1. RECOUNTS
Aim:
To produce an interesting recount of a past event of your choice.
Learning outcome:
To understand the purpose and structure of a recount. To use this knowledge and apply it to own work.

2. Purpose
To retell an event written as a series of events in the order of which they happen so that it entertains or informs.

3. What’s a recount?
“a recount is a piece of text that retells the past, usually in the order of which they happened. The purpose of the recount is to give the audience a description of what occurred and when it occurred. Recounts are written in the past tense.”

4. Structure Orientation – Who, Where and When
Introductory paragraph tells who, what, when
E.g. – It was half past eight and the fog had not lifted when the accident happened. Mum was driving extra slow that day and I remember looking out the misty window to the old clock tower, wondering if I would ever make it to the exam on time…

5. Structure Sequence of events – Chronological order of events
E.g. – I remember looking down at my messy notes, thinking it was too late. The day before I had studied so hard but at that moment it was as if I had never seen a book before. The letters began to lift off the page and they started to dance around in the air, mocking me, laughing at my despair…

6. Structure
Re-orientation (optional) – round-off the sequence of events stating personal comment or response to the story. For example, Why was this event important to you? What did it mean to you? Including this makes the recount more interesting to the reader.
Conclusion – Makes comments about the events and often predicts future outcomes.

7. Language Features Action verbs to refer to events
E.g. I ran, I jumped, I screamed, I slept, etc.
Past tense to locate events in the speaker’s time
E.g. I got up, brushed my teeth, had a quick coffee and set-up camp in front of the telly to watch the Socceroos make history…

8. Language Features
Adjectives to add details – This is important as your language has to be descriptive and rich in detail to bring the recount to life!
Conjunctions to join sentences
E.g. And, but, after, because, when
Connectives to sequence events
E.g. – Firstly, then, soon afterwards, Finally, etc.

9. Language Features Paragraphs topic sentences
When I woke that morning I knew that something bad was going to happen.
Time words to show it has already happened
In, On, During, Yesterday, Long ago….
When I was in New York…
After we ate, we went shopping…
Nouns and pronouns for people, places, animals.

10. Language Features Adverbs give us more information about the verb.
Although she walked slowly…
She laughed joyfully…
I walked as quickly as I could…

11. Language Features Adjectives give us more information about the noun.
Her hair was blonde, long and very pretty…
The puppy was just adorable with his fluffy, golden fur and his cute button-nose.
Direct Speech- write what people say in “Speech Marks”.

12. Forms / examples that use the recount structure
Recounts can be
Personal
Imaginative
Factual
Can be about….
Excursions
Eye witness accounts
Experiments
Historical texts
Short stories
Television programs
Poetry
Fables and myths
Autobiographies
Films/ Videos
Documentaries
Diaries/ Journals
Timelines, flow charts
Letters
Newspaper reports
Picture books

13. Hints on how to write an awesome recount!
Find a genuinely interesting topic
Control your sentences and recount structure to support your interesting topic with interesting word, sentences and structural choices.
E.g. – use similes, analogies, metaphors and images to bring your piece to life and give it pace and engagement.

14. Homework
Work on your recount by using the recount writing template if you need help sequencing the events.
Useful websites:
Recount writing workshop
Paperman – animated short film

15. Recount Exercise Paperman – animated short film