Students learn the story mountain — beginning, problem, rising events, climax, ending — the shape that turns “and then, and then” into a real story worth reading.
Students will be able to…
A list of things that happened isn’t a story. What shape does a good story follow to keep a reader hooked from start to finish?
Project this and tap each point on the mountain. Students see what each part of a narrative does and a model sentence — the shape of a story from start to finish.
Each point is a part of a narrative. Tap to see what it does.
Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.
A list of events vs. a real story.
Teacher walks the story mountain.
Class uses the Story Mountain.
Students plan and draft a narrative.
Students share a part they’re proud of.
Aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences using descriptive details and a clear event sequence.
Establish a situation and introduce characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
Use dialogue and descriptions to show characters’ responses to situations.
Provide a sense of closure.
Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.
Have students use their story mountain to draft a complete narrative, then add dialogue and descriptive details in a second pass. A printable story-mountain planner is in the ELA library.
Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.
A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.
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.