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Story Structure Worksheets

Many stories have a plot structure that we can graph. It looks like a triangle. A conflict is introduced, tension rises, a major change occurs. This major change is called the climax. After the climax the tension falls. The protagonist, or main character, may face a final moment of suspense. Then the story is resolved.

This page features a bunch of little stories that I wrote to help teach students story structure. These are concise little tales that can be read in a few minutes and easily graphed on the story structure triangle. They will give students the ground work to understand how story structure affects momentum and mood. Plot structure can be more complicated than a simple triangle, but these stories are simple. I hope that these free story structure worksheets will help students learn to identify narrative structure.

"The Breakaway"
Here's an activity to help students review plot and story structure. Students will read a motivational story about an athlete who sustains an injury and has to find another way to succeed. Then they will analyze and identify structural elements of the story. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 4-8.
This is a preview image of "The Breakaway". Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.
"When Gertrude Grew Great"
Students read a motivational story and identify the story structure parts: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. This activity includes a skill sheet that tests students' understanding of other reading skills as well. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 5-9.
This is a preview image of "When Gertrude Grew Great". Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.
"The Phone Call"
Still looking for more worksheets about story structure and plot? Here's one more! This story is about a young man who overcomes an internal problem created by negligent family member. Students read the story and then complete a reading skill sheet that includes an analysis of the narrative structure. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 3-7.
This is a preview image of "The Phone Call". Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.
"Pierce the Spaceman"
Here is another story structure worksheet. This one is about a spaceman who saves his colony. Students will identify story elements and structure. I use the included reading skill sheets with most of the stories in the text book to perform ongoing skill checks. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 5-9.
This is a preview image of "Pierce the Spaceman". Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.
"An Unexpected Chat"
Here's another worksheet to help students review plot, story structure, and elements of literature. This one features a story about a student who learns to resist peer pressure. Students read the story and complete an activity sheet covering story structure and other reading skills. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 4-8.
This is a preview image of "An Unexpected Chat". Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.
"The Wallet"
Here is yet another worksheet to help students review plot, story structure, and elements of literature. This story is about a young girl who is faced with a difficult decision: she finds a wallet that does not belong to her. After reading the short story, students complete an activity covering story structure and other reading skills. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 4-8.
This is a preview image of "The Wallet". Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.
"The Way of the World"
Here is one more worksheet to help students review plot, story structure, and elements of literature. This story is about a once successful salesman who has difficulty adjusting to the modern ways of business. Students read the short story, analyze the structure of the story, and review reading skills. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 5-9.
This is a preview image of "The Way of the World". Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.
Story Structure Worksheet Template
Use this story structure worksheet template with any applicable story that you and your students are reading. This activity sheet will provide students with a framework to help guide them toward identifying structural elements.
This is a preview image of Story Structure Worksheet Template. Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.
Story Structure Lesson 1
Here is a PowerPoint slideshow on Story Structure. Students read a short story called "Gertrude the Great." Then they are introduced to story structure terms like rising action, climax, resolution.
This is a preview image of Story Structure Lesson 1. Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.
Story Structure Lesson 2
Here is another slideshow lesson on Story Structure. Students read a short story called "The Breakaway," a motivational story about an athlete who sustains an injury and has to find another way to succeed. Then they will analyze and identify structural elements of the story. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 5-9.
This is a preview image of Story Structure Lesson 2. Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.
Story Structure Quiz 1 | "Unto Others"
This is a story structure quizzed based on a short story called "Unto Others." Students read the story, which is about acceptance and redemption, and then they answer multiple choice questions about the structure of the story. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 3-7.
This is a preview image of "Unto Others". Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.
Story Structure Quiz 2 | "Blood is Thicker"
This is a story structure quizzed based on a short story called Blood is Thicker. It is about two sisters who are complete opposites. They must learn to work together to achieve their goals. Students read the short story and answer multiple choice questions about the structure of the story. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 4-8.
This is a preview image of "Blood is Thicker". Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.
Story Structure Quiz 3 | "Time Warriors"
This is a story structure quizzed based on a short story called Time Warriors. Alex is dismayed when his mother forces him to take his little brother with him to a friend's house. He learns to appreciate him by the end of the story. Students read the short story and complete multiple choice questions about the structure of the narrative. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 3-7.
This is a preview image of "Time Warriors". Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.
This is a photograph of a stack of books arranged like a house.
That's not quite what I meant when I said story structure...

Story Structure
Common Core State Standards

Story Structure Anchor Standard
R.5 - Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

RL.2.5 - Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
RL.3.5 - Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.
RL.4.5 - Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.
RL.5.5 - Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.
RL.6.5 - Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.
RL.7.5 - Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.
RL.8.5 - Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.
RL.9-10.5 - Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
RL.11-12.5 - Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
Click to VIEW Grade Level Standards for R.5
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169 Comments

  1. Perry

     /  April 13, 2017

    Your kindness and help for teachers all over the world is exemplary. I am so thankful for your dedication to the teaching craft and the unselfishness you display in giving us these resources. Where there are so many people taking the same sort of resources and charging for them you are give them to us. Thank you and I hope you continue to succeed for years to come in the career we all love.

    Reply
  2. fernanda

     /  February 19, 2017

    these stories are great but i would like to have the name of the authors… do you have any idea who wrote o created The Wallet story?

    thanks

    Reply
  3. Rachel Buell

     /  February 8, 2017

    Thank you so very much for maintaining this incredible website! After 12 years out of the classroom raising my kids, I am back in the middles school English classroom. Your resources are saving my sanity as I do not need to reinvent the wheel on a daily basis.
    God bless you!

    Reply
    • Thank you for the kind words and the blessings. I wish you the greatest possible success on your new journey.

      Reply
  4. Blanx

     /  January 23, 2017

    I can’t even express how thankful I am for this page! I am a new teacher and I really need all the help and this is amazing! A million thanks 🙂

    Reply
  5. Garrett

     /  December 12, 2016

    This is very helpful to us kids thanks for the share and i hope it helps me on my tests.

    Reply
  6. Zonia

     /  October 14, 2016

    DO you have Spanish version of your work?

    Reply
  7. Fostina

     /  August 28, 2016

    Thank you for compiling so many useful skill lesson activities for free use. I appreciate the time and effort you put forth and plan to visit your website regularly. Fantastic site!!

    Reply
  8. Rehana

     /  March 25, 2016

    Hi, I’m writing to you from Sri Lanka, my son is sitting for the Cambridge Primary Checkpoint exam this April and you have no idea how helpful your site has been for me. Thank you soooo much!!!

    Reply
  9. Lucky

     /  March 21, 2016

    This website is “HEAVEN SENT.” (If u don’t believe in God….well, then too bad 🙂 This site has amazing stuff, period.

    Reply
  10. Manel

     /  January 6, 2016

    Can we find more than one conflict in short stories?

    Reply
    • Yes. The more conflicts a story has, the more complex it is. Some stories have a tangled web of conflicts, but most have one or two.

      Reply
  11. Christine Parker

     /  December 29, 2015

    I appreciate the excellent selections for analysis. They provide a variety of reading levels and interests for the nationalities in my class. …sharing with coworkers…

    Reply
  12. Kris

     /  December 16, 2015

    I really appreciate you sharing this! It’s a great resource, and as someone else said, so nice not to have to recreate the wheel! Thank you!

    Reply
  13. Madhavi b

     /  November 4, 2015

    Extremely useful for explaining to my 7th grader. After searching on Google for 2 hours, i found this fabulous site!!

    Reply
  14. Nitzy

     /  October 22, 2015

    Hey I want to read a story named the phone call

    Reply
  15. djones

     /  October 13, 2015

    Thank you! <3

    Reply
  16. djones

     /  October 13, 2015

    Love this!

    Reply
  17. Sally Olo

     /  October 6, 2015

    Mahalo to you Mr. Morton. These worksheets are awesome for my students. I am pleased that I found this site.

    Reply
  18. Samantha

     /  September 22, 2015

    This is an amazing starting point for some long-term planning I have been working on for my sixth grade class. Thank you for this incredibly helpful resource!

    Reply
  19. Jones

     /  September 16, 2015

    Thank you so much for this site. Its a great resource, and my students love it.

    Reply
  20. Samer

     /  August 18, 2015

    Thank you! Amazing site!

    Reply
  21. Nancy

     /  August 4, 2015

    i am deeply grateful for this great work of yours which i truly found helpful and useful in class. Thanks much for sharing it.

    Reply
  22. Nancy

     /  August 4, 2015

    Thanks for sharing these lessons. These are truly helpful and useful. thanks much.

    Reply
  23. Sandra Rathjen

     /  May 21, 2015

    I modified you passages and added some stuff. Is there anyway I can email them to you, or share them using Office 365. I think they would be helpful to all.

    Reply
  24. Edosomwan Blessing

     /  May 17, 2015

    Thank you very much the worksheet are very helpful. I do not need to stay late looking for reading passages. Keep up your good work.

    Reply
  25. mithila

     /  April 10, 2015

    Admirable worksheets.
    Thanks for such a great help !!

    Reply
  26. Abdou

     /  March 10, 2015

    I am so grateful to you for your sense of sharing invaluable knowledge. Thanks a lot.

    Reply
  27. PWeiler

     /  January 9, 2015

    Thank you so much for sharing. These worksheets are such valuable tools in helping students “get” the skills they need.

    Reply
  28. Hailey

     /  December 24, 2014

    Thank you so much for sharing these fabulous worksheets!!

    Reply
  29. Kamran

     /  December 11, 2014

    Thank you! It is really one of the most helpful sights that I’ve encountered in my teaching career. Keep it up, and make a community.

    Reply
  30. Rita

     /  November 9, 2014

    Thank you very much to provide access to these FANTASTIC handouts! I’m a critical reading and writing teacher at university of Kazakhstan and I used these handouts as current control because it is of very HIGH quality. I recommend all the teachers of similar subjects to view these handouts as SAMPLE of organizing critical thinking. Support all opinions and God bless you for more brilliant ideas. Thank you!

    Reply
  31. Melissa

     /  November 2, 2014

    This website is great! Thank you very much!

    Reply
  32. Alana Filosa

     /  October 10, 2014

    Thank you soooo much for posting these! I can’t tell you what a tremendous help this was! Now I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. 😉 Thank you!!!

    Reply
  33. afafawar

     /  October 2, 2014

    Thank you for the precious information & reading comprehension worksheet that help me so much

    Reply
  34. Rebecca Arona

     /  September 13, 2014

    Thank you for sharing these materials.

    Reply
  35. Rebecca Arona

     /  September 13, 2014

    I just want to thank you for allowing me to use these worksheets for my Grade 6 English class.

    God bless you more!

    Reply
  36. Faisal

     /  August 22, 2014

    its a marvellous creation;the website

    Reply
  37. nancy klein

     /  July 16, 2014

    Thank you for wonderful material for my ELL students. We are using these worksheets in summer school to help reinforce the 6th grade curriculum.The work sheets are clear and concise.

    Reply
  38. Miss Brown

     /  February 4, 2014

    These are wonderful resources to use! Is there anyway we can get the lexile/grade level of these passages? Thanks!

    Reply
    • I attempted to license the Lexile measure for use on this site, but I found it to be a bit to expensive for a site giving away free resources. I have gone with readability scores instead: https://readability-score.com/ . These scores use non-proprietary measures to determine reading levels. It is definitely not as trendy as Lexile measures, but I think it serves the purpose.

      Thanks for the suggestion.
      I am happy to have implemented something similar to what you requested.

      Reply
  39. L. Avila

     /  January 17, 2014

    Thank you your worksheet are excellent. For my student. I use then all the time. And I always recommend to my other coworkers.thank again.

    Reply
  40. Kristen

     /  December 11, 2013

    Thank you very much! I love the worksheets

    Reply
  41. Kim Smith

     /  November 30, 2013

    Thank You so much!!!! The work sheets as well as the tips for teaching are the more than helpful. Thank you for being so thoughtful.
    Thanks So Much
    Kim Smith
    Chicago IL

    Reply
  42. Thanks… this is so fabulous… will bookmark site for future reference. May God bless you richly.

    Reply
  43. Mrs.J

     /  August 23, 2013

    Great worksheets,as an ESL teacher, I can use them with my students.

    Reply
  44. JoAnn Adolfo

     /  May 25, 2013

    Thank you soooo much!!! Your worksheets are AWESOME. Appreciate your help. All the best.

    Reply
  45. Flo Dari

     /  February 23, 2013

    Wow!!!!

    Reply
  46. Teressa Shipp

     /  January 9, 2013

    I love this website. It has been a great help for me. Our LA TCAPS are all long reading passages, and the passages on this site help prepare my students for these tests.

    Reply
  47. Miss T

     /  December 20, 2012

    Thank you Mr. Morton! These sheets are great for my fifth graders and I am very happy I found this site.

    Reply
  48. Lakana Glinkong

     /  December 19, 2012

    Thanks for the great work you have done. It sure has opened a new whole world for me and my students!

    Reply
  49. Claudia Montalvo

     /  December 13, 2012

    First of all, thanks for sharing those wonderful stories, my students just love them, and it makes class review so smooth. My students love the stories . I love every single one of them! You are the BEST! I´m from Veracruz , Mexico . My studens are 7th to 9th grade, they are so happy with your material.

    Thanks again.

    Reply
  50. mrs. ilyas

     /  November 28, 2012

    it is a wonderful site. as a teacher its help me alot.

    Reply

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