The Hidden Elevator

Year 5

The Hidden Elevator is a free, NAPLAN-aligned writing resource for Year 5 students. It includes a story starter, complication, tiered vocabulary and scaffolds mapped to the Australian Curriculum (AC9).

Year 5 AC9E5LE05 AC9E5LA05 AC9E5LA08 AC9E5LA09 AC9E5LA04 AC9E5LY06

Supports the Year 5 achievement standard (creating written texts).

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

Eli had heard the stories about the old shopping centre, the kind of place that used to be bustling with life but now sat abandoned, collecting dust and forgotten memories. On his way home from school, he ventured in, driven by curiosity. His footsteps echoed through the empty halls until he stumbled upon something strange. There, in the dim light, stood an elevator, glowing with a strange golden energy. The doors were slightly open, as though inviting him in. Without thinking twice, Eli stepped forward, his heart racing as he stared into the mysterious light coming from within.

The complication

  • The golden elevator transports Eli to a different time or place inside the shopping centre, and he cannot find the buttons to return.
  • Someone else arrives, a mysterious keeper who claims the elevator belongs to them and challenges Eli to prove why he should leave with what he found.
  • The elevator begins to drain the light from the centre, making the rooms darker and slowing Eli down as he tries to get out before he becomes trapped.

Sentence starters

  1. Suddenly Eli felt the floor hum beneath his trainers and the elevator light seemed to reach for him.
  2. Eli pushed open the doors and a warm, metallic scent washed over him as silence folded into an uneasy quiet.

…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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