1. The unit plan aims to teach 3rd grade students about the 5 elements of a story - character, plot, setting, style, and theme - over 5 days. 2. Each day focuses on one element and incorporates read-alouds, class discussions, group activities, videos, and technology like Facebook and blogs. 3. Assessment includes student presentations, writing assignments, and interactive online activities to reinforce understanding of each literary element.

1. Unit Plan: The 5
Elements of a Story
By: Shelby Bollner

2. 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.

3. Day One: Character
O I will begin by showing the students the short YouTube
story-telling video about all five of the literary elements and
then explain that today’s focus will be about the element of
character.
O I would then go over the class literary poster and talk about
how each picture pertains to each element. This would be
the time for class discussion and questions on the
elements.
O I would then read the “Olivia” 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.
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.
(Good Reads)

4. Day Two: Plot
O I would start the day by reviewing the class literary element
poster.
O Then I would read “There Was an Old Lady Who
Swallowed a Fly” and I would use this book to demonstrate
plot because it has a building plot.
O The students will be grouped together to do a post-reading
activity where they will write five things that happened in the
plot.
O The students then will watch a video made by me that
instructs them how to preform a read-aloud.
O Their homework assignment will be to pick a book where
they will gear the read-aloud towards plot. They will have to
post
the book they picked on the class Facebook page for their
homework assignment as well
(Caldecott Medal)

5. Day Three: Setting
O I would start of class with a review of the class
literary element poster.
O Then I would do a read-aloud of 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 After the read-aloud we would have a class
discussion about the book and how setting was
important.
O Then each student would get a computer from the
class set and go to the class FaceBook page and
listen to a podcast made by myself. They would
complete the activity within the podcast.

6. Day Four: Style
O I would start of the day with a review ofthe
class poster of the five literary elements.
O I would read the book “Arrow to the Sun”
to demonstrate author’s style.
O After reading the book and pointing out
the any style techniques, I would have the
children discuss the different uses of style.
O Then I would have each child get a
computer and go to zunal.com and
complete the WebQuest individual and
group activity

7. Day Five: Theme
O For the last day in the unit plan I would
start of, of course, with a review of the
class poster.
O I would read the book “Knuffle Bunny:
A Cautionary Tale” that has a clear
theme but also incorporates all other
elements very clearly into the story
aswell to tie the unit plan altogether.
O Then I would have the students each
get a computer and go to the class
page on FaceBook where they will
then go to Blogger and complete the
activity listed within the blog I created
for them.
(Silvey, 2013)

8. Use of Technology
O I would be using a lot of technology for
this unit plan.
O I would be using the ELMO to display the
story better for all students to see during
the read-alouds, FaceBook, Twitter, Digital
Imaging, Posters, YouTube Videos, Story-
Telling Videos, and Podcasts.
O All of this technology would be used in a
variety of ways throughout the week.

9. 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/