Turn reluctant writers into confident storytellers.
The Story Lab is a step-by-step narrative writing resource that breaks storytelling into small, achievable skills. Students learn each skill, practise it, then bring everything together to plan and write their own story.
Why teachers love it
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Scaffolded sequence: each activity builds on the last, from story ingredients through to independent writing.
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Print-and-go: no prep required, just print and teach.
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Flexible: use it as a full unit or pull out single pages to target specific skills.
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Student-friendly design: engaging adventure-themed pages that keep students motivated.
What’s inside (9 activities)
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Story Ingredients: what makes a story
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Build Your Character: profile page plus a “make your character interesting” page
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Create Your Setting: five-senses planning and a descriptive paragraph
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Create the Problem: problem types, challenges and what happens next
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Plan What Happens: beginning, build-up, problem, solution and ending
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Show, Don’t Tell: examples, sentence rewriting and sensory detail
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Keep the Reader Reading: strong openings, building tension, sequencing and improving a paragraph
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Create a Strong Ending: five ending types, plus improve and write your own
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Independent Writing Time: writing space, writer’s checklist and edit-and-improve prompts
Students will practise
- Creating interesting, believable characters
- Developing vivid settings using the five senses
- Building a problem or complication
- Sequencing events and planning a plot
- Showing rather than telling
- Writing engaging openings and satisfying endings
- Applying narrative skills independently
Perfect for
- Narrative writing units and lessons
- Writing rotations and literacy groups
- Intervention and learning support
- Independent and early-finisher writing
- Creative writing
How to use it
Work through the full sequence as a structured narrative unit, or use individual activities to target the skill your class needs most.
