200 Words or Fewer: Story Coordinates

A fantastic resource that specifically develops:
-creativity
-writing speed
-enjoying writing
-enjoying stories
-just writing, rather than overthinking / worrying about grammar, vocab choice etc

Recommended for:
-reluctant writers (My Y5/Y6 boys love doing 200 Words each week)
-slow writers
-‘can’t get started’ writers
-children who don’t read very much at home / have limited experience of stories

How does it work?
There are 4 Story Coordinate cards in each set: Character, Situation, Object and Place. Pupils randomly choose a coordinate from each card, giving you four very random story elements (E.g. a mysterious shadow, a hilarious accident, a tiny sword, behind a waterfall.)
Set a time limit (my Y5/6 like to be given 10 minutes for this.) Within that time limit, pupils write a short story (or a part of a story) which includes as many of the 4 items as possible.
It is important to stress to your pupils that, unlike writing lessons, this task is not about using amazing vocabulary/ broad range of punctuation / your neatest handwriting; it is about being creative, letting go and having fun.

What’s incuded?
-Notebook document (with an example-page to get you started)
-4 x Character cards
-4 x Situation cards
-4 x Object cards
-4 x Place cards