Today in our Year 5 writing, we had a look at some famous story openings and discussed how they had hooked us in and made us want to read more. We discovered that the best hooks make the readers ask questions; “Who is that?” “Why has that happened?” “Where did they come from?” ” Where did they go?” “WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?!”

Obviously, this is what we want our readers to think when they read our writing, so we explored the vocabulary and tools writers can use to make their readers question and really get into a story.

We came up with a great list of tools such as; dialogue, action, description, rhetorical questions and creating atmosphere. But really, some of the best openings to hook your reader will always leave a little bit of detail out, such as a name, a place or an explanation. The best openings also suggest something is odd, unusual or out of place. An opening may also explain a contrast, between inside and outside, or two different emotions or behaviours.

We worked so hard on hooking our readers today using some great images as stimulus to create our own stories. Have a look at the great dialogue and description we have used. Can you spot those first opening sentences which make you want o read more?!

Well done Year 5, you’ve definitely got us hooked!