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WorksheetYear 7Level 2 · Standard

Free Year 7 Story Openings That Hook the Reader Worksheet

Students learn five reliable ways to open a story: with dialogue, action, a question, a surprising statement or a vivid setting. They identify the hook in a set of original openings, judge which openings work best and why, revise flat openings that begin with waking up or a long introduction, and write three different openings for the same story idea before choosing the strongest.

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Year
Year 7
Subject
English
Topic
Narrative Writing
Difficulty
Level 2 · Standard
Estimated time
30 minutes
Curriculum
Australian Curriculum
Questions
12
Answers
Included, with working
Format
PDF (A4), print or complete online

Students will practise

  • identifying different types of narrative hooks
  • explaining how an opening creates curiosity
  • revising flat or slow story openings
  • writing openings with dialogue, action, questions, surprising statements and setting

Curriculum: Australian Curriculum. We show specific outcome codes only where they have been verified against the official curriculum document.

What's next?

Completed: Story Openings That Hook the Reader

  1. 1Show, Don't Tell: Revealing Character and Emotion
  2. 2Should Mobile Phones Be Banned at School? — Persuasive Writing
  3. 3Persuasive Devices: Emotive Language, Rhetorical Questions and the Rule of Three
  4. 4Writing a Rebuttal and a Strong Call to Action

How to use this worksheet

  1. Print the PDF or complete it on screen. Write the student's name and date at the top.
  2. Read the instructions for each part together before starting. Encourage working to be shown.
  3. Mark with the answer sheet. Use the model answers and success criteria as a guide rather than a single right answer.
  4. Record the score, celebrate what went well, then follow the "What's next" suggestion.

Common questions

Who is this worksheet for?

Year 7 students (typically ages 12–13) working on narrative writing. It is pitched at level 2 · standard.

Are the answers included?

Yes. The PDF includes a full answer sheet with model answers and success criteria where there is more than one good answer. You can also view the answers online.

How long does it take?

About 30 minutes for 12 questions. Short, regular sessions work best: two or three a week beats one long one.

Do I need to sign up to download?

No. Click Download Free PDF and it opens immediately. It is free for personal, classroom and homeschool use.

What should we do next?

Try Show, Don't Tell: Revealing Character and Emotion.

Preview

Success TutoringWorksheetsYear 7 · English · Narrative Writing

Story Openings That Hook the Reader

Name

Date

Score /

Your first sentence has one job: make the reader need the second sentence.

Part A: Name the hook

A hook is an opening that grabs the reader and makes them want to read on. Circle the type of hook each opening uses.

1."Don't open that box," Grandpa said, without looking up from his newspaper.
  1. Adialogue
  2. Baction
  3. Ca question
  4. Da surprising statement
  5. Esetting description
2.The ladder wobbled, tipped and crashed into the pool, taking Theo with it.
  1. Adialogue
  2. Baction
  3. Ca question
  4. Da surprising statement
  5. Esetting description
3.Have you ever wondered what your dog does while you are at school?
  1. Adialogue
  2. Baction
  3. Ca question
  4. Da surprising statement
  5. Esetting description
4.On the morning of her twelfth birthday, Priya discovered that she could hear what plants were thinking.
  1. Adialogue
  2. Baction
  3. Ca question
  4. Da surprising statement
  5. Esetting description
5.Fog rolled off the river and swallowed the lamp posts one by one, until the whole street was a smudge of pale light.
  1. Adialogue
  2. Baction
  3. Ca question
  4. Da surprising statement
  5. Esetting description

Part B: Judge the opening

6.Which opening is the least effective?
  1. AThe phone rang at three in the morning.
  2. BI woke up, got out of bed, brushed my teeth and had breakfast.
  3. CNobody in our town had ever seen the old lighthouse lit, until last Tuesday.
  4. D"Run!" Kai yelled.
7.What questions does this opening make the reader ask? "Nobody in our town had ever seen the old lighthouse lit, until last Tuesday." (answer space)
8.Why is "Run!" Kai yelled. an effective opening even though it is only three words? (answer space)

Part C: Fix the opening

Avoid opening with a list of facts about the narrator or with waking up. Drop the reader into the story instead.

9.Revise this flat opening so that it starts with action: "My name is Sam and I am twelve. I live with my family. This is the story of the day I got lost in the forest." (answer space)
10.Revise the same opening so that it starts with dialogue. (answer space)
11.Revise this opening so that it uses setting to create a mood: "It was a scary night." (answer space)
Free worksheets at worksheets.successtutoring.com · © Success Tutoring · Free for personal and classroom use

Preview — the PDF contains the full resource and answer sheet.

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About this resource

Created by
Success Tutoring
Last reviewed
1 October 2026
How it was made
Written by our team

Free to print and share for personal, classroom and homeschool use. Please don't resell. Spotted an error? Let us know.