Teaches Year 4 students the four parts of a narrative (orientation, complication, series of events, resolution) and the show-don't-tell technique that turns flat statements into vivid writing. Includes a four-line story plan, a telling-versus-showing table, strong-verb advice and a self-check with model answers.
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Curriculum: Australian Curriculum. We show specific outcome codes only where they have been verified against the official curriculum document.
Completed: Narrative Writing: Story Structure and Show, Don't Tell
Year 4 students (typically ages 9–10) working on narrative writing. It is pitched at level 2 · standard.
This is a study guide, so there is no separate answer sheet; the 'Check yourself' questions include answers.
About 15 minutes. Short, regular sessions work best: two or three a week beats one long one.
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Year 4 · English · Narrative Writing
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A narrative is a story. The best stories do two things: they follow a clear structure so the reader always knows where they are, and they make the reader feel something by showing rather than telling. This guide covers both.
| Part | What it does | Questions it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Orientation | Introduces the main character, the setting and the time | Who? Where? When? |
| Complication | A problem or challenge appears | What goes wrong? |
| Series of events | The character tries to solve the problem; tension builds | What do they try? What gets in the way? |
| Resolution | The problem is solved (or accepted) and loose ends are tied up | How does it end? How has the character changed? |
Orientation. You do not have to start with "Once upon a time there was a girl called…" Try opening in the middle of an action, with a line of dialogue, or with a sound: "Crash! The vase hit the floor just as Mum's key turned in the lock." The reader still learns who, where and when, but they are hooked first.
Plan a story in four lines
Show, don't tell. Telling states the feeling: "Zara was scared." Showing lets the reader work it out from actions, body language, the five senses and dialogue: "Zara's hands shook as she gripped the torch. Every rustle in the grass made her spin around." Showing is longer, but it puts the reader inside the character.
Turn telling into showing
| Telling | Showing |
|---|---|
| She was angry. | She slammed the door so hard the picture frames rattled. |
| It was cold. | Her breath hung in the air and her fingers had stopped working. |
| He was tired. | He yawned for the third time and his eyes drifted shut mid-sentence. |
| The dog was happy. | The dog's whole body wagged, not just its tail. |
Writer's toolkit. Use strong verbs (crept, sprinted, slumped) instead of went or walked plus an adverb. Use the five senses, not just sight. Let dialogue reveal character: a grumpy character says "Fine. Whatever." Use short sentences when the tension is high. She froze. The door creaked.
Answers: 1. Orientation, complication, series of events, resolution 2. Orientation 3. Model answer: Tom's stomach churned and he retied his laces for the fourth time. 4. Model answer: Bare branches clawed at the sky and somewhere behind her a twig snapped. 5. (b) 6. For example: trudged, shuffled, plodded, dragged himself
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A mystery prompt: a handwritten note falls out of a library book, and it is addressed to you. Students plan a story with rising tension…
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