Years 5 and 6 English · Key Stage 2 · Writing – composition

Years 5 and 6 drafting stories, grammar choices and précis

Drafting is where the plan turns into sentences. In Years 5 and 6, children choose grammar and vocabulary on purpose, understanding that different choices change meaning; they write narratives that describe settings, characters and atmosphere and use dialogue to show character and move the story on; and they learn to précis, which means to shorten a longer passage while keeping its main points.

Drafting: grammar, narrative and précis, explained

The first idea is that grammar and vocabulary are choices. A writer has several ways to say almost anything, and each version changes the meaning or the effect. “The man walked” and “the man trudged” tell a different story. A relative clause (“the dog, which had been barking all night, finally slept”) adds information without a new sentence. Modal verbs and adverbs such as might, surely or perhaps show how certain the writer is. A short sentence after a long one can create tension. Active and passive forms hide or reveal who did something: “The window was broken” leaves out who broke it, and that can be the point.

For narrative, children learn to describe settings, characters and atmosphere. “Show, don’t tell” is the usual advice. Instead of “She was nervous”, a writer might describe her bitten nails and the clock she keeps checking. Settings are built from selected details that appeal to the senses, and weather or light often reflects the mood. Children choose precise nouns and verbs before piling on adjectives, and they use comparisons such as similes and metaphors sparingly. One strong detail often does more than five weak ones.

Dialogue is another focus, and the curriculum asks for it to be integrated to convey character and advance the action. Speech should not just report small talk. What a character says, and how they say it, shows who they are: a clipped answer feels different from a rambling one. It can also reveal information, create conflict or change the direction of the story. Children use inverted commas correctly, start a new line for a new speaker and mix speech with action, so that readers know who is talking and what they are doing.

The third part is the précis. A précis is a shorter version of a longer passage that keeps the main points in the original order, written in your child’s own words. Children learn to read for the main idea, mark the key information, cut examples, repeated points and minor details, and then write it up in connected sentences, often within a word limit. It is a useful skill for note-taking, summarising reading and writing in other subjects, such as history and science. It is not copying out chosen sentences, and it should not add your child’s own opinion.

All of this is drafting, so it is meant to be improved. Children are encouraged to write in a way that is not over-polished at first, to reread as they go, to leave a gap where the right word will not come and to come back. The editing work that follows, covered in a separate topic, is where choices are checked and refined.

Words your child will hear

Précis: A shortened version of a longer passage that keeps the main points in your own words.
Relative clause: A clause that adds information about a noun, beginning with who, which, that, whose, where or when.
Atmosphere: The mood or feeling of a scene, such as tense, calm or mysterious.
Show, don’t tell: Letting readers work out a feeling from what a character does or what is described, instead of stating it.
Dialogue: The words characters say to each other in a story.
Active and passive: “The dog broke the window” is active; “the window was broken by the dog” is passive.
Simile: A comparison using like or as, such as “as quiet as a mouse”.

What the National Curriculum says

In Years 5 and 6, pupils should be taught to:

Draft and write by selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning
Draft and write narratives by describing settings, characters and atmosphere and integrating dialogue to convey character and advance the action
Draft and write by précising longer passages

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: writing a précis

Précis this passage in about 30 words: “On Saturday morning the whole village gathered on the green for the annual scarecrow festival. Forty-two scarecrows had been made, some from old clothes stuffed with straw, others from wire and recycled plastic. The youngest entrant, six-year-old Maya, had dressed hers in a spacesuit made of foil. Judges walked slowly along the rows, taking notes, before awarding first prize to a scarecrow shaped like a giant sunflower. Afterwards, everyone shared tea and cake, and the festival raised over two hundred pounds for the village hall roof.”

Read it all the way through and ask what it is mostly about. The answer is a village scarecrow festival, who won and what the event achieved.
Underline the key information: a village scarecrow festival, forty-two scarecrows, a scarecrow shaped like a giant sunflower won first prize, over two hundred pounds raised for the village hall roof.
Cross out detail that is interesting but not essential: the materials, Maya and her spacesuit, the judges taking notes, the tea and cake.
Rewrite the remaining points in your own words and in the same order, joining them into smooth sentences.
Check the length (29 words, close to the target), that nothing has changed meaning and that no opinion has crept in, such as “a lovely festival”.

At the annual village scarecrow festival, forty-two scarecrows were entered. A sunflower-shaped scarecrow won first prize, and the event raised over two hundred pounds for the village hall roof.

Common mistakes and how to help

Believing more adjectives always make better description

Children are told to describe, and “big, scary, dark, old house” feels like description.

What helps: Encourage a stronger noun or verb instead: “a crumbling mansion” or “the door groaned”. Then pick the one detail a reader would remember.

Writing dialogue as everyday chat, with “said” and an adverb on every line

Children copy how people really talk and think speech needs a label each time.

What helps: Ask what each line does for the story. Does it show character, give information or create tension? If not, cut it. Mix speech with action so it is clear who is speaking.

Treating a précis as copying out the important sentences

It looks like the quickest way to shorten, and the original sentences feel safe.

What helps: Cover the original after underlining the key points, then write from memory in your own words. Compare with the text afterwards.

Thinking more complex grammar is always better

Children are taught new structures such as relative clauses and want to show they can use them.

What helps: Explain that grammar is chosen for effect. Ask, “What does this sentence need to do?” A short plain sentence is often the best choice after a long one.

How to help at home

Describe a place with all five senses. On a walk, in the garden or in a shop, ask your child to notice one detail for each sense they can (sight, sound, smell, touch and, where it is safe, taste) and then write a short description. Ask what mood the details create.
Say it in twenty words. After a film, a match or a chapter of a book, ask for a retelling in twenty words or fewer. Which parts did your child decide to keep and which to leave out?
Listen for how people speak. Notice how different family members speak, and ask your child to write a few lines of dialogue that show who is talking without saying their name.
Swap a word and see what changes. Take a sentence and change one verb or add a modal word, such as “might” or “will”. Talk about how the meaning shifts.
Read aloud and notice mood. When reading a story together, stop at a descriptive passage and ask what feeling the author creates and which words do it.

Builds on

Years 3 and 4: Planning by learning from model texts
Years 3 and 4: Drafting sentences, paragraphs and stories
Years 3 and 4: Editing, proofreading and reading aloud

Leads on to

Key Stage 3: Writing for different purposes
Key Stage 3: Organising and rhetorical devices
Key Stage 3: Drafting, editing and proofreading