Mini Saga Competition for 7 11 YearOlds Slide

Mini Saga Competition for 7 -11 Year-Olds

Slide 2 Today you are going to: • Watch a video • Create a mini saga inspired by the wander in the woods theme • Take part in a group discussion • Explore story starters and how they help generate ideas • Write a mini saga for Young Writers’ A Wander In The Woods creative writing competition

Slide 3 Watch the video that introduces you to the activity: https: //youtu. be/wasj. QAc. XZ Qg

Slide 34 Today you will be writing a mini saga inspired by a wander in the woods! What is a mini saga? • Be original! Pupils can be inspired by other stories, but add a twist, make it their own! • Keep to the 100 -word limit – less is always more! • Remember that mini sagas must have a beginning, a middle and an end!

Slide 53 Let’s set a scene. . . Close your eyes and imagine you are at the edge of the woods on a sunny day. . . Take a moment and use your senses to imagine the scene. Share what you imagined with the rest of the class when you teacher invites you to.

Slide 63 Now. . . close your eyes and imagine you are at the edge of the woods on a cold, dark night. . . Take a moment and use your senses to imagine the scene. Share what you imagined with the rest of the class when you teacher invites you to.

Slide 37 Discuss how the weather, season and time of day can change the atmosphere of the story even though the setting remains the same. For example on a lovely sunny day you could discover a fairy toadstool ring or climb a magical tree, but in the dark something might be following you or your campfire tales seem spookier!

Slide 38 Your teacher will either provide you with a theme or ask you to choose from one of these (as a class): A recount A ghost story A hidden world A camping trip Re-tell a fairy tale (with a twist or from another point of view) Nature / Wildlife An enchanted forest Myths & As a class discuss ideas of what you could write about. There is no such thing as alegends bad idea! Let your imaginations run wild! Decide on one idea to write a class mini saga about.

Slide 93 Before you write your class mini saga, let’s look at the structure of a mini saga, it has a much more compact structure to a usual story: Beginning: When the story takes place and the character’s problem. You don’t need to introduce us to your character or setting as the story starter already does that. Middle: What does the character do to solve the problem? You need to decide the situation your character is in and the problem that creates. They could be lost in the wood, find a special item, hear a noise etc – what does this mean for your character. . . ? Ending: Is the problem solved? Is there a plot twist or a cliffhanger ending, or is it a nice, neat finish?

SSlildidee 130 Now it’s time to write your class mini saga! Your teacher will help you with some hints and tips to get down to the 100 word limit!

SSlildidee 131 Example 1 The Real Hero Today was a good day because I got to chase things, eat treats and enjoyed lots of pats. I met this girl with a red cape on carrying a basket of biscuits! They smelt so good, so I wagged my tail and gave her the biggest puppy eyes. It worked. I snapped it up quick and even got a pat on the head! Later, my master took me to the house that the biscuit girl had gone to and there was a wolf in the bed! I barked, growled and chased that evil thing out the house and away forever!

SSlildidee 132 Example 2 If You Go Down To The Woods Today. . . The teddy bear family arrived at their favourite spot next to the huge oak tree for their picnic. Rufus and Reggie decided to play hide-and-seek, Reggie counted and started looking for Rufus, but after a few minutes still couldn’t find him. “Lost something? ” someone asked. It was a rabbit. He’d returned home to find a teddy bear blocking the entrance to his burrow. “I was trying to find somewhere new to hide and got stuck, ” explained Rufus miserably. The rabbit led the brothers back to their parents and happily accepted an invitation to join the teddy bears’ picnic!

SSlildidee 133 Don’t forget the 3 golden rules of mini saga writing. . . • Be original! Pupils can be inspired by other stories, but add a twist, make it their own! • Keep to the 100 -word limit – less is always more! • Remember that mini sagas must have a beginning, a middle and an end!

SSlildidee 134 Now you are ready to get writing! If you have any questions, now is the time to ask your teacher! It’s time to choose your story starter and write a mini saga inspired by a wander in the woods!

SSlildidee 135 It’s peer assessment time! Share your work with a partner. They are to give you a suggestion on how to improve your mini saga and let you know what they liked about it. You then do the same for your partner. Edit your work if necessary!

We hope you enjoyed writing your mini saga for A Wander In The Woods! www. youngwriters. co. uk