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Story Parts: Characters & Setting

First graders learn to find the important parts of a story — the characters (who), the setting (where and when), and the events (what happens) — so they can understand and retell any story.

Grade 1Story Elements45 minutes1 class periodReading WorkshopExplicit teaching4 StandardsCommon Core
Start the Lesson
Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Identify the characters (who).
  • ✓Identify the setting (where/when).
  • ✓Describe the events (what).
  • ✓Retell a story in order.
Essential Question

Every story has a WHO, a WHERE, and a WHAT. If you can find those, you can understand and retell any story you read!

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Story Explorer · Interactive

The Story Explorer

Project this and tap each story part. Have children find the who, where, and what in a class story!

📚 Explore the parts of a story — tap each!Try it

The Lesson · Reading Workshop (Mini-Lesson · Practice · Share)

45 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Connect — Who and Where?

5 min

Think of a favorite story — who is in it? Where does it happen?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name a favorite story.
  • Ask who and where.
  • Set the goal: story parts.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name a story.
  • Say who/where.
  • Predict the parts.
2

Teach — Story Parts

10 min

Teacher models.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Read a story aloud.
  • Point out characters and setting.
  • Name the events.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Listen.
  • Find who/where.
  • Name what happens.
3

Active Engagement — Explore Together

12 min

Class uses the Story Explorer.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Tap each part.
  • Find it in the class story.
  • Say who, where, what.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Tap each part.
  • Find it.
  • Say the parts.
4

Practice — Practice

13 min

Students find story parts.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Read a short story.
  • Name characters and setting.
  • Retell it in order.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Read it.
  • Name the parts.
  • Retell it.
5

Share — Share

5 min

Students retell.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Invite a retelling.
  • Check who, where, what.
  • Hand out the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Retell a story.
  • Name the parts.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

CCSS
RL.1.3

Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story.

CCSS
RL.1.1

Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS
RL.1.2

Retell stories and demonstrate understanding of the central message.

CCSS
RL.1.7

Use illustrations and details to describe a story.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Story-part picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “The character is ___; the setting is ___.”
  • Retell with pictures.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Focus on characters first.
  • Use a familiar story.
  • Retell with picture prompts.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Compare two settings.
  • Describe how a character feels.
  • Draw the beginning, middle, end.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 📚A picture storybook
  • 💻The Story Explorer
  • 🖍️Crayons
  • 🖼️Story-part cards
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

storya telling of eventscharactera person or animal in a storysettingwhere and when a story happenseventsomething that happensbeginninghow a story startsmiddlethe main part of a storyendhow a story finishesretellto say what happened in order
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
What are the characters in a story?
The people or animals in the story — the WHO.
QUESTION 2
What is the setting of a story?
Where and when the story happens.
QUESTION 3
When you retell a story, what three things should you tell?
Who was in it, where it happened, and what happened (in order).

Growing at home? Story time talk.

At bedtime stories, have families ask the child: who is in this story? Where does it happen? What happened? A printable story-parts page is in the ELA library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Story Characters & SettingFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Story Characters & SettingQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Story Characters & SettingPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: beginning, character, end, event, middle, retell, setting, story
  1. to say what happened in order
  2. the main part of a story
  3. a telling of events
  4. something that happens
  5. how a story finishes
  6. a person or animal in a story
  7. how a story starts
  8. where and when a story happens

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. What are the characters in a story?
  2. What is the setting of a story?
  3. When you retell a story, what three things should you tell?
Answer key — Part A: 1) retell · 2) middle · 3) story · 4) event · 5) end · 6) character · 7) beginning · 8) setting
Part B: 1) The people or animals in the story — the WHO. 2) Where and when the story happens. 3) Who was in it, where it happened, and what happened (in order).