Plot Structure: Sorting the Story of the Missing Cash Box

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English Language Arts · Creative Writing
SP-CWRIT-006 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 2
Plot Structure: Sorting the Story of the Missing
Cash Box
English Language Arts · Creative Writing · Grades 8-10 · 50 minutes
Time needed
50 minutes (one class period)
Prep
Copy the 2-page worksheet (one per student). Draw a plot mountain on the board (see Before
class).
Technology
None.
Student
independence
High. Students read and work alone, then plan their own plot.
Copies to make
One 2-page worksheet per student
Materials
Pencils, Worksheet, Whiteboard or chalkboard
Goal for today: Students will classify events from a short story as exposition, rising action, climax, falling action or
resolution, and will outline an original plot.
Before the bell
☐ Copy the worksheet, one per student (2 pages).
☐ Draw a mountain on the board: a line that climbs up to a peak, then slopes down. Label the five parts:
Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution.
☐ Keep the answer key on your desk.
Say this to start
Good morning! Today your class is studying how stories are built. Almost every story has a beginning that introduces
the characters, a build-up of problems, a high point, and an ending. You will read a short story, sort the events into
those parts, and then plan a story of your own. The labels are on the board if you need them.

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English Language Arts · Creative Writing
SP-CWRIT-006 · 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.
Settle in and take out a pencil.
5–10
Point to the plot mountain on the board and read the
definitions in the Plot Parts box on the worksheet aloud.
Follow along and look at the board.
10–18
Tell students to read the story silently. Remind them to
underline the moment they think has the most tension.
Read the story and underline the
highest-tension moment.
18–30
Tell students to complete questions 1–8 (matching events
to plot parts). Walk the room and point stuck students to
the definitions.
Match each event to its plot part.
30–35
Tell students to answer questions 9 and 10.
Answer the two multiple-choice questions.
35–47
Tell students to complete the Plot Outline table and
question 11. They should plan an original story, not copy
the one on the worksheet.
Plan an original story using all five parts,
then write the climax sentence.
47–50
Have students finish the exit ticket. Collect all worksheets.
Write the exit ticket and hand in the
worksheet.
If things go wrong
• If students disagree over where the climax is, point to the definition: the climax is the moment of greatest
tension when the outcome is decided.
• If students ask whether two events can belong to the same part, tell them yes; one part can have several
events.
• If a student cannot think of a story, suggest a character who loses something important and has until a
deadline to find it.
• If students finish early, point to the early finisher list.
Early finishers
• Rewrite the ending of the story so that Nora does NOT find the box. What would the falling action look like?
• Add a new sentence to the exposition of your own story that introduces a second character.
• Draw your own plot mountain on the back and label each part with one event.
Support and challenge
• Support: Let students complete questions 1–8 and fill in only the first three rows of the Plot Outline table.
• Challenge: Ask students to write a short paragraph about how the story would feel different if the climax
came first.

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English Language Arts · Creative Writing
SP-CWRIT-006 · 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: