creative writing tasks ks3

Descriptive and narrative

Key stage three

Transactional writing

KS3 Creative Writing booklet

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Inspired by Webb's 'Teach Like a Writer', this booklet strategically guides students through different creative tasks. Useful for remote learning.

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kirstyrogerson3

Download info, july 1, 2020.

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• The Best Creative Writing Resources For Teaching Plot And Setting In Ks3 English

10 of the Best Creative Writing Resources for Teaching Plot and Setting in KS3 English

Whether students want to create an epic adventure in a fiery inferno or tense tale in a sleepy town, make sure they create a compelling plot and a fully realised setting with these resources…

Storyboard templates

Whether it’s short stories, comic strips or filmmaking, every tale needs the right structure to be told well.

Having a beginning, middle and end may be a staple of storytelling , but alone it’s not enough, and there are many ways to tell a story.

But however you choose to write yours, one thing is constant – good stories need good structure. These storyboard template resources and activities will help your students develop the skills required to add that foundation to their creative writing.

Check out these resources here.

Year 7 English worksheets

Get to grips with descriptive writing across two lessons with these free Year 7 English worksheets which focus on a piece of text all about the jungle.

Create a spooky atmosphere

Creative writing lessons need to stimulate all of the senses and inspire students. Creative writing in the Gothic genre – spooky stories – offers a wonderful opportunity for this. This is a topic that always manages to enthuse pupils and one of the most exciting aspects is that the outcome is completely different with every group.

Giving students time for thinking and the creation of ideas is essential. This plan provides the stimulus from which a number of sessions can be developed. Subsequent periods can also focus on the development of different writing skills as required by the individual needs of a group.

Get this resource here.

Use The Hobbit to write about tunnels

In this ‘build your own adventure story’ resource students discover new lands, and overcome monsters and other obstacles.

It begins with a passage from JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit , where Bilbo finds himself in a dark cave and meets Gollum for the first time. There are 10 pointers to look at to explore the passage, before student’s begin to write their own story.

It starts in a tunnel, which of course needs describing, and the other side of that they emerge in a fantasy land, which, guess what, also needs describing. They’ll also need to create maps, monsters and much more.

Download it here.

The Place as Character

This interactive resource from Eduqas offers an opening paragraph example of a story that creates a real sense of setting. Students should read through and identify the adjectives used to develop the atmosphere of the place being described.

The second section is where they give it a go themselves, writing out a descriptive passage about a place. But there are lists of adjectives they can click on to insert them into the story should they get stuck for inspiration.

Give it a try here.

Inspiring images and sticky notes

Inspiring images and endless sticky notes might be all you need to get learners producing some truly creative writing. And this lesson is one where students of all abilities (including in mixed ability groups) from Y7 to Y9 are taught engaging creative writing.

Getting students moving around the classroom (especially in classes where behaviour can be challenging) can be daunting but the speed of the task keeps students focused and can result in some fantastic work being produced without too much teacher talk or instruction needed.

This is very much a facilitation of learning and creating for the teacher. You do need a number of resources (and one way to differentiate this lesson thoroughly is to decide exactly which student will have each picture), but for all the coloured sticky notes required, it is well worth the effort.

Download this free lesson plan here.

Playing with structure

This excellent resource on Structure features sections about narrative structures, structure of stories, how you can play with structure, opening and closing a story and how narrative point of view can affect the how you structure the plot.

Dig in to all this here.

Model texts for settings

If you’re after example texts for different settings then head to Literary Wagoll where you’ll find descriptions of an alien world, a fairground, a tree house, a thunderstorm and various others.

Check out all these and more here.

Plot elements

This short and sweet resource is a handy reminder of what the ‘plot’ actually is (and how it can differ from how you choose to tell your story), and it also includes a fun little exercise based on quickly coming up with a plot based on a random word.

You’ll find it here.

Plot advice

This post features an excerpt from the book What’s the Story? Building Blocks for Fiction Writing , and builds on the idea of what a plot is.

It also includes a short list of traditional plot types, and tips for building a compelling plot, like using momentum, creating stakes and giving the characters goals and motives.

Give it a look here.

Browse more  English games KS3 ideas and more creative writing prompts .

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Articles on Creative writing

Displaying 1 - 20 of 46 articles.

UK’s creative industries bring in more revenue than cars, oil and gas – so why is arts education facing cuts?

Adam Behr , Newcastle University

An ode to the social realism of ‘boring’ lyrics – from The Kinks to The Streets

Glenn Fosbraey , University of Winchester

How to write a love song – three tips for beginners from a songwriting expert

‘ Cli-fi ’ might not save the world, but writing it could help with your  eco-anxiety

Rachel Hennessy , The University of Melbourne ; Alex Cothren , Flinders University , and Amy T Matthews , Flinders University

I research the therapeutic qualities of writing about art – here are three steps for trying it yourself

Patrick Wright , The Open University

Creative writing can help improve one’s health: a South African study shows how

Dawn Garisch , University of Cape Town and Steve Reid , University of Cape Town

Boxing empowered me to express my trauma – now, I help other abuse survivors do the same, combining it with creative writing

Donna Lyon , The University of Melbourne

How a poet and professor promotes racial understanding with lessons from history

Quraysh Ali Lansana , Oklahoma State University

How to understand your grief through writing

Catherine Cole , Liverpool John Moores University

Write what you know: the COVID experience is a rich resource for year 12 English exams

Janet Dutton , Macquarie University

5 ways to teach the link between grammar and imagination for better creative writing

Brett Healey , Curtin University

Writing can improve mental health – here’s how

Christina Thatcher , Cardiff Metropolitan University

In an AI world we need to teach students how to work with robot writers

Lucinda McKnight , Deakin University

To succeed in an AI world, students must learn the human traits of writing

‘Lit therapy’ in the classroom: writing about trauma can be valuable, if done right

Yannick Thoraval , RMIT University

Too many adjectives, not enough ideas: how NAPLAN forces us to teach bad writing

What my students taught me about reading: old books hold new insights for the digital generation

Kate Flaherty , Australian National University

Life sentences – what creative writing by prisoners tells us about the inside

Dr Michael X. Savvas , Flinders University

Frozen in time, the casts of Indigenous Australians who performed in ‘human zoos’ are chilling

Katherine Johnson , University of Tasmania

‘I’m in another world’: writing without rules lets kids find their voice, just like professional authors

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Top contributors

Visiting Fellow, Centre for Cultural and Creative Research, University of Canberra, University of Canberra

Adjunct assistant professor, University of New England

Associate professor, Deakin University

Associate Professor in Media, University of Notre Dame Australia

PhD Student, School of Education, Curtin University

Executive Dean (interim) Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra

Lecturer in Creative Writing, University of Southern Queensland

Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, University of Stirling

Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Winchester

Dean of Research (Creative), University of South Australia

Honorary Associate in Creative Writing, The Open University

Lecturer of English, University of Liverpool

Professor of Creative Arts, Griffith University

Honorary Professor, The University of Queensland

Associate Professor. Associate Director of the Creative Lab., Queensland University of Technology

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CLASS 2024 - ENGLISH TRANSITION WORKBOOK - YEAR 6 into 7

Subject: English

Age range: 7-11

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

10 June 2024

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A Creative Writing degree will let you flex your storytelling abilities and study the work of literary legends.Our university rankings for Creative Writing include Scriptwriting and Poetry Writing.

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Creative writing tips

This helpful checklist or set of tips guides KS3-4 students through some of the fundamental elements of creative writing, including careful planning, as well as how to start and end a story. There is also guidance on how to use flashbacks and 'zooming in' to make their story more engaging for the reader. 

It includes a list of techniques to help students: 

Features to use:

adjectives, noun phrases, alliteration, imagery, triples, adverbs, verbs, motifs (recurring symbols), the senses.

An extract from the resource: 

Try a number of places where you can ‘zoom’ in on the characters, the setting or important items. Have close-ups focusing on important details so the reader will notice them and realise they are important as they reveal new or vital ‘clues’ to help the story or description move on.

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