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Story Elements in Pre-K

By Karen Cox | Affiliate Disclosure | Filed Under: Reading & Book Activities

Discussing story elements is a great way to encourage discussion and build new vocabulary in Pre-K. Using pictorial symbols makes it easier for young children to learn the elements of a story.

Please note: The printable for this activity is currently not available from the site where I got it. I have been trying to contact Best Practices to see if it is still available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Story Elements in Pre-K

There’s a neat printable on the Georgia Pre-K website for teaching this to Pre-K children. I know many of you might not know about this resource, so I’ll link to the printable at the end of this post.

The printable contains Story Symbols to represent these story elements:

  • Star = Main Character, “Who is the star of the story?”
  • Globe = Setting, “Where in the world does the story happen?”
  • Heart = Characters’ feelings, “How did he/she feel?”
  • Magnifying Glass = Problem, “Look closely to find the problem in the story.”
  • Tool Box = Solution, “How did they fix the problem?”

The first time we did this activity back in August, we started with one symbol: the star. The next time, we added the globe. After that, we had 3 symbols: star, globe, and heart. Later, we added the problem and solution symbols. When we do this activity, I say the picture symbol (such as “globe”), but I also say what it means, “the globe is the setting, the place where it happens”. That way, the children learn the “fancier” terminology as we do this through the year.

I use these symbols in two ways: on a chart and on a ring. For the chart, I glue the story symbols to a poster with a picture of the book cover at the top (see photos). As the children tell me about the story elements, I draw a simple picture beside each story symbol that represents what they said. We usually make a story elements chart about once a week.

To make the story ring, just laminate the story symbols and hook them onto a binder ring. You can use the story ring to have the children discuss the story as you flip through the cards. Going through the story ring is a quicker activity, and could be used as a transition activity.

These are some examples below of the story charts we have made in class. (Please excuse my bad artwork — I’m not a terrific artist and I try to draw these quickly so the kids don’t get bored.) Hint: The kids won’t care how good/bad your art is, but if drawing “on the spot” makes you nervous, just practice drawing things you think the kids will say the day before.

Story Elements 5
This year’s class really likes to use the word “cross”.
Story Elements 1
Story Elements 2
Story Elements 3
Story Elements 4

Please note: The printable for this activity is currently not available from the site where I got it. I have been trying to contact Best Practices to see if it is still available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

The book covers can be found online through Google Images or similar.

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About Karen Cox

Karen is the founder of PreKinders.com. She also works as a full-time Pre-K teacher in Georgia. Read more...

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Glad you're here! You'll find hands-on learning activities, themes, and printables for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten kids. I'm Karen Cox, a Pre-K teacher in Georgia. I have taught 4-5 year olds for 20+ years! Read More…

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Get FREE weekly updates!
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We collect, use, and process your data according to our Privacy Policy.
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Join here to get weekly emails with free printables and activities for Pre-K!
We collect, use, and process your data according to our Privacy Policy.
Don't worry - we never sell or share email addresses!