5th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 1 of 17
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.
New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 5R5 · 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 New York
In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 1 of 17 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 Storm on the Lake” in order, from the exposition to the resolution.
- That night, Leo decides to learn how to read the weather before every trip.
- Leo grabs the oars and rows with all his strength as the waves grow bigger.
- Leo loves fishing on the lake with his aunt every Saturday.
- At last, the boat bumps against the dock, and his aunt ties it up tight.
- One morning, dark clouds roll in while they're far from shore, and the motor won't start.
Leo loves fishing on the lake with his aunt every Saturday. → One morning, dark clouds roll in while they're far from shore, and the motor won't start. → Leo grabs the oars and rows with all his strength as the waves grow bigger. → At last, the boat bumps against the dock, and his aunt ties it up tight. → That night, Leo decides to learn how to read the weather before every trip.
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? “Zoe puts the trophy on her shelf, right next to her flashcards.”
Zoe has practiced for the school spelling bee for months.
She makes it to the final round, but her mind goes blank on a word she knows.
She takes a deep breath, pictures her flashcard and spells the word correctly to win.
Her classmates clap as the principal hands her the trophy.
Zoe puts the trophy on her shelf, right next to her flashcards.
- rising action
- climax
- falling action
- resolution
resolution
Hint: The resolution comes last. It shows how things end up once the problem is solved.
Question 3
Which part of the plot is this event? “Her classmates clap as the principal hands her the trophy.”
Zoe has practiced for the school spelling bee for months.
She makes it to the final round, but her mind goes blank on a word she knows.
She takes a deep breath, pictures her flashcard and spells the word correctly to win.
Her classmates clap as the principal hands her the trophy.
Zoe puts the trophy on her shelf, right next to her flashcards.
- resolution
- climax
- falling action
- rising action
falling action
Hint: The falling action comes right after the climax, as the excitement settles down.
Question 4
In “The Missing Calf,” which event is the climax?
- They free the calf and lead it back to its mother.
- 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.
- Just as the rain starts, Priya hears a faint moo and finds the calf stuck behind a gate in the old barn.
Just as the rain starts, Priya hears a faint moo and finds the calf stuck behind a gate in the old barn.
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?
A blizzard traps Priya's family in their cabin until the roads are cleared.
- person vs. nature
- person vs. person
- person vs. self
person vs. nature
Hint: The character struggles against weather, animals or the natural world.