Beginning Middle End Plot Activity
Kids sort story cards with this beginning middle end plot activity for 1st to 3rd grade, then retell the story on a roller coaster plot chart. An answer key is included for easy checking.
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About this resource
Description
How to Teach Plot
This beginning middle end plot activity helps students in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade see that every story has a shape. Just like a roller coaster, a story climbs at the beginning, reaches its big moment in the middle, and rolls to a stop at the end. When children can name those three parts, they can retell a story, find the problem and the solution, and understand how the ending wraps up the action.
Start by reading the story A Day at the Amusement Park aloud. Then children lay out the Beginning, Middle and End header cards, sort the nine event cards under the right part of the plot, put each group in order, and use the cards to retell the story. The Roller Coaster Plot Chart works with any book, so this roller coaster plot activity can return to your reading center all year.
What’s Included
- Cover page and a How to Use page with simple steps
- Read-aloud story: A Day at the Amusement Park
- 12 story cards: 3 Beginning, Middle and End header cards and 9 event cards with pictures
- Roller Coaster Plot Chart for any story
- 2nd grade practice worksheet with a short story and multiple-choice questions
- Answer keys for the story cards and the practice worksheet
Why Kids Love It
First, the hands-on cards turn plot into something children can move and touch, which helps young readers remember the order of events. Second, the roller coaster gives every child a picture to hold on to: up at the beginning, over the top in the middle, and down at the end. Third, the practice page and the plot chart help students carry the skill from one story to the next book they read.
Ideas for Teachers and Parents
Use the beginning middle end plot activity in a small reading group, a literacy center, or at home after a bedtime story. Ask children to retell the story using the words first, next, then and last. Have partners fill in the plot chart for a favorite picture book and share it with the class. Print the cards on cardstock so they last for many rounds.
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