1. Interactive Literature Notebook
6th grade

2. Table of Contents Plot Vocabulary Elements of Plot Character Traits
Plot Pyramid
Theme

3. Plot Vocabulary
Problems that arise as characters struggle to reach their goals.
The chain of events that make up the story.
The time and place of the story.

4. Plot Vocabulary The main character in a story.
The character or force in conflict with the protagonist.

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. Character Traits Positive Negative
List 10 positive character traits here.
List 10 negative character traits here.

9. Plot Pyramid “Just Once” Thomas J Dygard Characters: Moose, 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
-Tacklers
were after the Moose
-The Moose got tackled
-The Moose scored!
Characters: Moose,
Jerry Dixon, Coach
Williams
Setting: HS Football Field
Event: Moose wants to carry the ball; the coach won’t let him
The Moose accepts his role as the lineman.

10. Theme T H E M The truth or central idea a story reveals about life
Moral, life-lesson, message
A debatable opinion
Implied not stated T H E M
Any theme can be considered valid 
IF you can support it with text evidence!

11. “Just Once”
What is the theme of “Just Once”? Use text evidence to support your answer.

12. Full House Theme Song There’s a face of somebody who needs you Themes
A light is waiting to carry you home
Everywhere you look, there’s a heart
There’s a hand
to hold on to
Family members are there for each other and help each other.
Home
Friends
Family
Being Together
Themes

13. Christian the Lion Video Clip
Alternate Clip
After a year apart, Christian embraces his former owners
Christian became wild – head of a pride
Told he would not remember his owners
Introduced his wife!
Love and friendship last a lifetime and endure separation.
Themes
Love
Animals
Friendship
Sacrifice

14. “All Summer in a Day” “All Summer in a Day” Ray Bradbury
The rain stops and the sun comes out!
Theme: Jealousy - the children are jealous that Margot has seen the sun and they haven’t
The children lock Margot in the closet.
The children were mean to Margot
The children play outside in the sun for 2 hours
The rain was slackening
The rain begins
3rd person omniscient
The children let Margot out of the closet
They are expecting the sun to come out for the first time in 7 years.
Venus
Margot, teacher, classmates
Margot’s withdrawal vs. the children’s lack of compassion

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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.

18. Point of View Second Person
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.

19. Point of View
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
The narrator is an outside observer that focuses on the thoughts and feelings of only one character

20. ACE nswer the question succinctly, restating the question.
ite text evidence that strongly supports your answer.
xplain how the text evidence supports your answer. Elaborate and extend when necessary.
Direct – quote
Indirect - paraphrase

21. Ways to Cite Text On page 12… In paragraph 4… The author states…
According to the text…
An example from the text…

22. “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.

23. Strong Action Verbs are present tense when possible are very specific
help readers visualize
are more interesting
are clever

25. 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

26. 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

27. Awesome Adjectives

28. (the catch-all) – bouncy, fun, boring, lazy, silly, first, polite, dainty, strong, mellow, magnificent, painful
five, two-hundred, several, few, many, some, numerous, none.
depressed, apprehensive, hungry, greedy, hopeful

29. 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

30. Good Sentences 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.
Little Red Riding Hood Fairy Tale Video Clip

31. Build Action Parts

32. 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
Because
Since
So that
To + verb (infinitive)
Adverb (-ly)
Simile (like or as)
With
Without
If, even if, unless, despite, in case, assuming that, regardless, in spite of, although

33. Action Parts of a Sentence
in the evening
after dinner
In his chair
At the library
so that he could be alone
since it was Monday
whole-heartedly
as happy as a clam
even if it’s late
as they fell down
while they were doing yard work
in the pile of leaves
at Grandpa’s house
because they were being silly
to clean up the yard
like toddlers
without caution
in spite of the mess
during recess
last summer
on the other side of the see-saw
by the tree
so that he didn’t fall
because they were friends
dangerously
with care
though they knew it was against the rules
at 5 o’clock
after chopping onions
in front of the stove
at the restaurant
to prepare for the party
because it was his favorite
like a professional chef
with anticipation
unless the sauce is too salty
to please the fans
since everyone was watching
during the tournament
as the other team scored
near the ceiling
in the air
like it was the NBA
with as much force as he could muster
despite trailing by 15 points

34. Better Sentences 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.

35. Best Sentences Menacingly, the angry wolf stalks through the forest.
Despite being told to hurry, the cheerful girl meanders on her way to Grandmother’s house.