Elements of Plot & Plot Diagram Unit Plan for Middle & High School English

Get ready to engage students with a fun, high-interest plot unit. Use three animated short films, a funny tv show episode, and an ambiguous short story to introduce or review elements of plot and plot diagrams with your secondary ELA students.

You like to be prepared. Make sure your students are ready to embark on literary analysis of grade-level-appropriate texts by ensuring they have a clear understanding of these foundational elements:

• Plot
  • Exposition
  • Complications
  • Climax
  • Resolution

and prepare for future discussions of these related terms:

• Character
• Conflict
• En media res
• Foreshadowing
• Point of View
• Setting 
• Theme

Introduce plot elements with a student-friendly reference guide that includes definitions and examples, access to a review Kahoot! Challenge, and helpful infographic resources you and your students can refer to throughout the year. 

Practice placing events on plot diagrams with three animated short films. Students are provided a list of events and place them appropriately using digital drag-and-drop or printed cut-and-paste plot diagram resources. 

Add a layer of complexity as students watch an episode of a tv show and answer questions about setting, character, conflict, and foreshadowing, in addition to completing a plot diagram activity. 

Having developed confidence with accessible, low-stakes “texts,” students then apply their learning with the short story “The Lady, or the Tiger?” Guided reading questions help students move successfully through this challenging text and focus on literary elements relevant to this engaging tale. Should your students benefit from additional practice with the plot diagram, a blank plot diagram (you can also use it for your own assignments ) is included.

The unit wraps up with a 20 question multiple-choice assessment that determines not just comprehension of the literary terms and plot elements, but students’ ability to apply those terms to the texts in the unit.  

What’s Included in the Plot Elements and Plot Diagram Unit Plan for Secondary ELA:

1. Plot Infographic (digital and print)
2. Key Plot Devices to Know (digital and print)
3. Access to Key Plot Devices to Know Kahoot! Challenge
4. Animated Short Film Plot Diagram activities (digital and print; includes answer key)
5. Reviewing Plot Devices and Plot Diagrams with Modern Family activities (digital and print; includes answer key) 
6. “The Lady, or the Tiger?” short story
7. “The Lady, or the Tiger” Guided Reading Questions PreAP/Honors (digital and print; includes answer key and scoring guide)
8. “The Lady, or the Tiger” Guided Reading Questions PreAP/Honors with challenging in-text vocabulary defined (digital and print; includes answer key and scoring guide)
9. “The Lady, or the Tiger” Guided Reading Questions Standard-level with challenging in-text vocabulary defined (digital and print; includes answer key and scoring guide)
10. Blank plot diagram template
11. Plot Devices Quiz (digital and print; includes two versions and answer keys)
12. Unit overview (includes content standards)

⭐️ Be sure to check out the preview for additional information about this unit. ⭐️

Although we made these resources in Google Apps for Google Apps, we added so much goodness in here, we couldn't upload through Google Drive! On the plus side, if you're like us, you want to be able to find things easily. Using a ZIP file allows us to keep everything nice and tidy for you. Need help uploading the file to Google Drive? Check this out.

Copyright © Three Heads Teaching, LLC

We hope you find this resource useful in your classroom. We have no problem with you sharing these materials with your course-alike colleagues and hope it earns you your favorite ☕! If you would like to share with other teachers, please purchase an additional, discounted license. Please do not publish, print, or post answer keys online for your students. We kindly ask that you not post any of these materials on publicly accessible websites.