Curriculum › Grade 3 › English Language Arts

Parts of Stories and Poems

  • Grade 3
  • English Language Arts
  • RL.3.5
  • Reading: Literature
  • Free lesson

Aligned to RL.3.5 — Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

What this lesson teaches

Stories and poems have named parts. Books have chapters, plays have scenes, and poems have stanzas.

Worked examples

Example 1

A poem about the seasons might have four stanzas — one group of lines for spring, summer, fall, and winter.

Example 2

A chapter book breaks a long story into chapters so you can stop and start. Each chapter usually ends on a question.

Example 3

In a play, the scene tells you where and when; the lines tell you who speaks. Both are on the page before any action starts.

Practice questions

  1. Name the part of a poem that is a group of lines.
  2. Point to where one chapter ends and the next begins.
  3. Explain the difference between a scene and a stanza.

Watch the lesson

Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.

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En español

Las Partes de Cuentos y Poemas

Los cuentos y los poemas tienen partes con nombre. Los libros tienen capítulos, las obras de teatro tienen escenas y los poemas tienen estrofas.

Ejemplo 1: Un poema sobre las estaciones podría tener cuatro estrofas — un grupo de versos para primavera, verano, otoño e invierno.

Ejemplo 2: Un libro por capítulos parte una historia larga en capítulos para que puedas detenerte y seguir. Cada capítulo suele terminar en una pregunta.

Ejemplo 3: En una obra de teatro, la escena te dice dónde y cuándo; los parlamentos dicen quién habla. Los dos están en la página antes de que empiece la acción.

More Reading: Literature lessons

Recounting Stories and Central MessageRL.3.2Questions and Text CluesRL.3.1Characters and Their ActionsRL.3.3Real Meaning or Word Picture?RL.3.4Whose Point of View?RL.3.6How Pictures Help the StoryRL.3.7

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