Literary Elements Teaching Resources
Are ou teaching literary elements and looking for worksheets and activities to get students excited about tone, narration, plot and a host of other elements to writing a great story? How do you engage elementary students on the concept of character traits and make plot development as exciting as recess?
The ELA teachers on the Teach Starter team have done just that with a collection of printable worksheets and digital activities built around this core reading standard. Aligned with both TEKS and the Common Core English curriculum, each literary elements activity in the collection has undergone a careful review by a member of our teacher team to ensure it's ready for your lesson plans and your students.
Explore our teacher team's guide to learn more about the various literary elements and how to bring them to life in your classroom!
Is this your first year teaching this sector of ELA? Or the first year in a while? Our teacher team has put together a quick refresher to get you ready to rock and roll in the classroom, including a way to explain what literary elements are to students.
What Are Literary Elements? A Kid-Friendly Definition
First thing's first: Let's talk about the definition.
Literary elements are the basic components of writing that the author uses to share the story with the reader. Without them, the narrative falls apart!
They are sometimes referred to as narrative elements. No matter what you call them, these elements give a piece of writing structure and help the author convey information to the reader.
On the reading side, literary elements are also key to breaking down a story to understand better what the author is trying to say.
What Are Examples of Literary Elements? 8 Examples That Can Help Your Students
There are eight main examples of literary elements that students will encounter in narrative texts:
1. Setting
This element is crucial for developing a story as it provides the time in which the story takes place as well as where it takes place. Setting helps ground the story.
2. Plot
The plot is the way a story unfolds. It's essentially a pattern for the text.
3. Conflict
Conflict helps move a plot forward as it offers the reader a climax to move toward as they read.
4. Characterization
This element of writing covers the way characters are developed within a story.
5. Point of View
Also called narration, this literary element is the perspective from which a story is told, such as first person or third person.
6. Tone
The tone of a story can be boiled down to the author's attitude about the subject of the story.
7. Genre
Genre covers the type of story written, such as realistic fiction, science fiction or even magical realism.
8. Figurative Language
Similes, metaphors, and onomatopoeia are just some examples of the figurative language students encounter in a text.
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Story Elements Flipbook
Teach your students about story elements with this double-sided flipbook.
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Three Little Pigs – Sequencing Worksheet
Identify the story beginning, series of events and ending with this narrative text sequencing activity.
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Story Elements Graphic Organizers – Landscape
Encourage your students to write and draw about various story elements with this set of differentiated graphic organizers.
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Inside Trait or Outside Trait? Interactive Game
Explore the internal and external traits of story characters with this interactive digital game.
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Comparing Characters - Graphic Organizers
Encourage your students to compare story characters with this set of differentiated graphic organisers that can be used with any text.
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Internal and External Character Traits - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Explore the internal and external traits of story characters with this differentiated cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Story Characters - Mini Book
Teach your little learners about the various types of story characters with this fun-sized mini-book.
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Exploring Story Characters - Worksheets
Explore the defining features of story characters with this differentiated worksheet.
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Character or Not? - Sorting Activity
Explore the difference between characters and non-characters with this hands-on sorting activity.
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Character or Not? - Interactive Activity
Explore the difference between characters and non-characters with this digital learning activity.
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Story Setting or Not? Cut and Paste Worksheet
Explore the difference between story settings and non-settings with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Character or Not? Cut and Paste Worksheet
Explore the difference between characters and non-characters with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Character or Not? - Coloring Worksheet
Explore the difference between characters and non-characters with this coloring worksheet.
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What Is the Setting? - Worksheets
Encourage your students to identify the setting in short and simple texts with this set of six worksheets.
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Story Settings - Flipbook
Teach your students about story settings with this hands-on flipbook.
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Beginning, Middle and End Mini-Book - Itsy Bitsy Spider
Teach your students about the beginning, middle and end of a story with mini-book retelling of The Itsy Bitsy Spider.
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Beginning, Middle and End Mini-Book - Jack Around Town
Teach your students about the beginning, middle and end of a story with this narrative mini-book.
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Beginning, Middle and End Mini-Book - The Three Bears
Teach your students about the beginning, middle and end of a story with this mini-book retell of The Three Bears.
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Beginning, Middle and End Mini-Book - The Three Little Pigs
Teach your students about the beginning, middle and end of a story with this mini-book retell of The Three Little Pigs.
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Story Elements: Sequencing Jack Be Nimble
Teach your students the art of sequencing with an instructional slide deck surrounding the Jack Be Nimble nursery rhyme.
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Little Miss Muffet - Story Elements Worksheet Pack
Identify characters, setting, and parts of a story with kindergarten reading worksheets featuring the Little Miss Muffet nursery rhyme.
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Little Miss Muffet - Sequencing Cards
Read and retell the story within the tale of Little Miss Muffet with a set of retelling pocket chart cards.
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Jack Be Nimble - Story Element Worksheets
Demonstrate learning about the parts of a story with a printable set of Jack be Nimble Story Element worksheets.
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Jack Be Nimble - Pocket Chart Sequencing Cards
Read and retell the story of Jack Be Nimble with a set of retell pocket chart cards.
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Little Miss Muffet - Sequencing Slide Deck
Engage young readers in texts and learn about setting with an instructional slide deck featuring the Little Miss Muffet rhyme.
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Hey Diddle Diddle - Sequencing Cards
Sequence the events in “Hey Diddle Diddle” with a set of retelling pocket chart cards.
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Hey Diddle Diddle Worksheets
Identify characters, setting, and parts of a story with kindergarten reading worksheets featuring the “Hey, Diddle, Diddle” nursery rhyme.
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Story Elements Anchor Charts - Sloth-Themed Posters
Display these cute sloth-themed story elements anchor charts when learning about narrative texts.
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Hey Diddle Diddle - Story Elements Slide Deck
Engage young readers in texts and learn about setting with an instructional slide deck featuring the Hey Diddle Diddle rhyme.
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Humpty Dumpty Pocket Chart Retell Cards
Read and retell the story within the Humpty Dumpty tale with a set of retelling pocket chart cards.
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Humpty Dumpty Teaching Slides - All About Characters
Engage young readers in texts and learn about characters with an instructional slide deck featuring the Humpty Dumpty rhyme.
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Hickory Dickory Dock - Pocket Chart Retell Cards
Read and retell the story found within the nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock with a set of retell pocket chart cards.
- Literary Elements Worksheets
- Literary Elements Templates
- Literary Elements Games
- Literary Elements for Kindergarten
- Literary Elements for 1st Grade
- Literary Elements for 2nd Grade
- Literary Elements for 3rd Grade
- Literary Elements for 4th Grade
- Literary Elements for 5th Grade
- Literary Elements for 6th Grade