Year 4 – 500 Words Story Writing Project

This term Year 4 will be completing an English writing project.

Writing stories is a fantastic way to develop children’s imagination.

This project will also give the children a opportunity to put in

practice all the writing skills they have learnt so far in Year 4.

So what do they need to do?

Children must write an original story or any subject or theme in 500

words or fewer. Their story can be typed or handwritten. 500 words

is between 1.5 and 2 pages depending on the size of the writing

(could be up to as many as 4 pages for big writing). However, we

won’t be counting so just try your best to keep it within the 500

word limit.

Dates for your diary?

In order to give the children the best possible chance they will be

given until Thursday 8th March to complete their stories and hand

them to their teachers.

And the winner is….?

A little bit of competition is always a good thing. All of the

completed stories handed in by the children will be read by their

class teachers. Each teacher will them pick the best 3 from their

class. These will then be judge to pick the top 3 stories from Year 4.

There will be a small prize for the 3 winners. Every child who takes

part will also be given a certificate of participation.

What else do I need to know?

Each story must be clearly labelled with your child’s name and

class.

Completed stories should be handed to Miss Butt in Year 4

Green.

Try to think of original ideas. We want to see your imagination

at work.

Parents: supporting your children in very helpful but please

allow them to write independently. Spelling and grammar are

important but what we are really looking for is interesting and

exciting stories.

If you need some inspiration:

Below you will find a list of ideas for things you could write about:

Inspirational objects

o Unusual objects can be a great source of story

inspiration. Anything from an old hat to a telescope could

give you the starting point for a fantastic story.

Facts into Fiction

o Fun facts from the Topics you have learnt about at school

could inspire your story. You could use a Viking fact to

spark an idea about a Viking adventure.

Headlines

o Real life events can help to give you great story ideas.

Story Idea Generator

Pick a type of genre of story, characters and setting and put them

together to think up a story idea. You can pick and mix from every

category or even throw your own ideas into the mix.

Genre Character Setting

mystery superhero haunted house

romance Archeologist city

science fiction Hedgehog School

horror Vlogger shopping mall

fantasy Rapper zoo

historical Wizard desert island

adventure Dinosaur mountain

spy Robot castle

animal Secret Argent enchanted forest

Character

Every story needs a star. Unforgettable characters make

stories come to life. Use some of these ideas to bring your

character to life.

Instant Impressions

o Use adjectives to create an instant picture in your

readers mind. You must use adjectives appropriately.

Don’t just scatter them all over your writing.

Get the Profile

o Ask questions about your characters. Think about what

the characters are like and why they act the way they do.

The name of the Game

o Unforgettable characters need unforgettable names.

Think about some famous characters names from fiction.

What kind of name would you give to a villain or hero?

Character Profile

My charatcer’s name is:

Does your

villain love ice

cream?

My character looks like:

My character sounds like:

My character likes/dislikes:

My character: (hobbies/interests)

My character lives:

My character has: (do they have a family?)

Plot

Great stories have page-turning plots that keep readers glued to

their seats to find out what happens next. Use the ideas below to

turn your inspirations into a fantastic story, maybe with a twist or

two.

Story Starters

o Think about an event that will kick start the plot of your

story. Throwing your reader straight into the action is a

great way to grab your audience’s attention.

Story Mountain

o Creating a plot is like climbing a mountain – each event in

the story should build on the one before. Have a go at

completing a story mountain to plan your plot. Think about

the problems and challenges your main character will

face.

The Perfect Ending

o The last lines of your story should pack a punch. What

emotions do you want your reader to feel at the end of

your story? Can you craft a final line that creates this

feeling?

Build-Up Problem solved

1

2

3 4

5

6

Story Mountain

Language

Every writer wants to find the perfect words to tell their story. Since

you can only use 500 to tell your story you must pick them really

carefully.

Striking Similes

o Try to use some similes in your story – remember a simile is

when you compare something to something else e.g. a cold as

ice, a bright as a diamond

Word Inventors

o Blending two words together to create a new one can add

interesting ideas and characters to your story e.g. adding

water to yeti would create the word weti.

Synonyms

o Don’t always settle for the first word you think of. Flick

through a thesaurus (or have a look online) to see if you kind

find better alternatives for over used words such as nice or

big

Striking Similes

A simile is a way of describing something by comparing it to

something else. Using similes can help you to describe the scenes

of your own story in interesting and unusual ways. Complete the

examples below to create your own striking similes.

Enjoyment

The world is made of stories. Exciting stories, scary stories, thrilling

stories, stories that make you cry and ones that leave you laughing. The

magic ingredient is enjoyment.

Who’s who?

o Think about who is telling your story. Before you start

writing describe your characters journey, sharing their

thoughts and ideas about what they see.

Twisty tales

o Take some traditional story openings and give them a twist.

How about changing ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ into ‘Little Red

Riding Hoodie’. Have twisting traditional tales into stories

that will surprise the reader.

Action and Emotion

o Can you show how you are feeling without saying a word?

Think about how the character’s actions reveal their

emotions. Have a look at the words below to help you.

Editing

Writing the last line of a story doesn’t mean the writer has finished

having fun. From finding plot holes to polishing their vocabulary,

authors check and redraft their stories until they feel they’re the

best they can be. Use some of these activities to help you revise and

edit your stories until they shine.

Story Buddies

o Find someone else to read your story. Ask them to give you

some feedback, telling you what they like and what they

think could be improved.

Make Every Word Count

o Revise and reread your story lots of times. Can you spot any

words or phrases that you have used too often? Are there

any synonyms you could use to replace a word you have used

lots of times? Play around with your story until it sounds

right.

Title Terror

o We won’t judge a story by its cover, but picking the right

title can get us turning pages. Think about some of your

favourite story titles. Why are they so good? You title could

be short or long or maybe even one word.

Get Creative

If you have time when you finish, feel free to design a front cover for

your story. You could even add some illustrations to your story if you

like.

Remember, the story is what is important. Illustrations are an

added bonus!

Good Luck!

Get Writing!