Story elements are super important for students to understand, as they help to improve reading comprehension. Reading comprehension is vital in reading development so it is beneficial for students to have a good grasp on story elements from a young age. I love starting in Kindergarten with a focus on characters, setting, BME (beginning, middle and end), conflict and resolution. I think it important to introduce these concepts early on so that as students grow, they will put these building blocks together to better understand plot, theme, main idea, author's purpose and more.
There are so many ways to teach story elements, but I always find that students show the highest level of interest and success when they are hands-on and interacting with the story. I love anchor charts! We work together to create big ones as a class but we also use smaller versions for reference around the room once the large ones come down.
* Note that the story used in each of these anchor charts is The Princess and the Frog. They will go perfectly with the FREE resource below. *
Graphic organizers are another great visual for students to record their findings from the stories they read. I love this flappy foldable because it can be used for any story and it shows student understanding of the text. Bonus: it is fun to create and complete!
I love teaching through music, so I created 3 short songs to help my students remember how to find the setting, characters, conflict and resolution in a story. They pick the songs up quickly and they really help as a quick mental reference. These songs, as well as numerous other materials including 11 short story passages can be found in my story elements pack. This pack has everything you need to get your little ones engaged in the key elements of a story.
Now on to the FREEBIE! I pulled some of my favorite graphic organizers and pages from this story elements pack and made them specific to the tale of The Princess and the Frog or The Frog Prince. It includes a short story with comprehension questions and other ways for the students to identify the story elements from this tale. Click on the picture below, or this link to grab your FREEBIE:
http://tinyurl.com/pge6nus
I hope you enjoy them! Thank you for stopping by!
