Any Novel: Plot Diagram and Prediction Log

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English Language Arts · English 6-8
SP-ELA68-029 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 2
Any Novel: Plot Diagram and Prediction Log
English Language Arts · English 6-8 · Grades 8 · 50 minutes
Time needed
50 minutes (one class period)
Prep
Make sure every student has the class novel or their reading notes. Copy the 2-page
worksheet (one per student).
Technology
None.
Student
independence
High. Students work alone, then share with a partner.
Copies to make
One 2-page worksheet per student
Materials
The class novel (or reading notes), Pencils, Worksheet
Goal for today: Students will map the major events of a novel onto the plot structure, support predictions with textual
clues, and identify the central conflict.
Before the bell
☐ Copy the worksheet, one per student (2 pages).
☐ Make sure every student has the novel the class is reading, or their reading notes. If the class finished a
novel, students may use that one.
☐ Write on the board the plot parts in order: Exposition (setting and characters) – Rising action (events build
tension) – Climax (highest tension, turning point) – Falling action – Resolution (how it ends).
Say this to start
Good morning! Today you will map out the story you are reading in class. Every story has a shape: a beginning that
sets things up, events that build tension, a high point, and an ending. You will find those parts in your book, make
predictions based on clues, and answer questions about conflict. You do not need to have finished the book. Write
about what you have read so far.

SubstitutePlans.com
English Language Arts · English 6-8
SP-ELA68-029 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 3
Run of show
Minutes
What you do
What students do
0–5
Take attendance the way the school requires. Hand out the
worksheet and make sure each student has their novel or
notes.
Settle in, take out the novel and a pencil.
5–12
Read the plot parts on the board aloud. Draw a simple
mountain shape on the board and label the parts: the climb
is rising action, the peak is the climax, and the slope down
is falling action. Ask: “Think of a movie you know. Where is
the climax?” Take two answers.
Listen, answer, and look at the shape.
12–27
Tell students to complete Part A, the Plot So Far table,
using their book. Walk the room and ask, “What page tells
you that?” Tell them that if they have not reached the
climax yet, they should write what they think it will be.
Fill in the table with short notes and page
numbers.
27–36
Tell students to complete the Prediction Log in Part B,
writing three predictions with clues from the text.
Write three predictions and the clue that
supports each.
36–46
Tell students to answer questions 1–7 on page 2. Let
partners compare their predictions quietly for the last three
minutes.
Answer the multiple-choice and
short-answer questions, then share with a
partner.
46–50
Read answers for 1–4 aloud from the key. Collect all
worksheets and stack them for the teacher.
Check answers 1–4 and hand in the
worksheet.
If things go wrong
• If a student does not have the book, let them share with a neighbor or use their reading notes. If neither is
possible, they may use a movie, TV series, or other story they know well, since the tasks work for any story.
• If a student says, “Nothing has happened yet,” tell them to list what the author has set up so far (the setting,
the characters, the problem). That counts as the exposition and early rising action.
• If a student finishes in under 30 minutes, check that every row of the table has a page number, then use the
early finisher list.
• If the room is noisy, remind students that this is independent work, and partners may whisper only in the last
three minutes.
Early finishers
• On the back, sketch the plot mountain and place five events from your book on it in the correct order.
• Write a one-paragraph summary of the book so far in exactly four sentences.
Support and challenge
• Support: Let students fill in only the first four rows of the Plot So Far table and write only two predictions.
• Challenge: Ask students to write an alternate ending to the book in four sentences, and then explain which
plot part would change most.

SubstitutePlans.com
English Language Arts · English 6-8
SP-ELA68-029 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 4
Notes for the teacher (you fill this in)
Jot a few lines before you leave. A full Daily Sub Report is in the free Sub Survival Kit at SubstitutePlans.com.
How far the class got / what to pick up next:
Students who were especially helpful:
Anything the teacher should know: