This unit plan outlines a 5 day lesson to teach 3rd grade students the 5 elements of a story: character, plot, setting, style, and theme. Each day focuses on one element, using different children's books as examples. Day 1 looks at character using "It's All About Olivia". Day 2 examines plot with "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". Day 3 analyzes setting through the historical fiction book "Ox-Cart Man". Day 4 explores style showing stylistic techniques. Day 5 ties the unit together teaching theme from "Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale". Students will do activities like drawing, group work, and worksheets to practice identifying each 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 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)

4. 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)

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Day Five: Theme
O For the last day in the unit plan I
would choose the book “Knuffle
Bunny: 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)

8. 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.

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/