Year 3 · Narrative · WAGOLL
The Stone Keeper
A short story about a child who finds an unusual stone in the woods. Uses fronted adverbials, prepositional phrases, conjunctions, paragraphing for sequence, and direct speech. Meets Year 3 expected standard.
Deep in the heart of Hollow WoodFronted adverbial of place — tells the reader WHERE.,Comma after the fronted adverbial. where the trees grew so close togetherSubordinate clause — adds detail about the place. thatConjunction — links cause and effect. the sunlight had to fight its way through, Tom was searching for treasure. He had been lookingPast perfect progressive — shows ongoing action before now. for nearly an hour. His knees were muddy. His hands were cold. Still, he would not give upBuilds character — shows determination..
SuddenlyFronted adverbial — signals a change of pace., his fingers brushed against something smooth. He scraped the dirt away. Beneath the soilFronted adverbial of place. lay a stoneInverted sentence structure — emphasises the stone. unlike any he had ever seenSubordinate clause adds richness.. It was perfectly roundAdverb + adjective — describes precisely., smaller than his fist, and it gleamed like polished glassSimile — comparison using 'like'..
"What are you?"Inverted commas around direct speech. Tom whisperedReporting clause — tells who is speaking and how.. The stone was warm in his hand, even thoughSubordinating conjunction — shows contrast. the woods were cold. As he looked at it more carefullySubordinate clause as a fronted adverbial., he noticed tiny markingsExpanded noun phrase. around the edge. They looked almost like writing —Dash — adds extra information for emphasis. but writing in a language no one alive could readMysterious ending — leaves the reader curious..
All teaching points
- Deep in the heart of Hollow Wood Fronted adverbial of place — tells the reader WHERE.
- , Comma after the fronted adverbial.
- where the trees grew so close together Subordinate clause — adds detail about the place.
- that Conjunction — links cause and effect.
- Hollow Wood Capital letters — proper noun for the wood's name.
- had been looking Past perfect progressive — shows ongoing action before now.
- Still, he would not give up Builds character — shows determination.
- Suddenly Fronted adverbial — signals a change of pace.
- Beneath the soil Fronted adverbial of place.
- lay a stone Inverted sentence structure — emphasises the stone.
- unlike any he had ever seen Subordinate clause adds richness.
- perfectly round Adverb + adjective — describes precisely.
- like polished glass Simile — comparison using 'like'.
- "What are you?" Inverted commas around direct speech.
- Tom whispered Reporting clause — tells who is speaking and how.
- even though Subordinating conjunction — shows contrast.
- As he looked at it more carefully Subordinate clause as a fronted adverbial.
- tiny markings Expanded noun phrase.
- — Dash — adds extra information for emphasis.
- no one alive could read Mysterious ending — leaves the reader curious.
- Use conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to express time, place and cause
- Use fronted adverbials with commas
- Use the present perfect form of verbs
- Use inverted commas to punctuate direct speech
- Organise paragraphs around a theme
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.