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.
The Graveyard Book Plot Diagram Example
Exposition
When a sinister assassin attempts to murder a family of four, the family’s young toddler escapes to the nearby graveyard. After his mother’s spirit pleads for help, the ghosts agree to raise the toddler and protect him from the deadly threat. The elderly Owens ghosts adopt him and raise him as Nobody Owens. A mysterious being named Silas acts as his guardian and a link between the worlds of the living and the dead.
Conflict
Although the dead acknowledge that Bod is a living boy and want him to have a full life, it is unsafe for him to leave the graveyard. Because the sinister man still seeks to kill him, Bod’s freedom is limited and he is unable to fully experience life.
Rising Action
Bod grows up with the Freedom of the Graveyard, allowing him to share many of the abilities of the dead. He learns lessons and makes friends with the ghosts around him. As he ages, however, he longs to know more about the living world and begins to test his boundaries by leaving the graveyard, going to school, and making friends with a living girl named Scarlett.
Climax
The assassin and his cronies, the Jacks of All Trade, chase Bod and Scarlett into the graveyard. One by one, Bod outwits them and uses his privileges of the graveyard to trap them. In a final showdown, he tricks Jack Frost in the barrow beneath the Frobisher mausoleum so that the Sleer drag him away forever.
Falling Action
Now that the Jacks are eliminated, Bod is safe. Silas permits Bod to leave the graveyard with him and continues to guide and support him for one more year in the graveyard.
Resolution
At fifteen, Bod is fully grown and loses his Freedom of the Graveyard. He says goodbye to his family and friends and heads off to begin life in the land of the living.
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 Graveyard Book.
- 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
Graveyard Book, The
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