Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements

1. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements What makes a story a story?

2. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements PLOT It’s what happens in a story. It’s a sequence of events. A plot can be summarized in very few sentences—sometimes just one sentence!

3. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements In TV listings, plots are usually summarized in just one sentence. A test shows that Spud is a genius. American Dragon: Jake Long Raven and Chelsea go on a TV show to compete for a date with a cute guy. That’s So Raven The Tipton crew becomes a part of a ballroom dance team. The Suite Life of Zack and Cody Miley and Lilly plot revenge against Amber and Ashley. Hannah Montana

4. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements CHARACTERS

5. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements Characters are the people or animals who take part in a story. Main Characters are the most important. Stories are about main characters. Secondary Characters are less important. Stories are not about them, but without them stories would not be very interesting.

6. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements SETTING

7. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements Time: Night Place: A big city Time: The 19th century Place: An island in the Caribbean The setting is the time and place in which the action in a story occurs.

8. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements Time: December 25, 1995 Place: A farm in Horse Head, Virginia Time: The Future Place: The planet Saturn

9. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements SETTING

10. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements The setting is usually described in the beginning of a story, but sometimes writers don’t tell much about the setting. They make the reader guess.

11. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements PROBLEM The problem is the situation or event that causes trouble and must be dealt with by the main characters. A story’s problem can be silly or serious, but there always has to be one!

12. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements SOLUTION The solution is how the problem is solved.

13. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements • The basic story elements of plot, character, setting, problem, and solution are present in every story. • A good way to remember them is to remember that there are five letters in the word "story" and five basic elements in a story. The characters (1)must be in a setting (2), and the plot (3)must include a problem (4), and a solution (5).

14. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements

15. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements • Listen as Aunt Isabel Tells a Good One is read to you. As you listen, • make a “mind movie” • make a note of the story elements in the main story and in the story that the characters make up.

16. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements • Plot: Characters: • Setting: Problem: Solution: Aunt Isabel Tells a Good One: The Main Story

17. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements • Plot: Characters: • Setting: Problem: Solution: Aunt Isabel Tells a Good One: The Story-within-the-Story

18. Listening Comprehension Topic: Identifying Basic Story Elements Look for the basic storyelements in the book we are reading!