P – P – T – T
When to start a new paragraph – when there is a change of Person – Place – Time or Topic.
The Story Map
A visual representation of a story – as promoted in Talk for Writing.
Because – Because – Because
To show the causality of plot and explain events in a story.
Why did Max go to where the wild things are?
Because Max put on his wolf suit and caused mischief he was sent to bed with no supper.
Because he sailed to where the wild things are and tamed them he became king of the wild things.
Because he was lonely he decided to go home.
1:3:1
To show the importance of opening and closing paragraphs. These cheap photo frames from IKEA use different colours to show how the opening and closing paragraphs (blue frames) are linked. The paragraphs in the body of the writing are a different colour. This example has three in the middle but it could just as easily be two or one.
Boxing Up
Again, a key Talk for Writing idea – particularly useful for non fiction and again stressing opening – body and closing paragraphs.
5 Ps
The 5 Ps are: People – Places – Problem – Panic – Peace. A useful way of breaking down the structure of a model story and then using this to re-tell (imitate) or to change one aspect (Innovate) or to us the core idea (Invent).
The Story Ladder
An idea shared by author Saviour Pirotta http://www.spirotta.com
Essentially, the end of the story is the opposite of the beginning. Gives children a clear structure for their planning. The sections in the middle fill in the gaps between the beginning and the end. Saviour uses Jaws as an example. At the beginning, the shark kills the people. At the end, people kill the shark. In the middle two attempts to kill the shark fail but the third one succeeds.
Origami Structure
A piece of A4 paper is folded into four. The opening on the first flap can then be matched to the closing on the fourth flap ensuring that they link.The photographs should make this clearer!
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