title and events” (Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far” (Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “listening to, discussing and expressing views about a wide range of contemporary and classic poetry, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently” (Year 2, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
On the morning of Book Day, Ellie opened the library door and stopped.
There was a dragon in the cookery book! It was stirring a pot of soup. There was a pirate in the garden book. He was digging for treasure under the carrots. And a sleepy bear was snoring in the space book, right next to the Moon.
“Oh dear,” said a small voice. It was a bookmark with a bright, smiley face. “The characters woke up in the night and climbed into the wrong books!”
Ellie picked up the dragon’s book. On the cover was a castle. “Open the cover, turn the page, which story is your home?” she said. The dragon peered at the picture and smiled.
Notes
Book Day story unit · KS2 (Years 3 to 6)
The Library of Lost Endings
Learning objective: Compare how different kinds of book work and explain, with reasons, what makes a good ending.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Fantasy · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: The Impossible Library
Talk questions
- Which kind of book in the story would you choose to read next? What makes it appealing?
- What makes an ending satisfying? Think of a book you have read with a great ending.
Writing task
Choose one of the stories in the Library of Lost Endings and write its missing ending in a paragraph. Match the style of that kind of book.
Word bank
- genre
- a kind of story or book, such as mystery, adventure or poetry
- ending
- the way a story finishes
- recommend
- to tell someone that something is good and they might like it, and why
- curious
- wanting to find out more
- satisfying
- making you feel pleased, because it feels just right
Success criteria (adventure story)
Years 3 and 4: I can set the scene in my opening. I can build up to a problem and solve it. I can use paragraphs. I can punctuate speech.
Years 5 and 6: I can hook the reader in my opening. I can build tension towards a turning point. I can use dialogue to move the action on. I can show the setting through the senses.
National Curriculum statements
- “recommending books that they have read to their peers, giving reasons for their choices” (Years 5 and 6, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a range of purposes” (Years 3 and 4, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “identifying and discussing themes and conventions in and across a wide range of writing” (Years 5 and 6, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
Rafi had read the last page of the mystery three times, and it still stopped in the middle of a sentence: “And the thief was…”
He wasn’t the only one. All over the Impossible Library, readers were frowning at books that ended just before the best part. A knight stood frozen halfway through a bow. A poem trailed off after its second line.
“The endings have gone,” said the librarian, a tall woman with ink on her fingers and a cardigan full of bookmarks. “Every last one.” She held out her hand. “I can step inside stories. Will you come with me and help find them?”
Rafi hesitated, then took her hand. The shelves swirled like pages in the wind, and when they settled, he was standing in a foggy lane with a detective’s notebook in his pocket.
Notes
