Name: ______________________________
Aesop: Put the Events in Order
Aesop was a Greek writer who wrote stories called fables. A fable is a story that gives a lesson at the end.
Here is one of Aesop’s fables.
The Lion and the Mouse
A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him
unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion’s nose. Roused from his nap, the
Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.
“Spare me!” begged the poor Mouse. “Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you.”
The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let
the Mouse go.
Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter’s net.
Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly
found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until
it parted, and soon the Lion was free.
“You laughed when I said I would repay you,” said the Mouse. “Now you see that even a Mouse can help
a Lion.”
Lesson: A kindness is never wasted.
Place the following actions in the story in the correct order by writing 1 in front of the first thing that
happened, 2 in front of the second thing that happened, and so on.
A. _____________ The Mouse found the Lion in the net.
B. _____________ The Lion roared with anger.
C. _____________ The Mouse promises to help the Lion someday if he will let her go.
D. _____________ The Lion was asleep.
E. _____________ The Lion laid his paw on the Mouse.
F. _____________ The Mouse chewed the net to free the Lion.
G. _____________ The Lion went hunting and got caught in a net.
H. _____________ The Lion let the Mouse go.
I. _____________ The Mouse ran across the Lion’s nose.
J. _____________ The Lion woke up.
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? Build a Plot: Connect the Paragraphs
The plot of a story is the main action that runs through the whole story. It begins with a problem or situation and
ends when the problem is solved or finished in some way.
Below is the opening of a story and the end of a story. Decide what the problem is, then what the steps, or plot
actions, should be to link the beginning of the story with the end. You may have new characters or a new setting
that should be added in your steps. There is space provided for three steps. You may add more if needed.
Beginning:
Jenny loved going to the mall with her mother. She liked looking in the windows of the stores and watching
the people. There was always something exciting happening there. Sometimes there were bands that played,
or sometimes there were special displays of plants and flowers.
One Saturday at the mall Jenny had stopped to watch the magician performing a magic trick. When she
looked up, her mother was not there. In the crowded mall, Jenny was lost.
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Ending:
In the police office at the mall, Jenny drank the juice that Officer Banks had given her. She was tired and
ready to go home, but she was also glad that she had helped find the robber of the shoe store. Suddenly, her
mother rushed into the office. Jenny was found!
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Name: ____________________________________
Discovering the Elements of the Story
Below is a passage from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Read the story and answer
the questions.
In her journey through Wonderland, Alice has become very small. She knows she needs to become her normal size again,
but she’s not sure how to do that.
from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
I t sounded an excellent plan, no doubt, and very neatly and simply arranged; the only difficulty was, that
she had not the smallest idea how to set about it; and while she was peering about anxiously among the
trees, a little sharp bark just over her head made her look up in a great hurry.
An enormous puppy was looking down at her with large round eyes, and feebly stretching out one paw,
trying to touch her. ‘Poor little thing!’ said Alice, in a coaxing tone, and she tried hard to whistle to it; but
she was terribly frightened all the time at the thought that it might be hungry, in which case it would be very
likely to eat her up in spite of all her coaxing.
Hardly knowing what she did, she picked up a little bit of stick, and held it out to the puppy; whereupon the
puppy jumped into the air off all its feet at once, with a yelp of delight, and rushed at the stick, and made
believe to worry it; then Alice dodged behind a great thistle, to keep herself from being run over; and the
moment she appeared on the other side, the puppy made another rush at the stick, and tumbled head over
heels in its hurry to get hold of it; then Alice, thinking it was very like having a game of play with a cart-
horse, and expecting every moment to be trampled under its feet, ran round the thistle again; then the puppy
began a series of short charges at the stick, running a very little way forwards each time and a long way back,
and barking hoarsely all the while, till at last it sat down a good way off, panting, with its tongue hanging out
of its mouth, and its great eyes half shut.
This seemed to Alice a good opportunity for making her escape; so she set off at once, and ran till she was
quite tired and out of breath, and till the puppy’s bark sounded quite faint in the distance.
1. Setting: Where do you think Alice is?
2. Characters: Who are the characters in the passage?
3. Problem: What is the problem Alice faces?
4. Solution: How does Alice solve the problem?
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Story Elements
Problem and Solution
For each passage below, write the problem and solution in the correct column.
Passage Problem Solution
1. John didn’t know what to
take to school for Show and
Tell. He asked his mother
for an idea. She suggested he
take the ribbon his dog won
at the pet parade.
2. Emily knew she had to
get to school on time, but
her mother said she couldn’t
drive her. Emily decided
to leave early and walk to
school.
3. Mrs. Anderson wanted a
fresh pineapple for her cake.
The store near her did not
have any fresh ones, so she
went to another store and
bought it there.
4. Robert was afraid the
flooding river would reach
his home. His parents were
away, and he was watching
with his little sister. He
saddled his horse, and he
and his sister rode to the top
of the hill.
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Name: ______________________________
Story Elements
What’s the Setting?
For each passage below, write the setting, or time and place, in the correct column.
Passage Time Place
1. As the night ended, the sun
splashed across Casey’s bed. He
opened his eyes slowly. The first
thing he saw was the beautiful blue
ribbon on his bookshelf.
2. Jenny ran as fast as she could
down the path. There were trees in
front of her, trees behind her, and
trees on both sides. While the snow
was falling heavily in the valley, only
a few snowflakes made it to the
ground around her.
3. Oscar thought it was time to
get a breath of air, so he began to
make his way to the surface. Before
he reached it, a large shadow came
toward him. Was it a shark? He
thought of his parents on the beach.
Would this be the end of vacation?
4. Kwamba the lion cub rolled
around near her mother’s feet. Her
mother would be leaving soon to
start to hunt. While humans could
not see in the darkness, it was
easy for lions. Kwamba hoped her
mother would get a gazelle. Those
were her favorite dinners.
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Name: ______________________________
Story Elements:
Who is a Character?
A character is a person, animal, or thing that plays an important part in a story. A character
thinks, feels, and acts.
All the short sentences below have at least one character. Circle the letter of the character or
characters in the sentence.
1. Lou ran past the trees to the house.
A. Lou B. trees C. house
2. Later that night the owl left its nest.
A. night B. owl C. nest
3. Susan and John played in the sand on the beach.
A. Susan B. John C. sand D. beach
4. The boy told his friend a secret.
A. boy B. friend C. secret
5. The dish ran away with the spoon.
A. dish B. away C. spoon
6. The dog chased a cat into a hole.
A. dog B. cat C. hole
7. As the rain fell, Joe’s mother closed the window.
A. rain B. Joe C. mother D. window
8. Since Ava was not home, Lucia went to watch the game alone.
A. Ava B. home C. Lucia D. game
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