How to Teach Talk for Writing (Free Story Map Template)

Talk for Writing helps children internalise the language of stories before they write their own. The three stages — **imitate, innovate, invent** — turn passive listening into confident writing. Here's how to run it, and a free story map template to make the imitate stage stick.

How to teach Talk for Writing

1. **Choose a short, patterned text.** Pick a model story with a clear beginning, middle and end and repeated language. 2. **Learn it orally.** Tell the story together with actions and a story map so children can retell it without the book. 3. **Map it.** Children draw the key events as simple icons — this is where the story map template below comes in. 4. **Imitate.** Box up the structure and rehearse the language out loud. 5. **Innovate.** Change a character, setting or problem to make a new version. 6. **Invent.** Children write an independent story using the patterns they've absorbed.

How to use the free story map template

Print one map per child. As you retell the model text, children sketch a quick picture for the **beginning, middle and end** and add the key words on the lines. The map becomes their prompt for oral retelling and, later, for writing — no copying from the board needed.

Quick tips

• Keep drawings fast and simple — icons, not art.

• Add actions to tricky connectives ("suddenly", "fortunately").

• Re-use the same map across the week so the structure becomes automatic.

Grab the free Story Map template from the **Assets** box below and print it for your class.