Resource 3: A story

Teacher resource for planning or adapting to use with pupils

Write this story on the chalkboard, but do not write either the title or the last two sentences (‘He shot – low to the right. What a goal!’) on the board until the very last part of your lesson.

[Run for glory by Mark Northcroft (aged 12 years)]

On and on he ran. His legs felt like churning acid. He could hear his pursuers closing in on him. He felt he could not keep this up much longer but he knew he had to. The footsteps were gaining on him. ‘Faster! Faster!’ he cried. ‘I can’t! I can’t!’ he answered. Somewhere deep inside himself, he found a sudden surge of energy. Now he knew he could do it.

Suddenly a man approached him from out of nowhere. ‘Now or never,’ he thought.

[He shot – low to the right. What a goal!]

Notes

‘His legs felt like churning acid’ – This simile or comparison is not easy to explain but you could say that the man or boy felt pain in his legs as though he had a mixture of chemicals bubbling up in them.

‘pursuers’ – people who are following or chasing someone.

‘surge’ – a sudden, powerful movement.

‘energy’ – liveliness, capacity for activity.

Questions to ask pupils in preparation for writing an alternative beginning and ending to this story

  1. Who do you think ‘he’ is?
  2. Where do you think he is?
  3. What do you think is happening to him?
  4. Who is ‘a man’?
  5. What other people might be part of this story?
  6. What might have happened before this part of the story?
  7. What might happen next?

Resource 2: Questions to use with book readings – first, second and third readings

Resource 4: Sustained silent reading