We have just released Story Starters, our brand new literacy content, to inspire your KS2 children to produce quality writing. Find out how to use them with your class and ignite their imaginations with immersive sound.

What are Story Starters?

After listening to an immersive short story that ends on a cliffhanger, the class puts pen to paper to finish it off. Or, if you prefer, there’s a more focused piece of descriptive writing. Teachers will be provided with a lesson structure, including vocabulary and ideas to stimulate the children’s work. Pick from six different titles!

To The Stone Circle

You and your uncle have found a place to settle with your cattle. You start clearing trees with flint axes – but your uncle chops into his own leg. He’s too weak to walk and wolves are closing in. You need to get him to Stonehenge, a place where people are healed.

Artemis & The Labyrinth

It’s 1300 BC on the island of Crete, and when Eleni quips that she wishes she weren’t your sister, she turns into a mouse. Suspecting divine intervention, you pray to the goddess Artemis. Artemis reveals that to return your sister to human form, you must bring her a snake-shaped necklace – from a labyrinth, guarded by a twelve-headed wolf.

The Village & The Volcano

Safe in the knowledge that it hasn’t exploded for a thousand years, you and your Grandpa head up the volcano which looms over your village. When Grandpa runs out of steam, you carry on alone. As you reach the peak, the ground begins to shake – it’s erupting. How will you get Grandpa down? And how will you warn the village?

Emergency on the Moon

You’re the head gardener on the human settlement you inhabit on the Moon. As you tend to your plants in the bio-dome, something punctures the dome’s skin. It’s a meteor, and it’s not the only one. How will you avoid an emergency on the Moon?

The Secret Tomb

While exploring Egypt’s Valley of the Kings with your uncle, a flash flood sweeps you into an underground tunnel decorated with intricate paintings. The only way is further in. What lies ahead? And will you ever get out?

My Home, The Rainforest

On the banks of the Xingu River in the Amazon rainforest, you and your grandmother are  grinding seed pods to make traditional body paint. After deciding to move on to your next  place to live, you see that the river is drying up. You have to find out why your precious  life-source is disappearing.

“now>press>play provided ready-made inspiration for writing, which I could apply to any  style of writing back in the classroom. It’s such an engaging way for a teacher to ‘get into  a story’ and really helps the children comprehend how to do creative writing.” — Andrew Daitz, KS2 Management, Chisenhale Primary School, London

“It gives you descriptive ideas for your story writing.” — Year 5 pupil, Parkhead Primary School, Gateshead

Website: www.nowpressplay.co.uk

Twitter/X: @nowpressplay

Facebook: www.facebook.com/nowpressplay

Instagram: @nowpressplaycommunity

Thank you,

Oscar Wood, Head of Product