5th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 1 of 11
Plot and Conflict
How stories rise and fall
What your child practices
The five parts of a plot, types of conflict (person vs. person, nature or self), and telling first-, second- and third-person point of view apart.
Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 5.RL.5 · plot structure and conflict
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- A plot has five parts: exposition (who and where), rising action, climax (the most exciting turning point), falling action and resolution.
- Conflict is the struggle: person vs. person, person vs. nature or person vs. self.
- First person uses I, second person uses you, third person uses he, she or they.
Example: “In the last second, Kenji dives and stops the final shot.” Which part of the plot is this? It is the most tense moment, when the game is decided. After this, things wind down. Answer: climax
Plot and Conflict in Arizona
In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 1 of 11 in 5th grade English Language Arts, before Figurative Language.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
- 5th grade guide for Arizona parents
- Printable 5th grade English Language Arts sheet
- Arizona report cards explained
Source: Arizona Department of Education
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Put the events of “The Missing Calf” in order, from the exposition to the resolution.
- A calf goes missing, and dark clouds gather as they search the fields.
- Their grandfather thanks them and lets them name the calf Thunder.
- Priya and her brother Jay are spending the summer at their grandparents' farm.
- Just as the rain starts, Priya hears a faint moo and finds the calf stuck behind a gate in the old barn.
- They free the calf and lead it back to its mother.
Priya and her brother Jay are spending the summer at their grandparents' farm. → A calf goes missing, and dark clouds gather as they search the fields. → Just as the rain starts, Priya hears a faint moo and finds the calf stuck behind a gate in the old barn. → They free the calf and lead it back to its mother. → Their grandfather thanks them and lets them name the calf Thunder.
Hint: Start with the event that introduces the characters. End with how things turn out.
Question 2
Which part of the plot is this event? “As the class watches, its skin splits open and a green chrysalis appears.”
Sam's class is raising monarch caterpillars in a tank by the window.
One caterpillar stops eating and hangs upside down, and the class worries that it is sick.
As the class watches, its skin splits open and a green chrysalis appears.
Every day, the students check on the chrysalis as it slowly darkens.
A monarch butterfly comes out, and the class releases it in the school garden.
- exposition
- climax
- resolution
- falling action
climax
Hint: The climax is the turning point: the most exciting or tense moment of the story.
Question 3
Which part of the plot is this event? “A monarch butterfly comes out, and the class releases it in the school garden.”
Sam's class is raising monarch caterpillars in a tank by the window.
One caterpillar stops eating and hangs upside down, and the class worries that it is sick.
As the class watches, its skin splits open and a green chrysalis appears.
Every day, the students check on the chrysalis as it slowly darkens.
A monarch butterfly comes out, and the class releases it in the school garden.
- falling action
- resolution
- climax
- exposition
resolution
Hint: The resolution comes last. It shows how things end up once the problem is solved.
Question 4
In “The Shootout,” which event is the climax?
- In the shootout, Kenji dives and stops the very last shot.
- Kenji realizes he can be brave even when he feels nervous.
- Kenji is the goalie for his soccer team, and penalty shots make him nervous.
- His teammates cheer and lift him onto their shoulders.
In the shootout, Kenji dives and stops the very last shot.
Hint: The climax is the turning point: the most exciting or tense moment of the story.
Question 5
From which point of view is this sentence told?
We set up our tent just as the sun went down.
- first person
- third person
first person
Hint: First person uses I, me, my or we. Second person speaks to the reader as “you.” Third person uses names and he, she or they.
Question 6
What type of conflict is this?
Maya wants to try out for the play, but she's afraid of forgetting her lines.
- person vs. nature
- person vs. person
- person vs. self
person vs. self
Hint: The struggle happens inside the character's own mind: a fear, a feeling or a hard choice.