Rising and falling actions are big parts of how a plot moves through the course of a story, narrative, or novel. Youngsters use examples from their texts as they examine where the action rises and falls in the book, How My Parents...

"I have here in my hand . . ." The war against Communism and Joseph McCarthy’s place in it are the focus of a series of lessons examining postwar America from 1945-1954. Joseph McCarthy takes center stage in this, the final lesson...

It's all about the plot, main events, and story mapping with this lesson. As the class reads the novel James and the Giant Peach, they create an excitement graph that actually charts key events and moments of excitement. After...

And the plot thickens! The third interactive in this series introduces young scholars to the cause-and-effect nature of a fictional story plot. They learn about the characteristics of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action,...

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...

Record the plot elements of The Cay on this worksheet. Pupils note basic information about the book and answer questions about the introduction, point of view, character, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution of...

Sixth graders conduct a plot diagram for a short story. They identify the problem, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. Students are able to sequence events in a story, and identify the parts of the plot...

Here’s a graphic organizer that permits learners to chart the introduction, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution of a story. The PDF file can be customized to work with any narrataive.

After reading "The King of Mazy May" by Jack London, learners reinforce their literary analysis skills in this SMART board lesson. The provided SMART board file allows themto define elements of a short story, and then add it to the plot...

Questions are given on each slide of this presentation, asking learners to identify parts of plot. The questions have two answers per slide for readers to choose between, multiple-choice style. The last two slides are labeled "Great Job"...

After reading a version of "The Tortoise and the Hare," scholars complete a plot diagram. They pinpoint the tale's beginning, rising action, climax, falling action, and ending. 

It's all well and good when you're asked to identify a speaker's tone using his or her body language, facial expression, and pitch and emphasis. Identifying the tone of a written passage is another challenge entirely. Check out an...

A solid, straightforward book report form is an excellent addition to your literature unit. Class members note the main characters, point of view, plot elements, and other important details from a story, adding their favorite part...

This literary terms handout defines introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.

Collective story writing is a great way to reinforce the concept of story elements and collaborative learning. Young writers discuss story elements such as, setting, character, action, climax, conclusion, foreshadowing, dialogue, and...

Middle schoolers in particular will benefit from this simple presentation. Forty slides cover story elements like the protagonist, antagonist, and setting, and literary devices are also included. Some examples are given, but for the most...

The second lesson plan in a series of fourteen, this plan takes the short story basics a step further. Learners complete a quiz about the story from the previous day, discuss the text, learn about Anton Chekhov, and work in groups to...

Arm your writers with an arsenal of literary terms. With definitions of everything from plot structure and figurative language to point-of-view and types of irony, learners will gain an understanding of elements in stories and be able to...

Ezell Blair, Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil changed history. Their sit-in at the lunch counter of the Woolworths in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1, 1960 became a model for the nonviolent protests that...

Seventh graders create an original narrative story in a diary or journal format involving a fictional character with conflict, plot, resolution and falling action within the story line. They follow the steps of the writing process with...

In this reading response worksheet, students use this story elements chart to record who, where and when details. Students also record rising and falling action and the most exciting part. It is unclear where to write the story events.

In this literature worksheet, students use this plot diagram to help identify key elements of a story. Students record information about the introduction, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.

Appropriate for any short story, this worksheet asks readers to identify key elements and then analyze the structure of a short story.

Personal narratives are powerful things. Whether told from the first-person or third-person point of view, whether in the form of an essay, a short story, novel, or video, whether fiction or fact, they capture readers and give them...