Show
This strategy can be used with any type of text—historical documents, literature, newspaper articles, films, artwork, photographs, etc. Prepare questions that students will answer. We suggest writing two to three questions for each of the following categories:
The following are example questions related to the story “Those Who Don’t” from Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street:
Developing a solid understanding of the elements of a story is essential for our students to follow and fully comprehend the stories they read. However, before students can understand how these elements contribute to a story’s overall meaning and effect, they must first be able to identify the component parts confidently. So, what are the elements of a story, then? For the purpose of teaching our students, we can usefully divide these elements into two groups. The first group comprises the basic components of a story and is generally taught to elementary and middle school students, while the second group consists of more complex elements taught to more advanced students. Though the elements identified below provide a comprehensive overview, they are not an exhaustive analysis of every possible element of a story.
A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING STORY ELEMENTS
BASIC STORY ELEMENTSthese are the five key elements of a story
THE ULTIMATE STORY ELEMENTS VIDEO (6 minutes)When students have gained sufficient experience in recognizing these essential story elements, they can then begin work on the story elements that are more advanced, regardless of their age. Let’s take a brief look at four of these more advanced story elements.
These more advanced elements are a little more difficult to define than those on the basic list and, therefore can be confusing for students who are new to them. All these elements pertain to how words are used, but style also pertains to the purpose of the text, tone to the author’s attitude to the subject, with the mood being concerned with the reader’s attitude to the subject. Why Are Story Elements Important?There are many reasons students need to be well-versed in identifying the elements of a story, not least of which is the deeper levels of comprehension and enhanced appreciation this brings. Understanding how a story is organized is necessary for students to access the highest levels of comprehension of that story. Understanding how a story is organized also provides students with a frame of reference that significantly assists with recall. Often necessary, especially where exams are concerned, the implications here for subjects outside the English classroom are apparent too. Being familiar with the various elements that combine together in good storytelling also helps students in their own writing. It helps students to organise their thoughts and competently weave together the various threads of their own stories. No small feat for an experienced writer, let alone a novice! HOW TO HELP STUDENTS IDENTIFY STORY ELEMENTSGetting to grips with the various elements of a story begins very early on with the first stories children hear. Often even before they begin elementary school. Students will have learned to identify the essential elements in stories by answering simple questions about the people in the story and the events that happened. As students grow confident in identifying the key elements in their favorite stories, they begin to move on to more complex stories. They begin to recognize the more complex elements that require more advanced critical thinking skills. In their simplest forms, activities to aid students in identifying story elements start with answering basic guided questions before students begin to move on to more focused reading activities, a few of which we will look at here. DOWNLOAD THIS FREE GRAPHIC ORGANIZER STORY ELEMENTS GRAPHIC ORGANIZERSGraphic organizers are a great way to assist students in extracting the elements of a story and organizing them in a visual way that helps them to comprehend the story better. They can further assist students in recalling, retelling, and summarizing. One of the best-suited graphic organizers for identifying story elements is the story map. Story Maps Story maps help students to organize the elements of the story in a visual manner that assists in gaining that fuller comprehension. Students examine the assigned text and extract the information related to each element. They can then record this information on their copy of the story map. Story maps easily lend themselves to being differentiated, as the teacher can select the elements most appropriate for the age and ability of the students. In the beginning, students should gain experience identifying the basic elements in simple stories – fairy tales for example – before moving on to more sophisticated stories employing a wider range of elements. Practice in the use of story maps will see students developing the ability to efficiently summarize the characters, setting, theme etc., of any reading material instinctively. Story maps can also be used as a valuable prewriting planning exercise. Eventually, in regards to reading, students will be able to identify a story’s elements naturally, without the aid of a story map or graphic organizer of any sort – though this option will always remain for those who require the additional support a story map offers.
THE STORY TELLERS BUNDLE OF TEACHING RESOURCES
A MASSIVE COLLECTION of resources for narratives and story writing in the classroom covering all elements of crafting amazing stories. MONTHS WORTH OF WRITING LESSONS AND RESOURCES, including:
3 Story Elements ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTSAs we have noted, for the advanced student, there are a lot of different component parts of a story to identify and work with. We could isolate each element and build a series of discrete lessons around each. The possibilities are endless, and it is obviously impossible to cover every possibility here. However, it is worth looking at three more general activities to ensure students understand story elements and how they work. This simple activity is a fun way for students in a group to review material they have recently read. It begins with a student rolling a die or dice. The number they roll corresponds to a list of questions on each story element. For example, the student rolls a three, which corresponds to a question on the setting, such as Where and when did this story take place? The student then answers in as much detail as possible regarding the text. This activity can easily be differentiated by increasing the number and complexity of the questions and broadening the range of elements included. More than one question about each element can be included too. This activity works well with students working in pairs. Each student has a copy of the story. The various story elements are written on pieces of card: character, setting, mood, tone etc. Students take turns picking out a piece of card, making sure their partner does not know which element they have selected. They must then read a brief extract from the story corresponding to that element. Their partner must attempt to identify the element. When their partner has successfully identified the story element, it is their turn to pick a card. This activity works best for recording the sub-elements of the plot, such as exposition, rising action, conflict, falling action, climax and resolution. The storygraph works as a straightforward graph with the various elements above listed on the x-axis, according to their chronological appearance in the text. The y-axis represents excitement, with the most dramatic points plotted higher. Students plot these points for each element. For example, the exposition of the story (usually corresponding to the setting of the scene, the introduction of the characters etc.) will be plotted relatively low in the excitement stakes, with the excitement gradually rising to the crescendo of the climax before dipping slightly for the resolution. Students can further label these points on the graph with details of the corresponding events in the story. And so our own story draws to a close, but let’s review the takeaways so that our students can live happily ever after – at least as far as story elements are concerned! When we drill down into how stories work, many elements are at play. For students to comprehend a story, they must understand how the major elements interact. To do this, they will need to first be able to identify these elements accurately. This will require practice in the form of discrete lessons on story elements that are progressive in difficulty. The ideas on story maps and other activities above represent a good starting point for these discrete lessons. But, it is crucial to reinforce this learning through reference and repetition in other lessons, where the main focus is not on the elements of a story themselves. There is no magic at play here, just practice, practice, practice. All very element-ary, my dear teacher! Download our FREE Character Trait Lists now327 DIFFERENT CHARACTER TRAITS broken into POSITIVE, NEGATIVE & NEUTRAL. These lists are excellent for helping students to describe characters and objects when writing and help students get to know and understand different character traits. DOWNLOAD THESE FREE CHARACTER TRAIT LISTS HERE STORY WRITINGIF YOU CAN BE A GREAT STORY READER, TAKE THOSE SKILLS AND BECOME A GREAT STORY WRITER. LEARN HOW HERE. Once you have developed a strong understanding of story elements, it’s time for your students to use them to become story creators and write grand narratives. Ensure your students invest time in planning the essential elements (Setting, Character, Plot, Conflict and Theme) of a narrative and really flesh those elements out before chasing down a single idea they may have had, such as a story about a cowboy in space. You can find our complete guide to narrative and story writing here, which is a must-read before you, and your students consider writing their next bestseller. Be sure to flip many of the activities in this article around story elements so that they come at them from the author’s perspective, more so than the audience. OTHER GREAT ARTICLES RELATED TO STORY ELEMENTSSTORY ELEMENTS: How to Write Great Characters and Settings You can’t have a good story without the characters to do things and places for them to do those things in. In this article, we’re talking about great characters and settings and how to write them. Characters and setting are two key ingredients that form the… WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THE PHRASE ‘ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE? The phrase ‘elements of literature’ refers to the constituent parts of a work of literature in whatever form it takes: poetry, prose, or drama. Why are they important? Students must understand these common elements if they are to competently read or write a piece… The Writing Process Explained Understanding the writing process provides a student with a clear step-by-step procedure that they can follow. It means they can replicate the process no matter what type of nonfiction text they are being asked to produce. In this article, we’ll take a look at a simple and powerful 5-part structure that… THE CRAFT OF NARRATIVE WRITING Good narrative writing skills are hard-won by our students. They build on and encourage the development of a good grasp of the mechanics of writing. They also require the development of an additional skill set, however, namely the ability to tell a good yarn. Telling stories is as old as… It’s tough getting junior writers to create a well-written story, but we have some excellent strategies and advice for teachers and students here. The content for this page has been written by Shane Mac Donnchaidh. A former principal of an international school and English university lecturer with 15 years of teaching and administration experience. Shane’s latest Book, The Complete Guide to Nonfiction Writing, can be found here. Editing and support for this article have been provided by the literacyideas team. |