The Talking Train

Year 3 · Fantasy

The Talking Train is a free, NAPLAN-aligned fantasy writing resource for Year 3 students. It includes a story starter, complication, tiered vocabulary and scaffolds mapped to the Australian Curriculum (AC9).

Year 3 AC9E3LE05 AC9E3LA06 AC9E3LA10 AC9E3LA11 AC9E3LA04 AC9E3LY06

Supports the Year 3 achievement standard (creating written texts).

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

Lila had always loved trains. This one was unlike any she had ever seen. She stood at the old platform. Her eyes widened in surprise when a steam train came into view. The windows were filled with animals dressed in tiny hats and suits. They all waved at her. The train came to a stop. Lila couldn’t believe her eyes. What kind of adventure was waiting for her on this magical train?

The complication

  1. Lila is invited onto the train but the ticket inspector says she must complete a mysterious task before she can ride.
  2. One of the animals who waved at Lila is hiding a map that leads to a lost carriage, and the map goes missing just as the train prepares to leave.
  3. The steam engine begins to sputter and the animals need Lila’s help to find a rare herb at the next stop to keep the train moving.

Sentence starters

  1. Action opener: Lila climbed the shiny steps onto the carriage and reached for the brass handrail.
  2. After the animals waved, Lila felt her heart beat faster with excitement.

…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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