The Circle Plot Diagram can be used as a prewriting graphic organizer for students writing original stories with a circular plot structure as well as a postreading organizer used to explore the text structures in a book.

Circle Plot Diagram

Grades
|
Plot Diagram
1 - 12
Student Interactive
| Organizing & Summarizing
The Plot Diagram is an organizational tool focusing on a pyramid or triangular shape, which is used to map the events in a story. This mapping of plot structure allows readers and writers to visualize the key features of stories.

Grades
|
Teaching Plot Structure through Short Stories
9 - 10
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students use an online graphic organizer to analyze the plot structure of "Jack and the Beanstalk" and three short stories.

Grades
|
Completing the Circle: The Craft of Circular Plot Structure
K - 2
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students identify, explore and apply the elements of circle plot structures to their own stories by using graphic organizers, reading and writing stories, and using checklists to assess their work.

Grades
|
Graphing Plot and Character in a Novel
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In this graphical mapping project, students assign a value to the events, characters, and themes in a novel and think about how the elements of the story are all interconnected.

Grades
|
Building a Matrix for Leo Lionni Books: An Author Study
K - 2
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In this author study, students listen to and discuss four books by Leo Lionni. They identify similarities and differences in the stories and then compare two stories of their choice.

Grades
|
Behind the Scenes With Cinderella
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Cinderella without castles, coaches, or ball gowns? Students use versions of Cinderella to explore how the setting of a storytime, place, and cultureaffects the characters and plot.

Grades
|
When Less IS MoreUnderstanding Minimalist Fiction
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
This lesson pairs Ernest Hemingway's short story "Cat in the Rain' with Raymond Carver's "Little Things" to guide students to an understanding of the characteristics of minimalist fiction.

Grades
|
Audience & Purpose: Evaluating Disney's Changes to the Hercules Myth
5 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
What drives changes to classic myths and fables? In this lesson students evaluate the changes Disney made to the myth of "Hercules" in order to achieve their audience and purpose.

Grades
|
Exploring Change through Allegory and Poetry
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students read an example of allegory, review literary concepts, complete literary elements maps and plot diagrams, create a pictorial allegory, and write diamante poems related to the theme of change.