The Hat That Talks to Animals — Story Writing — Answers
Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 1 narrative writing writing prompt.
Year 1 · English · Narrative Writing
The Hat That Talks to Animals — Story Writing — Answers
The prompt
Imagine you find a hat in your backyard. When you put it on, you can understand what animals are saying!
Write a story about what happens. Which animal do you talk to? What does it tell you? What do you do next?
Plan
Answer each question with a few words. These are your story ideas.
Answer: A girl called Zara who is six years old.
Answer: In Zara's backyard, under the big gum tree.
Answer: A magpie. It says, 'Please help me find my lost feather!'
Answer: Zara finds the feather in the sandpit and the magpie sings her a song.
Write
Model answer: The Talking Hat. One sunny morning Zara found a red hat under the gum tree. She put it on. 'Hello!' said a voice. It was a magpie sitting on the fence. 'I have lost my best feather,' said the magpie. 'Can you help me?'
Success criteria:
- My story has a title
- My story has a beginning, a middle and an end
- I named my character and said where the story happens
- An animal talks in my story
- I used capital letters and full stops
- I used at least two describing words
Marking tips
- Give credit for correct method even when the final answer slips — the working shows where the thinking went right.
- For open-ended tasks, use the success criteria as a checklist rather than looking for one "right" answer.
- Celebrate what went well first, then pick one thing to work on next.