Identify and describe the main story elements in a story.
: Main story elements for the purpose of this benchmark are the setting, characters, and sequence of events of a story.
| Name |
Description |
| Responsible Citizenship | Students will describe the characteristics of responsible or irresponsible citizenship for character in a story. They will then apply this knowledge to various, short story scenarios to identify the character traits of a person showing good citizenship. In small groups students will agree or disagree with their peer’s opinions and will explain their reasoning. |
| What If Everybody Broke the Rules? Part 3 | Students will use previously identified character traits that have been connected to responsible citizenship to understand the importance of being responsible citizens. This information will help them identify and explain the moral of the story, choose responsible character traits to describe themselves, and write two ways they can be responsible citizens within their school community to make a positive difference.
This is part 3 of 3 in a series of ELA and Civics integrated lessons based on the book What If Everybody Did That? |
| What If Everybody Broke the Rules? Part 2 | Students will analyze the main character’s actions, connect the character’s irresponsible character traits to responsible character traits, and create a scenario in which people can act responsibly by following the rules within the school community, in this integrated ELA and Civics lesson.
This is part 2 of a 3 part series based on the book What If Everybody Did That?
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| What If Everybody Broke the Rules? Part 1 | Students will describe the main character using adjectives, determine if his actions throughout the community are responsible or irresponsible, and generate a list of responsible citizenship traits, in this integrated ELA and Civics lesson plan.
This is part 1 of 3 in a series of lessons based on the book What If Everybody Did That? |
| Who Will Help the Little Red Hen? | The Little Red Hen is a classic folktale that children always enjoy. Students will be exposed to new vocabulary, identify story elements, and then write a paragraph retelling the story. There are certainly some important lessons learned by the characters in this folktale. Students will identify the moral of this story and add these lessons to their writing. |
| A Love for Koala Lou | In this reading lesson, students will fall in love with the engaging book Koala Lou by Mem Fox. Through several readings, the students will increase their comprehension of the text by identifying and describing story elements, learning new vocabulary, and thinking about the moral of the story. Students will use their imagination to rewrite the ending of the story wondering what would have happened if Koala Lou she did win the race. |
| Traveling With Clifford | In this MEA lesson plan, students will work on their map skills while they practice collecting data in categories, representing data using pictographs, and interpreting data in pictographs to solve a problem. Students will read and/or listen to the story Clifford Takes a Trip. After discussing the story, they will then plan a trip for Clifford to visit the great state of Florida. |
| What’s the Argument in "The Quarrel"? | Students will listen to the poem The Quarrel by Maxine Kumin. They will analyze the story it tells, comparing and contrasting the characters' opinions and recording their findings on graphic organizers. They will write a paragraph retelling the story and explaining the moral or lesson. |
| Opinion Writing for an Author Study | In this lesson, students will listen to the stories Franklin in the Dark and Franklin Wants a Pet. Students will analyze story elements and story structure, which will assist them in writing an opinion piece about their favorite Franklin story. |
| Character Traits with Chrysanthemum | During this reading lesson, students will analyze the text Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. The students will determine the moral or lesson of the story, be exposed to new vocabulary, and demonstrate knowledge about the character, Chrysanthemum. The students will choose one character trait of Chrysanthemum to write about using textual evidence. This writing can be attached to an art project celebrating this wonderful story about friendship and believing in yourself. |
| Listen Up! A Closer Look at Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen | In this lesson, students will listen to readings of Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen by Howard Binkow. They will complete a story map, a character analysis, and answer discussion questions. Students will be led to understand the change that the character makes and the lessons learned. Students will write an expository text to respond to a prompt while demonstrating grade-appropriate grammar, conventions, and spelling. |
| Are We There Yet? Take A Road Trip with The Relatives Came | Your class will enjoy reading The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant. Through several readings, the students will increase their comprehension of the text by focusing on the story elements, discussion questions, and by composing a personal narrative after making connections to their own lives. |
| Reading of Little Bear’s Friend | In this lesson, the teacher will guide the students through two readings of Little Bear's Friend. Students will identify new vocabulary words, practice identifying story elements, and analyze characters in the story. For independent practice, students will write a letter responding to the letter written to Emily in the story. |
| Let's Go to the Outback: Mem Fox's Possum Magic | Your primary students will love this magical adventure with Possum Magic by Mem Fox. This wonderful Australian folktale shares delicious academic vocabulary that allows students to interact with context clues and discussion questions throughout the story. Students and teachers alike will be charmed by multi-tiered activities and extensions that will keep their interest throughout the entire lesson. |
| A Young Bird's Quest: A Study of Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman | Children will be delighted by the funny and sweet book, Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman. They will participate in discussions about what happens, retell the story through drawings, and participate in an activity to identify the main story elements of this book. |
| Anyone for Mouse Soup? | In this lesson, the teacher will guide the students multiple readings of Mouse Soup by Arnold Lobel. This will be done as a read-aloud. Students will practice identifying story elements and learn new vocabulary words. For independent practice, students will retell this delightful story through writing. |
| I Love You Just the Way You Are: Unlovable by Dan Yaccarino | In this lesson, students will enjoy listening to Unlovable by Dan Yaccarino and think deeply about the moral of this story. In addition to participating in a story mapping activity, students will answer discussion questions about the story to gauge their comprehension and expand their vocabulary. This set of lessons will be concluded with students writing an opinion piece about Unlovable’s biggest lesson. |
| It’s Mine! A Book About Sharing and Cooperation | In this lesson students will use details from the story It's Mine! by Leo Lionni to describe story elements, determine unknown words, and understand the moral or lesson of the text. This will be done with teacher support, in pairs, and by working independently. The lessons will conclude with a piece of opinion writing to show students’ perspective on the text. |
| Be Brave and Fearless: A Closer Look at Sheila Rae, the Brave | In this reading lesson, students will identify and describe story elements and retell the major events in the story Sheila Rae, the Brave by Kevin Henkes. Students will also identify the moral or the lesson learned in the story and write an opinion paragraph about the main characters as they explore the concept of bravery. |
| Let's Talk About the Three Little Pigs | During these lessons, students will read two stories: The Three Little Pigs by James Marshall and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka. Students will complete a variety of activities to help them identify the story elements and compare and contrast the two main characters of the story. Students will write an opinion piece explaining which version they think is the real version. |
| When You Are Pocketless: A Closer Look at Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne | In this lesson, the teacher will read the book Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne. Through separate readings of the book, students will identify new vocabulary and practice identifying story elements. For independent practice, students will retell the story by writing a narrative that offers a new and different solution to the main character's problem. |
| A Toot and Puddle Adventure | In this reading lesson, students will analyze two characters from the same book, Toot and Puddle by Holly Hobbie, and identify their similarities and differences. Students will compare themselves to one of the characters and write a paragraph describing their chosen character and how they are similar. |
| Mr. Duck Means Business: A Reading and Writing Lesson | Students will be engaged with the adorably illustrated and written children's book, Mr. Duck Means Business. They will discuss the story elements, practice retelling it, and create an expository writing piece about how the main character changed from the beginning to the end of the book. |
| Who Will Win? A Race Between the Tortoise and the Hare | In this lesson, the students will listen to the teacher read aloud the fable The Tortoise and the Hare. The students will play a story cube game to record the story elements of the beloved fable, study the main characters, and write an opinion piece on which character they would be friends with and what they would do. |
| Caps For Sale, Come and Get Them! | In this lesson, students will work with the text Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. They will identify and describe the characters, settings, and major events using a graphic organizer. The students will then have an opportunity to retell the story by recalling the sequence of events. Finally, the students will write a narrative of the text using their own words to explain what happened first, next, then, and finally to the peddler. |
| Click, Clack, Moo: A First Grade Reading Lesson | In this lesson, students will learn about story elements as they describe the characters, settings, and events from Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin. Students will be dectectives as they use the text to help them learn new vocabulary words and have a chance to get creative as they write a new ending to the original story. |
| Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge Finds a Memory | After students read the delightful book Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox, they will discuss the story elements and retell this tale. As the teacher guides the class through activities and discussion, students will learn about the significance of memories and the importance of friendship. The students will write an opinion piece about their definition of a memory. |
| Charlie Anderson: Who Cat is This? | During this lesson, the students will become highly involved with the text Charlie Anderson by Barbara Abercrombie. The students will identify and describe the story elements with a focus on the character of Elizabeth. Students will write an expository paragraph about how she felt at the end of the story when she learned the truth. |
| First Day Jitters: A Reading Activity | In this lesson, the teacher and students will read the engaging book First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg. They will identify and describe the story elements in the illustrations and text and analyze the author's use of specific words to suggest the main character's feelings. Students will write an opinion paragraph in response to a prompt about the book using text to support their opinion.
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| Pizza Party Planners | In the story Curious George and the Pizza Party (by Rey, H.A., and Margret Rey), Curious George attends a pizza party for a friend. Now the man with the yellow hat wants to plan his own pizza party for Curious George, but he needs the students' help. Help the man with the yellow hat use the data about the different pizza companies in his area to rank the options from best to worst, considering the toppings offered, crust options, prices, and customer satisfaction ratings. Then the students will use the special promotions from each pizza company and their math skills to figure out which pizza place offers the best deals. Each team of students will write letters to the man with the yellow hat explaining how they ranked the companies and why they chose their rankings to help him choose the best pizza for George's party. Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom. |
| Arthur's Perfect Pet | In the story Arthur's Pet Business, Arthur shows his parents that he is responsible enough to deserve a pet dog and his mom gives him permission to get one. However, Arthur needs your help choosing the perfect dog. Help Arthur meet all the requirements needed to find the perfect pet for his family from the research he shares with you about the breeds they are considering, taking into consideration size, shedding, barking, friendliness, etc. Then write a justification to describe why you chose the perfect pet for Arthur and his family. Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom. |
| Describing Characters Using the text Jamaica and Brianna | This lesson focuses on describing characters using the story, Jamaica and Brianna, by Juanita Havill. The students will work in groups to bring a character to life by describing what the character said, did, thought, and felt. Students will then utilize these sketches to write a paragraph about the character. |
| Hamming It Up with Character | Students will learn about characters in narrative text through group collaboration, the creation of character trading cards and an oral presentation of original dialogue. Students will work in collaboarative groups to think of adjectives that would best describe how the characters look, behave, and feel. |
| Elements of a Short Story | In this lesson, students will identify story elements. The students will also create a story map within a group and then work independently to write their own narrative using the story elements. They will edit and revise their narratives with a partner and after teacher conferencing. |
| Is That How It Happened? | In this lesson, students will participate in various sequencing activities using a teacher selected text. With a partner, students will recall events from the text to complete a graphic organizer that outlines the beginning, middle, and end of the story being read. Students will independently sequence pre-selected pictures from the text and write sentences that describe the pictures. |
| What Makes a Book a Story? | This lesson is designed to introduce students to the concepts of characters, setting and the sequence of events that make a story complete. This lesson allows teachers to choose from three different book suggestions to engage the class in group discussions on how these story elements make the story complete. Students will have time to work with a shoulder partner to discuss the characters, the setting of the story and the sequence of events in a story. Students are given time to work with these concepts independently to further grasp their own understanding and practice using the concepts in an oral presentation. |
| Describing Characters with Rich Language | Students will use descriptive language to describe a character's personality. This lesson uses two stories by Kevin Henkes: Julius, the Baby of the World and Lilly's Big Day. |
| Describing the Looks, Actions, and Feelings of Characters | In this lesson, students will describe the physical appearance, actions, and feelings of the character David from the story David Goes to School by David Shannon. This is the third lesson in a unit about characters. The other lessons in the unit have been attached as related CPALMS resources. |
| Identifying and Describing the Actions of a Character | In this resource, students will practice identifying and describing the actions of a character. Teachers will model these skills through use of text and pictures from the story No, David! by David Shannon. Students will conduct guided practice through use of David Gets in Trouble, also by David Shannon. Students will then draw a picture and write a sentence to describe one of David's actions from the story. This is the first lesson in a unit of three lessons about characters. The other lessons are attached as related CPALMS resources. |
| Identifying and Describing the Feelings of a Character | In this resource, students will practice identifying and describing the feelings of a character based on events in a story. The teacher will model these skills and conduct guided practice with students using No, David! by David Shannon. The teacher will then read aloud David Gets in Trouble, also by David Shannon, and students will independently write a sentence to describe David's feelings during one of his actions in the story. This is the second lesson in a unit of three lessons about character. The other lessons are attached as related CPALMS resources. |
| Make Your Mark with the Mice | In this lesson, students will be engaged with the story The City Mouse and the Country Mouse and see what happens when the mice visit each other’s homes. Students will take part in a discussion about the characters, setting, and the major events of the story. They will be asked to take the perspective of the City Mouse and write a letter of complaint about how visiting the countryside was just not a good thing to do. There are also several opportunities in these lessons for students to practice grade appropriate conventions of writing including ending punctuation and capitalization. |
| The Big, Bad Wolves | In this lesson, students will read two versions of the classic fairy tale, the Three Little Pigs, as they identify and describe the characteristics of the wolf character. They will then complete a Venn Diagram to determine the similarities and differences in the characteristics of the two wolf characters. Students will complete a writing response that describes the wolf characters evidence from the text and providing a sense of closure. |
| The Moral of the Story | In this lesson, students will be introduced to several fables. They will learn the characteristics of a fable and learn that the lesson of a story is called the moral. Students will have the opportunity to idenify the moral of a fable and write an opinion piece about it. |
