StoryForge Ed
Writing lessons for Irish primary classrooms.
Every lesson ends with the child writing something. Built by a working children's author who spent twelve years teaching in Irish primary schools.
Most literacy software leaves writing out
Writing cannot be auto-marked, so most literacy software avoids it. Children end up practising recognising things: picking the right word, spotting the right answer, instead of making something of their own.
StoryForge Ed is built the other way round. Every lesson ends with the child writing something, and everything before that exists to get them ready to do it.
It also names things. One new term per lesson, checked against every similar term already taught, so a child can say what they did, not just do it. And it is Irish: mapped to the Irish primary curriculum, with Irish places and Irish examples, and a spot in every pack for the teacher to make it local.
What a lesson looks like
Eleven steps, the same shape every time.
- 1ObjectiveWhat I will be able to do by the end.
- 2TermThe one new word, defined.
- 3LearnFour short chunks, one idea each.
- 4SourceA real extract, with questions to talk about aloud.
- 5QuestionsSix multiple choice, each wrong option explained.
- 6OrderingThree sequencing activities.
- 7Spot the ProblemA passage with a deliberate fault to find.
- 8ClozeDrag words from a bank into the gaps.
- 9ExercisesFour short pieces of writing.
- 10WriteThe submission, with a starter line.
- 11SummaryThe term restated, four bullets, one golden sentence.
The Golden Leaf. Each pack closes with a quest that puts everything from the pack into one real piece: a report someone could publish, a set of instructions someone could follow, a letter with a real recipient.
Six principles
How it's organised
Each course is split into packs, and each pack is split into lessons. A pack builds towards its own Golden Leaf, the piece of writing that pulls everything in it together.
The theme changes from pack to pack, but the spine underneath does not. In History, lesson four of any pack is always the evidence lesson. In English, lesson three of any pack is always the sentence-structure lesson. Themed on the outside, systematic on the inside.
What it covers
Covers six elements of the Primary Language Curriculum across eight genres: comprehension, vocabulary, conventions of print and sentence structure, purpose and genre and voice, response and author's intent, and the writing process.
Covers the six skills named under working as an historian, across the strand units of the primary History curriculum.
Other subjects and courses are in development and will be added soon.
Who made it
James Hannon taught in Irish primary classrooms for twelve years, fourth class and sixth class, before leaving to write full time. He is the author of The Ballinacrack Chronicles, a middle-grade adventure series for ages eight to twelve, twice shortlisted for the CAP Award. He runs author visits and workshops in schools and libraries across the midlands.
Most educational content is written either by people who can teach or by people who can write. These lessons are written by someone who does both, for the exact age group he writes novels for.
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