Unit Plan: The 5 Elements of a Story

By: Shelby Bollner

The Learner and the Objective

O My class is a 3rd grade class of 22 students, 12 boys and 10 girls.

O The class is broken down by 55 minutes for each subject a day.

O The objective of my 5 day unit plan is to teach my students the basics of the 5 elements to a story which are character, plot, setting, style, and theme.

Day One: CharacterO I will begin by a short mini-lesson describing what each

element is and then explain that today’s focus will be about

the element of character. (5-7 mins)

O I would then preform a cover walk, a pre-reading activity for

a read-aloud, for the book “It’s All About Olivia” asking my

second graders what they think the book is about, who they

think Olivia might be, what kind of attitude they can infer

from the pictures that Olivia might have, etc. (5-7 mins)

O I would then read the book aloud to the students, and to

keep them engaged I would stop periodically and ask them

questions about the text that pertain to character. (15-20

mins)

O After the read-aloud I would put the children into groups and

have them do a post-reading activity pertaining to

characterization and then have them present (remainder of

class)

(Good Reads)

Day Two: Plot

O I would go over plot by using the book

“There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed

a Fly”

O I would use this book to demonstrate plot

because it has a building plot

O After the read-aloud I would have the

children draw out different things that

happened in the sequence of the plot

(Caldecott Medal)

Day Three: Setting

O I would choose a historical fiction book, like Ox-Cart Man, for this lesson to demonstrate that setting is both where AND when the story is occurring.

O I would start off with asking them when they think the book takes place, what makes them think that, any clues they get from the story, if the story states where the setting is.

O I would also explain that setting can be plainly stated or inferred.

Day Four: Style

O I would use a book that has many different

stylistic approaches used by the

author, perhaps different font sizes or

maybe a pop up book, etc.

O After reading the book and pointing out

the any style techniques, I would have the

children draw a picture with a sentence

and have them explain what their style

was.

Day Five: Theme

O For the last day in the unit plan I would choose the book “KnuffleBunny: A Cautionary Tale” that has a clear theme but also incorporates all other elements very clearly into the story as well to tie the unit plan altogether.

O At the end I would give the students a worksheet that asked specific questions about the story that incorporates the students thinking about all 5 elements of story.

(Silvey, 2013)

Use of Technology

O I wouldn’t be using a lot of technology for

this unit plan but I would use some.

O I would be using the ELMO to display the

story better for all students to see during

the read-alouds

O I would also use the computer to show

different photos for activities.

O But mostly the students would be doing

hands on activities in groups.

Works Cited

O Caldecott Medal. (n.d.). Retrieved 5 15, 2013, from smallfrybooks.com:

http://smallfrybooks.com/award/2/caldecott-medal

O Good Reads. (n.d.). Olivia. Retrieved 5 15, 2013, from goodreads.com: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/770051.Olivia

O Silvey, A. (2013, 2 18). Book-A-Day. Retrieved 5 15, 2013, from childrensbookalmanac.com: http://childrensbookalmanac.com/2011/02/knuffle-bunny/