All-in-One High School
Elements of Plot
Cinderella wants to go to the ball and marry the prince. At the end of the story, she does! But how does the plot move from the exposition to the resolution? Teach language arts learners and fairy tale fans about the basics of plot...
Curated OER
The Learning Network: Re-envisioning Classic Stories
Readers reflect on enjoyable stories they know, brainstorm criteria that make a story "good," analyze a New York Times article about innovative children's performances, re-envision classics on their own, and peer edit drafts. Use this as...
Curated OER
Interpreting Characters, Setting, Plot, and Theme - The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Disaster
Examine story development and historical disaster with your class. Learners view a video depicting the incidents surrounding The Triangle Shirtwaist Disaster. They use graphic organizers and the Internet to gather enough information to...
Teacherfiles
Plot Graph
Any story can be mapped onto a plot graph. This particular chart includes the mountain shape of a traditional plot graph. Each element of plot is labeled on the page and surrounded by a box to make the words stand out. Learners write in...
For the Teachers
Sequence Plot Chart
Your kids can identify the plot sequence of a short story, but what about an informational article? Have them examine the chronological order of events in informational texts with a lesson on the sequence of events.
For the Teachers
Story Strips Sequencing
What happens next? Work on story sequence with a instructional activity that prompts kids to put a story back in order. Additionally, they discuss what would happen if one event was missing from the sequence.
Curated OER
Character Development - Flora
Watch video clips that illustrate a character's development. Your class can watch video's about a character and her development through a life decision. They then complete a timeline activity for the story.
Curated OER
Character Development-Nanavi, A Girl from Benin, West Africa
Students examine the ways a character changes throughout the course of a story. In this literary analysis lesson, students discuss a story that spans three years in a young girl's life. Students analyze the changes the girl experiences...
Curated OER
Story Plot Terms
This literary terms handout defines introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.
Read Write Think
Book Report Alternative: Rewind the Plot!
Have you ever looked for a new way to teach an old concept? Scholars thinking about the rising action of a story in a whole new perspective. However, Book Report Alternative: Rewind the Plot! challenges readers and allows for much...
Curated OER
The Little Prince: Problematic Situation
Your plane has crashed in the Sahara desert. What do you do? Explore the possibilities with a role-playing activity based on Antoine de Saint Éxupery's The Little Prince. In groups, kids decide whether they would walk to find help to try...
Curated OER
Mystery Lessons
Learn about mysteries with your readers. They will investigate plot, basic elements of mystery, famous characters, and become familiar with genre vocabulary. Bring in props and mystery books to begin and then have learners create story...
Curated OER
Twisted Tales
Experience how a story can drastically change when the point of view is altered. Young scholars first read a review of Disney's film Tarzan, focusing on how the point of view in the classic story is important. They then select another...
Curated OER
Literature Study Guide: Siddhartha
Though this book report form is labeled Siddhartha, the multiple-page format would work for any novel you are reading in class. Complete with a reading schedule, a summary page, a list of generic literature response questions, and a list...
Curated OER
Mini-Lesson Planning for Inferences
Making inferences and drawing conclusions is a key component to successful active reading. Encourage your class to use context clues and prior knowledge to infer different elements of a story, including the setting, plot, and character...
Scholastic
A Reading Guide to A Wrinkle in Time
Accompany a reading of Madeleine L'Engle's classic tale, A Wrinkle in Time, with a detailed guide equipped with 15 informative and useful chapters. Scholars discover who the author is, why she wrote the book, and crucial story elements...
Curated OER
Analyzing Story Elements
Lesson ideas to teach students how to analyze story elements through visual representation.
Beacon Learning Center
What Goes Up Must Come Down
After your class has completed The Cay by Theodore Taylor, assess understanding of the plot. First, model how to fill out a plot line for your class. Next, have class members fill in the plot of The Cay on the provided story map. Invite...
Curated OER
The Outsiders Project Guide
Hand out these project ideas when working with The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Pupils can choose from six different options or propose their own. The idea is that they will complete more than one project to meet the point requirement. The...
Curated OER
Crafty Literature Projects to Lure Language Arts Learners
Recognize National Arts and Crafts Month with language arts project ideas to inspire creative learning.
Curated OER
Write a Round-Robin Story
Learners discover the elements of a story (introduction, plot, climax, resolution, denouement). In groups of five, one student writes an introduction and passes it to the next person, who writes the plot and passes it to the next person,...
Santa Ana Unified School District
The Power of Point of View
Sometimes a whole story can change based on the perspective of the person telling it. Practice identifying and analyzing point of view in various reading passages and writing assignments with a language arts packet, complete with Common...
Nazareth College
Creative Writing
Students discuss creative writing—what makes something creative writing? Each learner starts writing a story and after 15 minutes, they pass their story to another who adds to it. After another 15 minutes of writing, the story is passed...
Curated OER
Pudd'nhead Wilson: Concept Analysis
Learn all about the book Pudd'nhead Wilson with this analysis of the text. You can plan your unit with the useful teacher information provided here and use the project ideas to enrich instruction.