Interactive Literature
Notebook
6th grade
Table of Contents
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Plot Vocabulary
Elements of Plot
Character Traits
Plot Pyramid
Theme
Plot Vocabulary
The chain of events
that make up the
story.
The time and place
of the story.
Problems that
arise as
characters
struggle to reach
their goals.
Plot Vocabulary
The main character
in a story.
The character or force
in conflict with the
protagonist.
Little Red Riding Hood
Plot – While visiting her sick Granny, Little
Red Riding Hood finds the Big Bad Wolf
dressed as Granny and in her bed to trick
Little Red so that he can eat her!
Setting – In the woods, at Granny’s house,
a long time ago
Complications – Big Bad Wolf eats
Granny and pretends to be her
Protagonist – Little Red Riding Hood
Antagonist – The Big Bad Wolf
Elements of Plot
• The first part of the plot
• Characters, setting, and basic situation are
revealed
• The events that sets the story in motion
• Makes the rest of the story possible
• Main part of the story
• Moves the plot along
• Where complications arise
• The most exciting or intense part of the story
for the protagonist
• The OMG!
• Usually the turning point
• Events that follow the climax and lead to
the resolution
• Conflicts begin moving towards resolution
• The end of the story
• Loose ends of the plot are tied up
• Remaining questions are answered
• Conflicts are resolved
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• Exposition –
• Characters – Goldilocks, 3 bears
• Setting – In the woods, sometime in the past
• Inciting Incident – Goldilocks finds a house and decides to
go in
• Rising Action- Goldilocks eats baby’s porridge, breaks
baby’s chair, and falls asleep in baby’s bed. The bears return
home and find that someone has been there.
• Climax- The bears discover Goldilocks asleep in baby’s bed;
she wakes
• Falling Action- She screams and runs out of the house
• Resolution- Goldilocks never returns again
Character Traits
Positive
List 10
positive
character
traits here.
Negative
List 10
negative
character
traits here.
Plot Pyramid
“Just Once”
Thomas J
Dygard
The
Moose
gets the ball
-Jerry’s
touchdown
-The Moose
asks the coach
for the ball and is
turned down
-The crowd chants
for the Moose
Characters: Moose,
Jerry Dixon, Coach
Williams
Setting: HS Football Field
Event: Moose wants to carry
the ball; the coach won’t let
him
-Tacklers
were after the
Moose
-The Moose
got tackled
-The Moose
scored!
The Moose accepts
his role as the
lineman.
Theme
The truth or central idea a
story reveals about life
Moral, lifelesson,
message
A debatable
opinion
Implied
not stated
Any theme
can be
considered
valid 
T
H
E
M
E
IF you
can support
it with text
evidence!
“Just Once”
What is the theme of “Just Once”? Use text
evidence to support your answer.
Full House Theme Song
There’s a face of
somebody who needs you
Everywhere
you look,
there’s a
heart
Family members
are there for each
other and help
each other.
Home
Friends
Family
Being
Together
A light is
waiting to carry
you home
There’s a hand
to hold on to
Themes
Christian the Lion Video Clip
After a year apart, Christian
embraces his former owners
Told he would not
remember his
owners
Introduced
his wife!
Love and
friendship last a
lifetime and
endure
separation.
Love
Animals
Friendship
Sacrifice
Themes
Alternate Clip
“All Summer in a Day”
“All Summer in a Day”
Ray Bradbury
Theme:
Jealousy - the
The children
children are
lock Margot in
jealous that
the closet.
Margot has
The children
seen the sun
were mean to
and they
Margot
haven’t
The rain was
slackening
rd
3 person
omniscient
They are expecting the sun
to come out for the first time in 7 years.
The rain stops
and the sun
comes out!
The children play
outside in the sun
for 2 hours
The rain begins
The children let
Margot out of the
closet
Venus
Margot, teacher,
classmates
Margot’s withdrawal vs. the
children’s lack of
compassion
Internal & External Conflict
Conflict – a struggle between opposing forces or
characters
• Without conflict, a story would be boring!
• A story can have several conflicts
• The main conflict is central to the plot and is usually
resolved at the resolution
Internal & External Conflict
• Takes place
inside a
character’s mind
or heart
• Sometimes
involves a
decision
• Takes place between
a character and
something outside
the character
• Outside forces =
nature, an
event/situation, or
another character
Internal & External Conflict
Margot from “All Summer in a Day”
Margot keeps to
herself because she
feels she does not fit
in with her
classmates.
Margot misses Earth
and the sun.
Point of View
Point of View – the standpoint from which a story is told
Second
Person
Told from the
viewpoint of
one of the
characters
using
pronouns “I”
and “We”
The narrator
refers to the
reader as "you",
making the
audience member
feel as if he is a
character within
the story.
Point of View
The narrator is
an outside
observer that
focuses on the
thoughts and
feelings of only
one character
The narrator is
an outside
observer who
can tell us the
thoughts and
feelings of all of
the characters in
a story
The narrator
reports the facts
of a narrator as a
seemingly
neutral and
impersonal
outside observer
ACE
nswer
the
question
succinctly,
restating
the
question.
ite text
evidence that
strongly
supports your
answer.
Direct – quote
Indirect paraphrase
xplain how
the text
evidence
supports your
answer.
Elaborate and
extend when
necessary.
Ways to Cite Text
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On page 12…
In paragraph 4…
The author states…
According to the text…
An example from the text…
“The Emperor’s New Clothes”
What character trait is revealed
about the emperor through his
actions as the story unfolds?
Choose one trait and back it up
with text evidence.
In “The Emperor’s New
Clothes,” the emperor’s
actions reveal that he is
gullible.
On page 5, the emperor stood in front of
the mirror ready to march in his parade.
When the people exclaimed, “Oh, how well
they look! How well they fit!” (Andersen
140) the emperor believed them, allowing
his fear of looking foolish to cloud his
judgment.
Although the emperor saw
himself naked in the mirror,
he was so gullible that he
was easily tricked into
believing that only the
hopelessly stupid would be
unable to see his new
clothes.
Strong Action Verbs
are present tense when possible
are very specific
help readers visualize
are more interesting
are clever
Vivid Verbs
plead, implore,
plop, thrust,
hurl, pitch,
scatter,
splatter, heave,
wrangle
careen, glide,
sail, float,
soar, coast,
waft, shoot,
flow, skate,
cruise, drift
bellow, spit,
bark, roar,
blare, scold,
berate, criticize,
chasten,
admonish,
reprimand
Vivid Verbs
Plop, topple,
tumble, crash,
collapse,
stumble,
buckle, dive,
plummet,
plunge
Devour,
inhale,
swallow,
consume,
gobble, gorge,
relish, feast,
scarf, ravage
Spurt, sprint,
dart, dash,
tear, fly, bolt,
shoot, flee,
hustle,
scramble
Awesome Adjectives
(the catch-all) – bouncy, fun,
boring, lazy, silly, first, polite,
dainty, strong, mellow,
magnificent, painful
five, twohundred,
several, few,
many, some,
numerous,
none.
depressed,
apprehensive,
hungry, greedy,
hopeful
fuzzy, smooth,
shaggy, jagged,
stingy, frigid,
malleable, crusty
pungent,
pleasant, bitter,
salty, sweet, sour,
interesting,
revolting, rank,
heavenly,
delightful, divine
Yellow, magenta,
round, rectangular,
enormous, miniscule,
puny, humongous
Good Sentences
Little Red Riding
Hood Fairy Tale
Video Clip
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The angry wolf stalks.
The cheerful girl meanders.
The swift creature approaches the house.
Sharp teeth devour Grandmother.
The strange grandmother pleads.
The evil wolf plots.
The naïve girl approaches the wolf.
The hungry wolf swallows the girl.
The helpful woodsman murders the wolf.
The relieved girl embraces her grandmother.
Build Action Parts
Day or time: yesterday, today,
tomorrow, tonight, now, this
morning, noon, 3:00pm (time)
Prepositions: as, before,
during, after, until, since, while,
when
Prepositions: above, across,
against, along, around, at,
behind, below, by, between,
down, from, in, near, off, on
over, past, through, towards,
under
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Because
Since
So that
To + verb (infinitive)
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Adverb (-ly)
Simile (like or as)
With
Without
If, even if, unless, despite, in
case, assuming that, regardless,
in spite of, although
Action Parts of a Sentence
in the evening
In his chair
after dinner
At the library
so that he
could be alone
since it was
Monday
wholeheartedly
as happy as a
clam
even if it’s late
because they
were being
silly
to clean up the
yard
like toddlers
in spite of the
mess
dangerously
as they fell
down
while they were
doing yard
work
in the pile of
leaves
during recess
on the other
side of the
see-saw
by the tree
so that he
didn’t fall
in front of
the stove
to prepare for
the party
at the
restaurant
because it was
his favorite
to please the
fans
last summer
at 5 o’clock
after chopping
onions
at Grandpa’s
house
during the
tournament
near the
ceiling
as the other
team scored
in the air
without
caution
with care
because they
were friends
since everyone
was watching
though they
knew it was
against the
rules
like a
professional
chef
with
anticipation
unless the
sauce is too
salty
like it was the
NBA
despite trailing
by 15 points
with as much
force as he
could muster
Better Sentences
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The angry wolf stalks menacingly through the
forest.
The cheerful girl meanders while on her way to
Grandmother’s house despite being told to
hurry.
The swift creature approaches the house with
caution during the middle of the day.
The wolf’s sharp teeth devour Grandmother
quickly so that he can trick the girl.
The strange grandmother pretends to sleep in
bed as the girl approaches.
The evil wolf plots to harm the girl as his
stomach growls.
The naïve girl approaches the wolf carelessly
despite her suspicions.
The hungry wolf swallows the girl in the
bedroom when she gets too close.
The friendly woodsman murders the wolf to help
the girl when he hears the commotion.
The relieved girl embraces her grandmother as
she thanks the woodsman because she is happy
that Grandmother is safe.
Best Sentences
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Menacingly, the angry wolf stalks through the
forest.
Despite being told to hurry, the cheerful girl
meanders on her way to Grandmother’s house.