Year 4 'Jabberwocky': narrative writing worksheet

“Finding the plot clues” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 4 English unit “'Jabberwocky': narrative writing”, for children aged 8 to 9, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 24 to 26 of the year, 13 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Finding the plot clues

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 4 · English · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can find the real words that tell the plot of a poem full of nonsense.

A Look back3 min

1.
The dog barked it heard a noise.
becauseunderquickly
2.
Which sentence puts the comma in the right place?
After lunch, we played outside.After lunch we, played outside.After, lunch we played outside.
3.
Which sentence writes the speech correctly?
Mia said, “Let's go.”Mia said “Let's go.”Mia, said “Let's go.”

B Watch me, then you4 min

Read this made-up mini story: 'The glorb crept past the mossy wall. Ada spotted it and grabbed her torch. At the old gate, the glorb vanished.'

Watch me

Glorb is a nonsense word, but crept, grabbed and vanished are real.

Those real words tell us what happens.

The events in order: crept, grabbed, then vanished.

Now you

1.
In this made-up text, 'Ali laughed when the snorf ran off. Before that, the snorf had hidden under his bed.' Which happened first?
The snorf hid under Ali's bed.Ali laughed.The snorf ran off.
2.
In this made-up text, 'Pim waved at the zib. The zib hopped onto the wall. Pim ran home for tea.' Which word is the nonsense word?
wavedzibwallhome

C Your turn8 min

Find the real words in each made-up text. They tell you what happens.

A misty forest path with a tall old tree and a wooden signpost

1.
Put each word in the right column: warned, plimmer, river, gribbet.
warnedplimmerrivergribbet
Real English word Made-up nonsense word
2.
A made-up text says: 'The gribbet hopped onto the wall, then tumbled off.' What happened?
The gribbet fell off the wall.The gribbet was sold at a shop.The gribbet went to sleep.
3.
A made-up story says: 'Mia ran home to tell her gran after she found the ploof in the hedge. Earlier, she heard a strange noise and then saw the ploof roll down the hill.' Number the events 1 to 4.
1. Mia ran home to tell her gran.
2. Mia found the ploof in the hedge.
3. Mia heard a strange noise.
4. The ploof rolled down the hill.
4.
Write one sentence that sums up the story in c3. Use real words only.

Say it out loud: What did you notice about the real words in each row? Which ones told you what happened?

D Spot the mistake3 min

A dark forest with a stone path leading to a small wooden gate

Ola says: “Jabberwocky has no story because all its words are made up.”

1.
A line from Jabberwocky says: 'He took his vorpal sword in hand.' Is Ola right?
Yes, the poem has no story.No, real words still show a story.

E Think deeper4 min

1.
Make up one nonsense word. Write a sentence where real words still show what happens. Read it to your grown-up and say what it means.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Finding the plot clues · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. because your child picked a word that does not join two ideas. Ask: which word tells us why the dog barked?

2. After lunch, we played outside. your child put the comma in the middle of the phrase. A comma goes after the opening words that tell when, before the main sentence starts.

3. Mia said, “Let's go.” your child missed the comma after said or put one in the wrong place. Ask: where does the comma sit before the speech marks?

B

1. The snorf hid under Ali's bed. your child chose the first event named in the text. Ask: which words tell you what happened before?

2. zib your child picked a real word. Ask: is this word in a dictionary? If not, it is the nonsense word.

C

1. Real English word: warned, river · Made-up nonsense word: plimmer, gribbet your child put a made-up word with the real ones. Ask: would you find this word in a dictionary? Sound it out and see if it means anything.

2. The gribbet fell off the wall. your child picked a guess that the text never says. Ask: which words in the sentence tell what the gribbet did last?

3. 1 Mia heard a strange noise. · 2 The ploof rolled down the hill. · 3 Mia found the ploof in the hedge. · 4 Mia ran home to tell her gran. your child followed the order the sentences are written in. Ask: which words tell you what happened earlier?

4. Look for: One sentence that names Mia and at least one event from the story, with no made-up word. your child copied a whole event list. Ask: can you cut it down to the main thing that happened?

D

1. No, real words still show a story. your child thinks nonsense words wipe out the plot. Ask: in the line, which real words tell you what he did?

E

1. Look for: A sentence with one made-up word and real words that show an action or event.

Words to use

Say“Which real words tell you what happens? Show me one.”

Instead of“It's all nonsense, so don't bother trying to follow it.”

After the sheet

Write three events from a bedtime story on scrap paper, mix them up, and have your child put them in order. Then swap one word in each for a made-up word and ask which real words still tell the story.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

12 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Words for a dark forest(with a plan)
Planning a dark opening(with a plan)
Opening a Jabberwocky story(with a plan)
Planning the build-up(with a plan)
Building the Tension(with a plan)
Editing a Story Opening(with a plan)
Planning the big moment(with a plan)
Building the Climax(with a plan)
Planning the Ending(with a plan)
Tying up the ending(with a plan)
Editing the ending(with a plan)
Publishing your story(with a plan)

Every Year 4 English worksheet

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