Your Year 4 students are ready to write stories with real craft — they just need the moves to get them on the page. This unit takes them from “I don’t know what to write” to a polished, published narrative in 15 lessons, finishing with a final story that demonstrates genuine growth as a writer.

Fifteen 50-60 minute lessons across three weeks. A consistent five-part lesson structure every day: Hook · Mini-Lesson · Worksheet Preview · Your Turn · Share & Close. Speaker notes on every slide. Open Monday morning and teach.

Note: This unit is aligned to the Australian Curriculum v9.0 and is suitable for Year 4 teachers across all Australian states and territories — NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA, NT, ACT, and TAS.

WHAT’S INCLUDED
✓ 140 editable lesson slides — 15 lessons with detailed teacher speaker notes on every slide (PPTX + PDF)
✓ What Makes a Story Strong? — lesson 1 story hunt and reflection worksheet
✓ Story Mountain Map — students map all five parts in the mentor narrative before planning their own
✓ Character Build Sheet — build a character with an outer want, inner fear, and three showing-traits
✓ Story Mountain Planner — full plot plan with cause-and-effect build up before drafting
✓ Try Three Openings — students write three hook strategies for the same story, then choose the strongest
✓ Peer Feedback Sheet — structured feedback using the rubric and I noticed / I wonder / I suggest frames
✓ 5-criteria narrative rubric — 1 Beginning / 2 Developing / 3 Meeting / 4 Extending · /20 total
✓ 16-page unit overview — cover page and one lesson per page with AC codes, materials, differentiation, and teacher tips
✓ 2-page summative task — student task brief, planning space, before-you-submit checklist (300–500 words), and self-assessment
✓ Editable parent letter — introduces the unit, explains the craft skills, and includes publishing celebration (DOCX)
✓ Product cover JPG

THE STORY MOUNTAIN FRAMEWORK
Every lesson is built around the same five-part story mountain — Setup, Build Up, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution. Students map it in the mentor narrative in Week 1, plan their own in Week 2, and publish in Week 3. The rubric, worksheets, peer feedback sheet, and summative task all reference the same five criteria — so students are never assessed on something they haven’t practised.