Access

Recruiting Interest

• Allow students to choose a favorite text to analyze for the literary elements of a narrative text. 

• Post anchor charts with pictures showing character and their traits, setting (time and place), and plot (beginning, middle and end) to build interest in literary elements.

• Spend time to explicitly teach students each literary element over several days, of setting (time and place), characters and their traits, and plot (beginning, middle and end). 

Perception

• Allow students to work with a partner to find the specified literary elements in a text. 

• Increase text size or provide text-to-speech when reading text. 

Physical Action

• Give students the opportunity to act out the plot of the story with a group of students.  

• Sort picture cards from a text to identify the setting, character, and plot of the story. 

Build

Sustaining Effort & Persistence

• State and review the lesson objective of finding identified literary elements at the beginning, middle and end of each lesson (e.g., Day one: Students will identify the setting of a narrative text).

• Provide varying levels of text for students to use to identify elements of a narrative text. 

• Allow students to work in groups to identify the specific literary element of the day’s lesson. 

Language & Symbols

• As students read or listen to a text, they fill out a graphic organizer with sentences, words, or pictures of the elements. 

• Use pictures to identify the elements of characters, setting, and plot. 

• Provide vocabulary words: setting, character, traits, and plot in the student's native language. 

Expression & Communication

• Allow students to use text-to-speech for any written task.

• Allow students to use a read-aloud from technology or partner to complete a finding literary elements tasks. 

Internalize

Self Regulation

• Give students immediate and relevant feedback during the lesson (e.g., “Yes, that is the main character of the story!”).  

• Students indicate with a thumbs up or down to indicate their level of understanding of the literary element. 

• Take time to assist students in self-regulation by breaking tasks into manageable chunks.  

Comprehension

• Activate prior knowledge by making an anchor chart with students identifying the literary elements of a text.

• Students color code story elements in a written text (e.g., Red: characters, Blue: setting, etc.). 

Executive Function

• Students apply their knowledge of literary elements to a familiar text (e.g., The Three Little Pigs) by filling out a graphic organizer for narrative story elements. 

• Students illustrate each literary element of a chosen text.