Primary Reading Instruction Goes Digital!

Story elements are critical for early literacy instruction. From the time students enter kindergarten through the day they graduate from high school, they will study the parts of a story. In primary school, the characteristics of a story are:

• Characters – people or animals in the book
• Setting – when and where the story takes place
• Plot – the events of the story or the beginning, middle, and ending of the story
• Problem – the problem the main characters have in the story
• Solution – how the situation in the story is solved

Primary readers need simple explanations and repeated practice identifying story elements to increase comprehension. Often, the terms are modified for younger learners, and the parts are taught as 

• Character
• Setting
• Beginning
• Middle
• End

This resource is designed to provide story element practice in a fun and engaging, interactive activity. Each slide presents learners with a series of objects to sort into categories (character, setting, problem, solution). Students will click, drag, and drop the objects into their categories. The activity also has opportunities for students to read a decodable text and identify the story elements within. As a final practice activity, students will create their own story idea by choosing four components to include in an original piece of their own.

Tips for Differentiation + Scaffolding 

A team of dedicated, experienced educators created this resource to support your character and setting activities for kindergarten.

In addition to individual student work time, use this activity to enhance learning through guided reading groups, whole class lessons, or remote learning assignments. 

Suppose you have a mixture of above and below-level learners and ELL/ESL students. In that case, we have a few suggestions for keeping students on track with these concepts: 

🆘 Support Struggling Students

• Support struggling readers with the activity by completing it in small groups or on a large screen as a whole-group activity.
• Pair students up to complete the activity.
• Have students verbalize their choices for the parts of the story before completing the exercise and discussing their reasoning.
• Provide students with a story elements anchor charter or reference guide while completing the activity.

➕ Challenge Fast Finishers

• Extend learning time by having students use the story elements provided to create and write an original story of their own.
• Have the students engage in the bookmaking process to develop their reading and writing skills.

🧑‍🏫 Group Learning

• Project the slides onto a screen and work through them as a class.

Easily Prepare This Resource for Your Students

Use the Download button to access the Google Slides.

Assign this interactive activity to Google Classroom. Please be sure to open in Edit mode, not Presentation mode. Students click/drag/drop to identify the parts of a story.

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and a Teach Starter collaborator.

While you’re here, check out more activities and teaching resources that fill your lesson plans and students’ brains: