Activity Overview
A common use for Storyboard That is to help students create a plot diagram of the events from a story. Not only is this a great way to teach the parts of the plot, but it reinforces major events and help students develop greater understanding of literary structures.
Students can create a storyboard capturing the narrative arc in a work with a six-cell storyboard containing the major parts of the plot diagram. For each cell, have students create a scene that follows the story in sequence using: Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.
Example The Prince and the Pauper Plot Diagram
Exposition
Young Tom Canty lives with his mother, sisters, and abusive father in Offal Court, a poverty-stricken London neighborhood. Tom faces hunger, cold, and beatings every day, but dreams of life as a prince. Just a few miles away, young Prince Edward Tudor lives in the palace with his father, King Henry VIII. The same age as Tom Canty, Edward’s life is entirely different: he is wealthy, spoiled, and powerful.
Conflict
Prince Edward meets Tom at the palace gates and shows him kindness after a guard beats him. Inside the palace, Tom and Edward trade stories and swap clothes, noticing their identical appearances as they do so. When Edward leaves the palace in Tom’s clothing, the guards do not let him back in, and Tom and Edward get stuck living each other’s lives.
Rising Action
Both boys struggle to adapt to their new lives. Though they each protest that they are not who they appear to be, no one believes them. Gradually, Tom comes to enjoy life as a prince and uses his power to change unjust laws. Edward detests life with John Canty and faces poverty, pain, and death at every turn. He survives his trials only with the help of a kind-hearted noble, Miles Hendon.
Climax
Edward escapes his enemies and appears at Tom’s coronation just in the nick of time. Tom is about to be crowned king in Westminster Abbey when Edward walks up the aisle and declares he is king. When Tom agrees with him, the onlookers and royal representatives are bewildered.
Falling Action
The Lord Protector questions the boys to determine who is the true king. When he asks for the location of the long-missing Great Royal Seal, Edward identifies its location, proving that the boy in rags is the true King Edward VI.
Resolution
Edward is made king and deals mercifully with his subjects. He rewards Miles and Tom for their service and rights the wrongs he noticed while living as a pauper. His time outside the palace opened his eyes to the injustices of the law, and he works to make life less brutal for his subjects.
Template and Class Instructions
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a visual plot diagram of The Prince and the Pauper.
- Click "Start Assignment".
- Separate the story into the Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.
- Create an image that represents an important moment or set of events for each of the story components.
- Write a description of each of the steps in the plot diagram.
Lesson Plan Reference
Rubric
(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric.)
| Proficient 33 Points | Emerging 25 Points | Beginning 17 Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plot Images | Cells include images that convey events in the corresponding stage of the plot. The images represent an important moment and exemplify the descriptions below them. | Cells include one or two images that convey events from an incorrect stage of the plot. Most images represent an important moment and exemplify the descriptions below them. | Cells include three or more images that convey events from an incorrect stage of the plot. Images depict minor and inimportant moments or do not reflect the descriptions below them. |
| Plot Text | The storyboard correctly identifies all six stages of the plot. The text for each of the six cells correctly breaks down the plot events into appropriate stages. The text gives a logical overview of the plot and includes the most significant events of the book. | The storyboard misidentifies one or two stages of the plot. The text for each of the six cells breaks down most of the plot events into appropriate stages. The text gives a logical overview of the plot, but may omit some significant events of the book. | The storyboard misidentifies three or more stages of the plot. The text for each of the six cells does not correspond to the events of that stage. Overall plot description is not logical. |
| Spelling and Grammar | Spelling and grammar is exemplary. Text contains few or no mistakes. | Text contains some significant errors in spelling or grammar. | Text contains many errors in spelling or grammar. |
More Storyboard That Activities
Prince and the Pauper, The
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