7th Grade The Elevator Lesson Plan

Topic: The Elevator

Objectives & Outcomes

• Students will be able to identify the different parts of a story, namely the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
• Students will be able to use the different parts of a story to explain the events of a story.

Materials

• Story or excerpt for class discussion
• Handouts with the different parts of a story

Warm-Up

• Ask students to think of a story that they love or a movie that they recently saw.
• Have them share their story or movie with a partner.
• As they share, have them focus on the different parts of the story or movie that they remember.
• Have a few volunteers share their thoughts with the class.
• Ask the class if they can identify the different parts of the story or movie that the volunteers mentioned.

Direct Instruction

• Explain to the class that a story can be divided into five main parts: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
• Exposition is the beginning of the story, where the author introduces the characters, setting, and plot.
• Rising action is when the story starts to become more exciting and tension builds.
• Climax is the most exciting part of the story, when the main conflict is resolved.
• Falling action is the part of the story after the climax, where the resolution is explained and the story comes to an end.
• Resolution is the final part of the story, where the author ties up any loose ends and resolves the main conflict.

Guided Practice

• Have the students work in pairs or small groups and give each group a story to read (a short story or excerpt from a novel is best for this activity).
• Have the students identify the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution in the story.
• Have the students share their findings with the class and discuss any differences or questions they might have.

Independent Practice

• Have the students choose a story that they are familiar with (it can be a story they have read or a movie they have seen)
• Have the students write a paragraph for each of the five stages of story structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution).
• Have the students share their paragraphs with the class and discuss any differences or questions they might have.

Closure

• Review the five stages of story structure and the importance of using them in storytelling.
• Ask the students to share a story they have heard or read that uses all five stages of story structure.

Assessment

• Observe the students during independent practice and provide feedback on their use of the five stages of story structure.
• Collect and grade the students' presentations on their use of the five stages of story structure.