Story openings 8190 Slide 1 of 6

Stories can start in three main ways: Story openings Stories can start in three main ways: dialogue description action Read the following extracts. Which one of the openings most makes you want to read on? Give two reasons for your answer. © www.teachitprimary.co.uk 8190 Slide 1 of 6

Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo Story openings Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo I disappeared on the night before my twelfth birthday. July 28 1988. Only now can I at last tell the whole extraordinary story, the true story. Kensuke made me promise that I would say nothing, nothing at all, until at least ten years had passed. It was almost the last thing he said to me. I promised and because of that, I have had to live out a lie. I could let sleeping lies sleep on, but more than ten years have passed now. I have done school, done college, and had time to think. I owe it to my family and friends, all of whom I have deceived for so long, to tell the truth about my long disappearance, about how I lived to come back from the dead. © www.teachitprimary.co.uk 8190 Slide 1 of 6

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Story openings Little Women by Louisa May Alcott “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” grumbled Jo, lying on the rug. “It’s so dreadful to be poor!” sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress. “I don’t think it’s fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things and other girls nothing at all,” added little Amy, with an injured sniff. “We’ve got father and mother and each other,” said Beth contentedly, from her corner. The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly, “We haven’t got a father, and shall not have him for a long time.” She didn’t say “perhaps never” but each silently added it, thinking of father far away, where the fighting was. © www.teachitprimary.co.uk 8190 Slide 1 of 6

The Coming of the Iron Man by Ted Hughes Story openings The Coming of the Iron Man by Ted Hughes The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff. How far had he walked? Nobody knows. Where had he come from? Nobody knows. How was he made? Nobody knows. Taller than a house, the Iron Man stood at the top of the cliff, on the very brink, in the darkness. The wind sang through his iron fingers. His great iron head, shaped like a dustbin lid but as big as a bedroom, turned to the right, then slowly turned to the left. His iron ears turned, this way, that way. He was hearing the sea. His eyes, like headlamps, glowed white, then red, then infra-red, searching the sea. Never before had the Iron Man seen the sea. © www.teachitprimary.co.uk 8190 Slide 1 of 6

Time to think! Read the beginning of your current reading Story openings Time to think! Read the beginning of your current reading book to your partner. Identify how the writer has created their opening (dialogue, description, action) How effective is it? Do you want to read on? Make notes and feedback to each other. © www.teachitprimary.co.uk 8190 Slide 1 of 6