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.
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.
The printable doesn’t come from me, but here is how you can find it. Go to Georgia Pre-K’s Off to a Good Start page. When you’re there, click the “Printable Resources” tab, then click to download the “Story Symbols”. The book covers can be found online through Google Images or similar.
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I really love this idea!! Thank you for sharing the file 🙂
You’re welcome, Cherine!
LOVE love love this idea. Thank you so much. Going to start it tomorrow!
Great! Hope you kids enjoy the activity!
Love this idea!!!!
Thanks, Debbie!
I love this idea. I’m printing it now and using it this week. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Mary!
Thanks so much, Karen. I can’t wait to use these tomorrow in class!!!! You have wonderful ideas and I really enjoy using them.
Thanks, Amanda!
Love this!!! Making the transition from 4th grade to kindergarten next year I love seeing things like this! The same skills the kids are going to need all the way through… It’s just a fabulous way to introduce them! Thank you so much for sharing, I really enjoy reading your posts.
Thanks, Nikki! Hope you have a great year in Kindergarten. 🙂 That’s so true that it helps children learn skills they will use later in school, and with the symbols, it is done in an age-appropriate way.
I love this idea. It is such a great way to introduce the parts of a story! You are so generous to share! As a class each year we make up a story on teddy bear day…. it is hard to get started and this will be a great help. And I am excited to try it to retell stories also.
Thank you :o)
Interesting idea, Michele. I had not thought of using these symbols to help children make up a story, but they would be an awesome tool for that! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Karen Cox !!! for chering wonderful idea
Ana Rurh
Thanks for visiting, Ana!
These look terrific and I will put these to use with my preschoolers. Thanks for these great resources!
You’re so welcome, Diane! Thanks for visiting!
Wow! this is such a great idea. thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you so much for sharing this idea. My daughter is involved with speech therapy and one of her goals is to work on retelling a story to improve her expressive language skills. I think this would be a perfect aid!
LOVE this idea! Can’t wait to try this later this week! Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas!
I really look forward to your weekly mails. I love your ideas and implement them whenever I can. Thanks a ton.
So excited to start using these story ideas! My kids are hooked on reading now! Can you give me a list of good picture books that have great themes? (my class are 4’s & 5’s) Thanks again!
It is a great input for kindergarten to introduce the parts of a story
thanks for all your contribution on this field.
With Regards
Really inspiring and wonderful idea. Thanks a lot
Thank you for this idea!
Question: I clicked on the link provided, followed your directions & haven’t been able to locate it. 🙁 After clicking on the link, I was brought to Georgia’s Pre-K website, but could not find a ‘printable resources’ tab. Has anyone else encountered this?
Thanks!
Look in the middle of your screen when you click the link.
Thanks Karen…Again you lead us to the top of our game! Great idea ,great visuals and works perfect to leave posted for children to go back to.Love it !!!!
Thanks again. Have a blessed day.
Great idea! I can’t wait to use this with my preschoolers, they will love it!
Thank you so much!
This is great!!!! Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
I like this idea
thank you for your ideias. I love them! (Portugal)
Karen; Thank You for sharing your wonderful ideas. I get to use them a lot and they work great!
Magdalena
wonderful!my kidz would love it:)
Love this and thanks for this inspiring website!
I have recently start a blog myself, hoping to inspire other teacher to!
Unable to find Printable Resources on the website. HELP! Fleur
I run my own in home pre-k licensed by VA. and I do want to thank you so much for the time and effort you put into this site, I love it, my kids love it, and your skills to put the website together also are to be commended…I’m working on wordpress (but I’m 56 and computer illiterit (sic) getting there. (but in a word “THANKS”)
Excellent idea for reading comprehension. Thanks for the this great idea.
Thanks karen.
Is very self-inspiring and i like it very useful for early childhood education in Indonesia.
thanks for sharing it. Love from Indonesia
Thanks Dwiana!
Hello! Karen.
I cannot print the story elements Symbols. I did what you said, but doesn’t work. Thank you Karen for everything what you doing for us, I used a lot your wonderful ideas, and my class always enjoyed everything….. Thanks very, very much!!!! You are amazing!!!!
Hello! Karen.
I tried again and it’s work. HA!HA! Sorry about that……
I’m glad it worked!
I really liked your idea. I’m going to try it with my preschoolers.
Excellent posts! We’re sharing on Twitter and Facebook 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this information. Im sure my kids will have alot of fun doing this.
Such a great idea of symbols to engage kids, thanks a lot!
I can’t seem to locate this resource on the Georgia website you mentioned…any suggestions for helping me find it? It looks really great!!!! Thanks! Traci
When you go to that page, you’ll need to click the little tab that says “printable resources”.
Thank you for this awesome idea. My 4.5 year old have been talking about characters for a couple of weeks, and today we added “setting” to our book discussion. We illustrated our responses on post-it notes and did a bit of interactive writing to label our work. Thank you for being so generous in sharing your work with other teachers!