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Story Parts: Who, Where & What

Kindergartners learn the parts of a story — the characters (who), the setting (where), and what happens — so they can understand and retell the stories they love.

KindergartenStories30 minutes1 class periodPlay-BasedExplicit teaching4 StandardsCommon Core
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Find the characters (who).
  • ✓Find the setting (where).
  • ✓Tell what happens.
  • ✓Retell a story.
Essential Question

Every story has a WHO, a WHERE, and a WHAT! If you can find those, you can tell the whole story back.

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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 part of a story. Have children find the who, where, and what in a favorite story!

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

The Lesson · Play-Based Learning (Gather · Explore · Play · Reflect)

30 minutes, five moves

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

1

Gather — Who and Where

5 min

Think of a story you love — who is in it? Where is it?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

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

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name a story.
  • Say who/where.
  • Get ready.
2

Explore — Story Parts

10 min

Children explore.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send children to the Story Explorer.
  • Tap each part.
  • Find who and where.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Tap each part.
  • Find who.
  • Find where.
3

Play — Story Games

12 min

Play together.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Read a story aloud.
  • Point out characters and setting.
  • Say what happens.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Listen.
  • Find the parts.
  • Say what happens.
4

Create — My Story Picture

8 min

Children create.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Draw a character and setting.
  • Tell what happens.
  • Share it.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Draw who and where.
  • Tell what happens.
  • Share it.
5

Reflect — Reflect

5 min

Share a retelling.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Retell a story.
  • Name who, where, and what.
  • Celebrate story parts!

🎒 Student Actions

  • Retell it.
  • Name the parts.
  • Cheer!
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

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

CCSS
RL.K.3

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

CCSS
RL.K.1

Ask and answer questions about key details.

CCSS
RL.K.2

Retell familiar stories, including key details.

CCSS
RL.K.7

Describe the relationship between illustrations and the story.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

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

Support & Access

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

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Compare two settings.
  • Tell how a character feels.
  • Draw the beginning and end.
Materials

What to gather

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

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

storya telling of eventscharacterwho is in the storysettingwhere the story happenswhat happensthe eventsbeginninghow it startsendhow it finishesretelltell it againwhothe person or animal
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
Who are the characters in a story?
The people or animals in it — the WHO.
QUESTION 2
What is the setting?
Where the story happens.
QUESTION 3
When you retell a story, what do you tell?
Who was in it, where it was, and what happened.

Growing at home? Story questions.

At story time, have families ask: who is in this story? Where does it happen? What happened? A printable story-parts page is in the Early Learning 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 PartsFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

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

📝 Story PartsQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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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 PartsPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: beginning, character, end, retell, setting, story, what happens, who
  1. how it starts
  2. tell it again
  3. the person or animal
  4. a telling of events
  5. where the story happens
  6. who is in the story
  7. the events
  8. how it finishes

Part B · Show what you learned

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