The Timekeeper's Secret

Year 6 · Mystery

The Timekeeper's Secret is a free, NAPLAN-aligned mystery writing resource for Year 6 students. It includes a story starter, complication, tiered vocabulary and scaffolds mapped to the Australian Curriculum (AC9).

Year 6 AC9E6LE05 AC9E6LA05 AC9E6LA08 AC9E6LA09 AC9E6LA04 AC9E6LY06

Supports the Year 6 achievement standard (creating written texts).

Australian Curriculum content descriptions © ACARA. Writesy is not affiliated with or endorsed by ACARA.

I couldn't believe my eyes. The moment I opened the pocket watch, a soft hum filled the air, and a swirl of glowing blue light began to swirl around my hands. I felt a tug, as if the world was pulling me somewhere, somewhen, else. The dusty old attic, the smell of forgotten books, and the silence of the house all seemed to fade into the background as the watch started glowing brighter. What was happening? Where was this watch taking me?

The complication

  • The pocket watch pulls me through time but drops me in a dangerous moment, and I must find a way back before I am trapped forever.
  • Someone else notices the glowing watch and tries to take it, leaving me to decide whether to protect it or use it to escape.
  • The watch sends me to a time where a small change I make causes an unexpected consequence that threatens my family in the present.

Sentence starters

  1. Suddenly, I felt the tug again and I grabbed the watch as the room around me bent like rippling water.
  2. The attic smelled of dust and old paper, and the glow painted the rafters with a strange, blue light.

…and 1 more with your free account.

What's in the full resource

  • Complications
  • Brainstorming Prompts
  • Vocabulary Support
  • Sentence Starters
  • Dialogue Prompts
  • Writing Challenges
  • Sentence Variety
  • Creative Twists
  • Writing Checklist
  • Reflective Questions
  • Collaborative Writing Ideas
  • Printable teacher and student PDFs

NAPLAN writing criteria this resource targets

Audience Text structure Ideas Character and setting Vocabulary Cohesion Paragraphing Sentence structure Punctuation Spelling

See how Writesy aligns to the NAPLAN writing criteria.

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