Story

Grades 3–5
Lesson Plan Type Standard Lesson
Estimated Time Five 45-minute sessions
Mobile, Alabama
Lesson Author
Mobile, Alabama
STUDENT OBJECTIVES

Students will

 Use prior knowledge and the authors' text to construct meaning

 Demonstrate understanding of story elements through the successful

completion of each session's activity
 Identify the characters, setting, problem, solution, beginning, middle, and end
of different stories
 Apply what they learned to create a character map, setting illustration,
problem/solution graphic organizer, events graphic organizer, and story map

Session 1
1. Tell students that you are beginning a lesson on elements of narrative story.
Engage in a discussion about narrative text. Tell students that it is important for
them to be able to recall the basic elements of a narrative story as they are
reading. Explain that knowing these elements will provide the foundation they
need to think more deeply about stories. Tell students that they will learn about
the following story elements:

a. Characters-people (or other animals, robots, objects that the author gives
life-like qualities to) presented in the narrative text via descriptions of their
attributes, traits, or abilities

b. Setting-the place and time in which the story takes place

c. Problem and solution-the conflict that takes place during the story
 d. Plot-the sequence of events (beginning, middle, and end) that involves the
characters in conflict

2. Tell students to close their eyes and think of three ways to describe themselves.
Call on a few students to share their ideas. Next, have them close their eyes and
think of three ways to describe one of their friends. Explain to students that an
author describes the characters in their stories just like they described
themselves and their friends.

3. If a whole-group meeting area is available, call students there based on physical

characteristics such as hair color, eye color, or shoe color. Tell students that
physical characteristics are one way that authors help readers paint visual images
(or see pictures) of characters in their minds. If you need to allow students to
remain in their seats, call out various physical characteristics and have students
raise their hands if the trait describes them. This activity will allow them to begin
thinking about how physical characteristics describe and identify them.

4. Explain that characters are the people, animals, or other living things that are
involved in a story. Characters can be described by appearance or actions. Say,
"Today I am going to read a story about a mouse that is starting school. As I read,
I want you to think about ways you can describe the character like you described
yourself."

5. Read aloud Chrysanthemum, stopping to think aloud at the points where you
have placed sticky notes as reminders (see Preparation, Step 4).

6. After reading, ask students to describe Chrysanthemum. Write down their ideas
on chart paper in a format similar to the Character Map from Education Oasis:
Character and Story Graphic Organizers.

7. Discuss the ideas being generated for the Character Map. Although it is best if
discussion is initiated by students' responses, discussion prompts could include
ideas about Chrysanthemum's feelings, physical characteristics, and actions.
Explain to students that they will complete their own Character Map about
Chrysanthemum with a partner.

8. Pair students by hobbies or foods they enjoy, such as reading, football, fishing,
 swimming, dancing, Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, math club, pizza, chocolate, and so
on.

9. Distribute another copy of the Character Map and have students sit with their
partner to complete it. Circulate around the room as students work, providing
feedback and assistance as necessary.

10. Call on a few students to share something they learned during the session. Tell
students that good readers think about the characters as they read a story
because it helps them to know the character well, thus understanding the story
better. Ask them to think about characters during independent reading and see if
they can make any personal connections.

11. Tell students that they will all be allowed to visit the computers in your classroom
or computer lab to complete activities on a website. Briefly demonstrate the use
of storyline online.

12. Divide the class by five and tell one-fifth of your students to choose a story to
listen to on Storyline Online and complete a Character Map for one of the
characters in the selected story. Tell students to turn in the completed activity to
you when they are finished. If necessary, work with a technology teacher,
computer lab aide, or another teacher to manage taking/sending students to the
lab.

The rest of the class will engage in independent reading time. They may simply spend the
entire time reading independently, or they may read and then complete the daily activity
again with a book (or chapter of a book) based on their independent reading level.

Session 2
1. Ask students to describe the classroom. Let a few students describe something
they see. Guide a discussion about setting by saying, "If we were characters in a
story, then our classroom would be the setting. It is where our story takes place.
The setting can be location, weather, or time." Show students pictures of
different settings (see Preparation, Step 3).

2. If a whole-group meeting area is available, call students to the meeting area.

Otherwise, allow students to remain in their seats. Remind students that the
setting is where and when a story takes place. Tell students that sometimes
 rather than telling readers exactly what the setting is, authors give clues about
the setting through the pictures or the language in the story. When they do this,
authors require readers to infer the setting(s) or guess from the available clues.

3. Tell students that you are going to read What If? by A.H. Benjamin and that they
should pay attention to the pictures and what the author says about the setting.

4. Read aloud the story, stopping to think aloud at the points where you have
placed sticky notes (see Preparation, Step 5).

5. After reading, ask students to tell you things about the setting of the book. You
may need to prompt them with questions such as "What time of day is it?"
"Where are they?" or "Did the author tell us the name of the farm?"

6. After students have had time to discuss the setting, divide them into groups of
three or four. Consider the students' literacy abilities as you divide them, making
certain you have a range of reading levels in each group. Give each group a piece
of poster board and instruct them to draw and color a picture to represent the
setting of the story.

7. Tell students that when their group is finished drawing, they should write two or
three sentences describing their illustration.

8. Circulate around the room as students work to provide assistance as needed.

9. Have each group share their drawing with the whole class. Display the drawings
in the room.

10. Tell students that good readers think about the setting as they read a story
because it helps them to understand the story better. Ask them to think about
setting and how it is important to the content of the story during independent
reading.

11. Tell another fifth of your students that they will have the opportunity to draw a
picture of the setting from a story that they listen to on storyline online. Tell
students to turn in the completed activity to you when they are finished. The rest
of the class will engage in independent reading time.

Session 3
1. If a whole-group meeting area is available, call students to the meeting area.
 Otherwise, allow students to remain in their seats. Tell students a familiar story,
such as The Three Little Pigs, stopping after you introduce the problem. Ask
students what the problem is in the story, and give them time to answer. Then
continue telling the story. At the end, ask students how the problem was solved,
and give them time to answer.

2. Tell students that many times the problem is introduced at the beginning of the
story and that the main character has to figure out how to solve the problem,
which is called the solution. The solution generally happens at the end of the
story.

3. Ask students to think back to when you read Chrysanthemum and to identify the
problem in that story. Give students time to share their ideas. Then ask, "How
was the problem solved?" Allow time for discussion of the solution.

4. Read aloud the story A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon stopping to think
aloud at the points where you have placed sticky notes (see Preparation, Step 6).

5. After reading the story, ask students to think about the problem of the story. Let
them share their thoughts and ideas. After discussing the problem, ask students
to talk about the solution.

6. Write students' ideas on chart paper using a format similar to the Problem and
Solution handout.

7. Show students the Problem and Solution handout. Tell them to draw a picture to
illustrate or write two to three sentences to identify the problem in the story in
the top box. In the bottom box, tell the students to draw a picture to illustrate or
write two to three sentences to describe how the problem was solved. Send
students back to their seats to work on the sheet.

8. Circulate around the room to monitor and assist students as they work.

9. Ask volunteers to share with the class something they learned regarding the
narrative element of problem and solution.

10. Tell students that good readers think about the problem and solution as they
read a story because it helps them understand the story better. Ask them to think
about problem and solution during their independent reading.

11. Tell another fifth of your students that they will have the opportunity to complete
 the Problem and Solution handout as they listen to a story from Storyline Online;
they should turn in their work when it is finished. As previously, the rest of the
class will engage in independent reading time.

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Session 4
1. If a whole-group meeting area is available, call students to the meeting area.
Otherwise, allow students to remain in their seats. Pair students by having them
turn to the person sitting to their right. If there is a single student at the end of a
row, have him or her partner with a person at the beginning of the next row. If
there are an uneven number of students, one group can have three members.

2. Have students think about their ideal Saturday. Ask them to turn to their partners
and describe their day from beginning to end. Ask a few volunteers to share their
descriptions with the whole class.

3. Explain to students how the order of events in a story is important for the story
to make sense. For example, in the beginning of a story the author introduces the
characters and setting and presents a problem. In the middle of the story, the
author adds events. At the end of the story, the author presents the solution.
Explain that these elements and the ways they are introduced get more complex
as stories increase in reading level.

4. Read aloud Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, and stop at the
following points to show students the concept of beginning, middle, and end (see
Preparation, Step 7):

 Stop after "...so he was sent to bed without eating anything." Explain to
students that this is the beginning of the story.

 Stop after "...so he gave up being king of where the wild things are."
Explain to students that this is the middle of the story.

 Finish reading the story, and ask students how the story ended.
5. Ask students to remind you what happened in the beginning of the story. Write
 their ideas on a piece of chart paper. In succession ask them what happened in
the middle of the story and at the end of the story, and also write these ideas on
the chart paper.

6. Have students return to their seats if they have been in the whole-group meeting
area. Pass out the pieces of white construction paper. Show students your sample
flip book (see Preparation, Step 8) and go through each step with them to make
their own. Tell students to draw a picture under each flap of what happened at
the beginning, middle, and end of Where the Wild Things Are. Tell them to add a
sentence to describe each part. Circulate and offer help while students work.

7. Call on a few students to share something that they learned about the
importance of the order in which the author presents the story. Remind students
that during their independent reading they should think about the beginning,
middle, and end of the story and how these elements are important to
understanding the story.

8. Tell the next fifth of your students that they will have the opportunity to make a
flip book for the beginning, middle, and end of a story as they listen to a story
from Storyline Online. Tell students to turn in the completed activity to you when
they are finished. The rest of the class can engage in independent reading time.

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Session 5
1. Ask students if they have ever had a pet fish, and let them share their stories. Ask
students to tell you what fish look like, and give them time to share their
thoughts. Then tell them that they are going to hear a story about a fish that
looks like a rainbow.

2. If a whole-group meeting area is available, call students to the meeting area.

Otherwise, have students remain in their seats. Tell them that they are going to
use all of the things they have learned about narrative story and put them
together. Tell them that after they hear a read-aloud of Rainbow Fish by Marcus
Pfister, they are going to find the characters, setting, problem, and solution in the
story. Tell them that as they are doing this, they will also identify the beginning,
 middle, and end of the story.

3. Show them the cover of the book Rainbow Fish. Ask them, "What kind of
problem do you think the fish could have?" and "What do you think will
happen?" Allow time for predictions and discussion.

4. Read the story aloud, stopping to think aloud at the points where you have
placed the sticky notes (see Preparation, Step 9).

5. After reading, write the words Rainbow Fish on the chart paper. Ask students to
tell you a few things about the book Rainbow Fish, and write their responses on
the chart paper as they discuss it. Ask students who the main character of the
story is and record this information on the chart paper as well.

6. Ask students what the setting of the story is and ask, "What are some ways to
describe the setting?" Discuss the setting of the story.

7. Ask students to tell you what the problem of the story is. Guide the discussion by
having students talk about the Rainbow Fish and his attitude toward the other
fish.

8. Ask students what the solution to the problem was. Discuss how the Rainbow
Fish changed his attitude and that this attitude change made a tremendous
difference in his life.

9. Finally, ask students to identify things that happened at the beginning, middle,
and end of the story. For example, at the beginning of the story Rainbow Fish
would not play with the other fish or share his scales. Then, the wise octopus told
Rainbow Fish that he should share his scales with the other fish. Finally, at the
end of the story Rainbow Fish gave away his scales, felt better about himself, and
made new friends.

10. Show students the Story Map handout. Tell them that now that they know what
characters, setting, problem, and solution are, they are going to put them all
together on a story map. Show and explain each section of the story map.

11. Review the Self Evaluation Rubric for Story. Explain to students how to use it. Tell
them they will use the rubric to score their work on the Story Map when they are
finished.

12. Send students back to their seats if they have been in the whole-group meeting
 area, and pass out copies of the Story Map and Rubric.

13. Circulate around the room as students work. Students who finish early can begin
independent reading, thinking about the story elements in the book they are
reading.

14. Tell students that it is important to be able to recall the basic elements of a
narrative story as they are reading. Explain that knowing these elements will
provide the foundation they need to think more deeply about stories. Also, tell
students that once they are able to remember the story elements, they may not
need to write them down but that the purpose of completing the activities in
these lessons is to help them remember and think about these elements. Remind
students that as the narratives they read get more complex, these graphic
organizers may be useful again.

15. Tell the final fifth of your students that they will have the opportunity to
complete a Story Map about a story as they listen to one from Storyline Online.
The rest of the class will engage in independent reading time.

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EXTENSIONS

 Complete the lesson activities with more complex narrative picture books.
Modify the graphic organizers to be used with multidimensional text. Guiding
Readers and Writers: Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy
(Grades 3-6) by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell (Heinemann, 2001) has
an extraordinary list of picture books in the appendix to be used with upper-
grade students.

 Collaborate with a kindergarten or first-grade class, and teach your students

to be teachers. Pair older students with younger students and have each
older student read an appropriate book with a specific focus-character,
setting, etc.-to a younger student. They can then work together to draw a
picture of the specific focus.
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STUDENT ASSESSMENT/REFLECTIONS

 Observe student participation in whole-group session conversations. Provide

immediate feedback by conversing with students.

 During Sessions 1 through 4, circulate around the room as students work on

the end-of-session activities. Work with individual students and small groups
as needed. Make anecdotal notes to record specific additional teaching.
 Review each student’s independently completed activity from his or her use
of Storyline Online. Use the Conference Guide Form to offer feedback during
3- to 5-minute conferences with each student on the day following the
completion of the activity. Address the students’ understanding of the
concept and the importance of applying the knowledge in independent
reading.