Year 2 · Narrative · WAGOLL
The Lost Key
A short story about finding a mysterious key in the garden. Uses subordinating conjunctions, expanded noun phrases, and a range of sentence types including questions and exclamations. Meets Year 2 expected standard.
One Saturday morningStory opener — sets time.,Comma to mark the subordinate clause. when the sun was just coming upSubordinate clause introduced by 'when'., Mia was digging in the soft, brown soilExpanded noun phrase — two adjectives separated by a comma.. She wanted to plantPast tense + infinitive. some sunflower seeds. SuddenlyAdverb — signals something unexpected is about to happen., her trowel hit something hard. "What's this?"Inverted commas around direct speech (KS1 introduction). she gasped.
Mia bent down andCoordinating conjunction — joins two ideas. brushed the soil away. There,Comma between the two adjectives. in the cold earthPrepositional phrase — tells where., lay a small, golden keyExpanded noun phrase with two adjectives.. It was old andCoordinating conjunction — joins two ideas. the metal was scratched. Who had buried it?Question form. Useful for showing the character's wondering. Why was it here?Another question — builds suspense. Mia held the key tightly becauseSubordinating conjunction — gives the reason. she did notY2 expectation — 'did not' (not 'didn't' here, for clarity). want to drop it.
She showedPast tense verb. the key to her dad. He looked at it carefullyAdverb — describes how he looked.. "This," he said, "is from the old shed. I lost it years ago!" Mia'sApostrophe for singular possession (Mia's face = the face belonging to Mia). face went bright. She had foundPast perfect — something already completed. something specialCloses the story with a satisfying resolution..
All teaching points
- One Saturday morning Story opener — sets time.
- when the sun was just coming up Subordinate clause introduced by 'when'.
- , Comma to mark the subordinate clause.
- the soft, brown soil Expanded noun phrase — two adjectives separated by a comma.
- wanted to plant Past tense + infinitive.
- Suddenly Adverb — signals something unexpected is about to happen.
- What's Apostrophe for contraction (What is → What's).
- ? Question mark for the question.
- "What's this?" Inverted commas around direct speech (KS1 introduction).
- in the cold earth Prepositional phrase — tells where.
- a small, golden key Expanded noun phrase with two adjectives.
- and Coordinating conjunction — joins two ideas.
- Who had buried it? Question form. Useful for showing the character's wondering.
- Why was it here? Another question — builds suspense.
- because Subordinating conjunction — gives the reason.
- did not Y2 expectation — 'did not' (not 'didn't' here, for clarity).
- She showed Past tense verb.
- carefully Adverb — describes how he looked.
- Mia's Apostrophe for singular possession (Mia's face = the face belonging to Mia).
- had found Past perfect — something already completed.
- something special Closes the story with a satisfying resolution.
- Use subordination (when, if, that, because) and coordination (or, and, but)
- Use expanded noun phrases
- Use sentences with different forms (statement, question, exclamation, command)
- Use the past tense correctly
- Use commas to separate items in a list
- Use apostrophes for contracted forms and singular possession
Show the clean version first — read it together as a class. Then toggle Show annotations to reveal the teaching points. Discuss what makes the text work. Children can attempt their own version of the same text type, then return to this annotated model when they revise.