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.
Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 5.1.4.3; 5.1.5.1 · how characters, conflict and events develop, and how chapters build a story
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 Minnesota
In the Minnesota K-12 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.
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.
- They free the calf and lead it back to its mother.
- Just as the rain starts, Priya hears a faint moo and finds the calf stuck behind a gate in the old barn.
- Their grandfather thanks them and lets them name the calf Thunder.
- A calf goes missing, and dark clouds gather as they search the fields.
- Priya and her brother Jay are spending the summer at their grandparents' farm.
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? “The other players crowd around and ask her how she planned her moves.”
Maya has just moved to a new town and doesn't know anyone at her school.
She asks to join the lunchtime chess games, but the players tell her the boards are full.
At the school chess tournament, Maya faces the best player in the final game and wins.
The other players crowd around and ask her how she planned her moves.
Maya starts a chess club, and soon it has twelve members.
- climax
- exposition
- rising action
- falling action
falling action
Hint: The falling action comes right after the climax, as the excitement settles down.
Question 3
Which part of the plot is this event? “She asks to join the lunchtime chess games, but the players tell her the boards are full.”
Maya has just moved to a new town and doesn't know anyone at her school.
She asks to join the lunchtime chess games, but the players tell her the boards are full.
At the school chess tournament, Maya faces the best player in the final game and wins.
The other players crowd around and ask her how she planned her moves.
Maya starts a chess club, and soon it has twelve members.
- falling action
- exposition
- rising action
- climax
rising action
Hint: In the rising action, a problem appears and the tension builds.
Question 4
In “The Shootout,” which event is the climax?
- Kenji realizes he can be brave even when he feels nervous.
- In the shootout, Kenji dives and stops the very last shot.
- His team reaches the final, and the game ends in a tie.
- Kenji is the goalie for his soccer team, and penalty shots make him nervous.
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
What is the conflict in a story?
- the main problem or struggle the characters face
- the place where the story happens
- the lesson the reader learns
- the person telling the story
the main problem or struggle the characters face
Hint: Every story has a problem to solve. That struggle is the conflict.
Question 6
From which point of view is this sentence told?
Kenji peered into the tide pool, searching for crabs.
- third person
- first person
third 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.