Are you looking for short story passages that demonstrate conventional structural elements such as rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution? Well, look no further. This site has a bunch of free worksheets and stories that you can use to teach your students about story structure and more.
Story Structure Worksheet 1 – “The Breakaway” – Read this motivational story about an athlete who sustains an injury and has to find another way to succeed, and then analyze and identify structural elements of the story. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 5-9
“The Breakaway” | RTF
“The Breakaway” | PDF
“The Breakaway” | Preview
“The Breakaway” | Answers
“The Breakaway” | Ereading Worksheet – Online Practice Test
Common Core State Standards Related to Story Structure
Expand to View All Common Core State Standards Related to Story StructureCCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.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.
ELA Standards: Literature
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.5 – Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.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.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.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.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.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.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.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.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.5 – Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.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.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.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.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.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.
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Understanding Common Core State Standards
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Alva Gomez
/ September 21, 2015Is there a Spanish version of this website?
Mr. Morton
/ September 24, 2015I wish… Maybe one day I’ll hire a translator, or learn Spanish. 😀
Bob
/ January 30, 2012No answers?!
Mr. Morton
/ January 31, 2012Yes, Bob, there are answers. Click the “View Answers” link, but remember that answers may vary and more than one correct answer can be supported.