Exploring narrative, character and language across connected texts: Andrea Rowe author study

Years 1–2 English Health and Physical Education

Deepen students' understanding of author craft as they explore how character, setting, narrative structure and descriptive language develop across three connected picture books, before creating an imaginative story of their own.

Three connected mentor texts Reusable teaching sequence Rich imaginative assessment

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Australian Curriculum NSW Syllabus VIC Curriculum

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What students will learn

This unit helps students deepen their understanding of narrative by revisiting three connected mentor texts, exploring how authors develop character, setting and language choices before applying these understandings in their own imaginative writing.

📚

Compare connected texts

Read three connected picture books to recognise recurring themes, settings, characters and authorial choices across an author's work.

👧

Analyse character development

Explore how characters are developed through actions, dialogue, description and illustrations across multiple texts.

🏞️

Explore setting and narrative

Investigate how setting shapes events and contributes to the development of narrative across connected stories.

✨

Investigate author craft

Notice how descriptive language, noun groups, verb groups, alliteration and onomatopoeia help create meaning and engage readers.

💬

Respond thoughtfully to literature

Discuss, compare and justify ideas using evidence from multiple texts while developing vocabulary and literary understanding.

✏️

Create an imaginative narrative

Apply understanding of narrative, character and language choices to write an original story inspired by the mentor texts.

A sequenced approach to literacy learning

This unit reflects PETAA's approach to literacy teaching: building shared knowledge, revisiting connected mentor texts, making narrative and language choices visible, and supporting students to apply their learning in independent imaginative writing.

🌊

STEP 1

Build
context

→

📚

STEP 2

Read &
compare

→

👧

STEP 3

Explore character
& setting

→

✨

STEP 4

Study narrative
& language

→

✏️

STEP 5

Plan &
create

Inside this teaching unit

The unit is designed as a complete instructional resource, supporting teachers to explore connected mentor texts, explicitly teach narrative and language choices, and guide students towards confident imaginative writing informed by author craft.

Teach across connected texts

Explore three Andrea Rowe mentor texts through a coherent teaching sequence that helps students recognise recurring themes, characters, settings and authorial choices.

Develop deep literary understanding

Shared reading, discussion and comparison activities support students to analyse character development, setting, narrative structure and author purpose across multiple texts.

Explicitly teach language choices

Investigate descriptive language, noun groups, verb groups, alliteration and onomatopoeia to understand how authors create vivid and engaging narratives.

Build confident young writers

Model planning, drafting and revising as students apply what they have noticed about author craft to their own imaginative writing.

Additional professional resources

Includes PowerPoint presentations, editable story maps, character profile templates, grammar articles, an Andrea Rowe webinar and the companion Jetty Jumping teaching unit.

Authentic imaginative assessment

Students demonstrate their understanding by creating an original narrative that draws on the author's approaches to character, setting and language while developing their own writer's voice.

Rich assessment task

Students bring together their learning across three connected mentor texts by creating an original narrative set in Andrea Rowe's coastal story world.

🎯

Students create and illustrate a short story set in the same coastal town, introducing a new friend who faces a personal challenge and finds a way forward.

Their finished narrative:

introduces an original character with a clear personality, feelings, strengths and challenge
develops a coastal setting inspired by the connected mentor texts
organises events through an orientation, complication and resolution
uses descriptive language and illustrations to bring characters, settings and key moments to life

👧

Character development

Create a new friend with a distinctive appearance, personality, feelings, strengths and personal challenge.

🌊

Setting

Design and describe a location that belongs within the coastal world shared across the three mentor texts.

🗺️

Narrative structure

Plan and compose a coherent orientation, complication and resolution that show how the character responds to a challenge.

✨

Language and illustration

Use noun groups, verb groups, alliteration, onomatopoeia and illustrations to create vivid characters, actions and events.

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Download the complete teaching unit

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