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Descriptosaurus Story Writing: Language in Action for Ages 5–9 book cover

2nd Edition

Descriptosaurus Story Writing Language in Action for Ages 5–9

By Alison Wilcox, Adam Bushnell Copyright 2027
326 Pages 12 Color Illustrations
by Routledge

Now in full colour, the new edition of the bestselling Descriptosaurus Story Writing is a must-have resource for primary classrooms. Fully updated to reflect the DfE Writing Framework, it equips children aged 5–9 with the tools to expand their descriptive vocabulary and understand how to construct compelling narrative texts. Packed with practical guidance, this book provides essential... Read more

Part 1:Settings
1. Woods, forests and rainforests
2. Hills and mountains
3. Sea and Oceans
4. Islands and Beaches
5. Caves
6. Cold climates
7. Castles
8. Modern Street
9. Sounds
10. Smells
11. Touch
12. Sun
13. Wind
14. Rain
15. Thunder and lightning

Part 2: Characters
16. Characters’ appearance
17. Characters (heroes) – personality
18. Characters (heroes) – animals
19. Characters (villains) – personality
20. Characters (villains) – animals
21. Defeating a villain
22. Dialogue

Part 3: Resources for 'Language in Action'
23. ‘The Ninjabread Girl’
24. Modelled sentences
25. Innovating sentence model
26. Coordination and subordination
27. ‘Captain Moody and his pirate crew’
28. Modelled sentences
29. Innovating sentence model
30. Coordination and subordination
31. ‘Ruby Red’
32. Modelled sentences
33. Innovating sentence model
34. Coordination and subordination
35. ‘Jack and the Crystal Fang’
36. Modelled sentences
37. Innovating sentence model
38. Coordination and subordination

Part 4: Mastering Sentence Construction Through Story Writing
39. Belle the Dog and Jet the Tortoise
40. Modelled sentences
41. Using Descriptosaurus to collect vocabulary
42. Grammar Tools
43. The Chunking Method
44. Sentence imitation
45. Sentence Expansion
46. Sentence Combining
47. Poetry Combining
48. AI & Descriptosaurus

Appendix
1. Plot Outline Template
2. Scene Outline Template
3. Collecting Descriptive Words and Phrases Template
4. Sentence Parts and Structure Template
5. Stretching a Sentence Template
6. Experimenting with Vocabulary and Sentences Template
7. AI resource for the Land of Nod by RL Stevenson
8. AI generated fact sheets for pets
9. AI generated similes for a dog

Biography

Alison Wilcox is the creator of Descriptosaurus, a resource designed to scaffold and enhance children’s creative writing. Developed for her own teaching, it led to the first book’s publication in 2009. Alison now researches, writes, collaborates with schools and conducts workshops, inspiring educators and students through innovative educational practices.

Adam Bushnell is a former primary school teacher and author of over fifty books spanning fiction and academia. He delivers writing workshops for children in the UK and internationally, offers CPD for schools and gives keynote speeches at conferences about reading and writing in education.

"I’ve loved every version of Descriptosaurus, and this Story Writing edition is no exception. It breaks story writing into clear, child-friendly steps, packed with rich vocabulary, sentence models and ready-to-lift examples. Perfect for KS1 and lower KS2, it supports planning, modelling and scaffolding without killing creativity. A genuine time-saving saviour for busy teachers and a resource pupils actually love to use."

Andrew Jennings, author of Vocabulary Ninja.

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