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Teaching Plot Structure with Picture Books 

9/16/2013

13 Comments

 

Or....Confessions of a Teacher/Writer and the Connection between Reading and Writing

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(Check out the video clip first and then read below.)

Most of Tammi Sauer's books follow a great plot structure. Therefore her books are fantastic to use with students for retelling and also for using as an example for writing their own fictional stories. 

Plot Structure of a Picture Book

Setup- Tells who the characters are, where they are (setting) and what they do.

Inciting Incident- An incident that happens that causes a problem for the main character. This problem forces them to want to try to solve it.

Events-where they “Try” to solve it and fail each time. (Picture books typically will have three.)

Try. Fail.

Try. Fail.

Try. Fail.


Climax-Dramatic moment of overcoming or solving problem.  (But then…something big happens…and the character makes a choice.)

Result- Building down, wrapping up loose ends, and showing positive consequences of climax. 

Resolution- Happy or hopeful ending

Let's take a look at Tammi's book trailer for Nugget and Fang and see how many elements we can identify. (All won't be revealed because it's a book trailer.)


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Synopsis: (from Goodreads) In the deep ocean, tiny Nugget and big, toothy Fang get along swimmingly—until Nugget’s first day of minnow school. There Nugget learns that minnows are supposed to be afraid of sharks! To regain Nugget’s trust, Fang takes desperate (and hilarious) measures. But it’s not until his big sharp teeth save the entire school that minnows learn this shark is no foe. Fantastically stylized artwork adds even more humor to this undersea story of unlikely friendship.

Let's take a closer look at Nugget and Fang.

(Warning: The ending is revealed in this analysis of the plot.  So first, go get the book, read it, laugh out loud, read it again, share it with a friend, laugh some more, and then come back to read the following.)

Setup: Shark and a minnow- two best friends that did everything together.
 
Inciting Incident: Life was perfect until Nugget started school and realized he couldn't be friends with a shark.  Fang was sad. He had to “prove” he wasn’t scary.

Events:
Try 1.  (Fang is a surprise visitor at school.)
Fail

Try 2.  (Fang sends a letter inviting Nugget over for dinner.)
Fail 

Try 3.  (Tried several other things like getting a tattoo of Nugget and sending a singing band of seahorses, but finally he was out of ideas.)   
Fail (and he was still really sad without his friend.)

Climax: But then something really bad happens and  He was so sad that ….he didn’t notice a net. The minnows all got trapped. They were going to be captured.  

So Fang makes the decision to help them by chomping through the net.

Results: He saves them.

Resolution: And they all became friends.

The main thing I noticed that I did wrong as a teacher with retelling, was I would always have students identify:
Character, Setting, Problem, Solution.

Later, I started adding in: Character, Setting, Problem, Events, Solution. However, this still didn't make sense. Kids could identify (most of the time) the pieces in isolation. But the connection was never made that those "Events" consisted of the character "Trying" to solve the problem and "Failing" along the way.

So instead, I use a retelling format that fits the picture book structure.  And now, it makes it easier when attempting to "write" our own fictional stories.  

*Again- not all books are plot driven books.  And even if they are, not all plot driven stories will fit this exactly. Some may not have an "inciting incident" that causes the problem. Some picture books will just jump right into the problem. Often the climax, results, and resolution are very short and can often be squished together at the end.  And because picture books are so short, sometimes the results and resolution are the same.

Check out Tammi's other books. See if you you can use the template to analyze the plots.
(Then use it to write your own fictional plot driven story.)
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For more information check out Tammi's website at www.tammisauer.com.
13 Comments
Charlotte
9/16/2013 10:15:13 am

Mandy, this is a significant post with so much information. We read our lessons, but you have organized the info into a great lesson-thank you!

Reply
Mandy
9/16/2013 10:17:16 am

Thanks Charlotte! That means a lot. :)

Reply
tammi sauer link
9/16/2013 11:37:49 pm

Thanks so much for featuring my books. :)

While I have loved using the classic picture book structure, I've been experimenting with other structures as well. Some of my upcoming books are done using a cumulative structure, a circle structure, and one that's told entirely through dialogue. I've also written a ms using a mirror structure and recently completed one that is a retooling of a familiar song. Fingers crossed they find the perfect homes! Lately, I've been hoping to come up with a great idea that calls for the reversal structure. Good times. :)

Reply
Mandy
9/17/2013 01:58:53 am

Tammi!
That sounds so great. I'm not sure I know what reversal structure and mirror structure are. I was actually thinking about doing a post about "All Dialogue" books. :)
Thanks for visiting Tammi.

Reply
tammi sauer link
9/17/2013 04:58:26 am

I think the best way to understand what those structures are is to study some great examples. Hope this helps!

Mirror: The second half of a story echoes what occurred in the first half of the story
Examples: Old Bear and His Cub; Boy + Bot; A Sick Day for Amos McGee

Reversal: Character and/or plot is portrayed in a way that is opposite from the norm
Examples: Bedtime for Mommy; Children Make Terrible Pets; Little Hoot

Van
7/28/2014 05:22:24 am

I have an understanding of the plot structures you mentioned, except reversal. Do mind sharing a definition of reversal plot structure? Thanks.

Reply
Mandy
9/17/2013 05:22:15 am

Thanks for the references!

Reply
Tina Cho link
9/23/2013 03:14:35 pm

Great post, Mandy! I own most of Tammi's pb's, and they're excellent for me to study structure!! How cool, Tammi, that you have other pb structures in the works. Can't wait. I, too, wrote a reversal story, just waiting for it to get picked up, too.

Reply
Read more link
10/6/2013 04:39:15 pm

Your take on the subject is wonderful. I personally fully agree with your opinion. Hope to read more on this topic to increase my knowledge in this field.

Caneisha Murchison
4/28/2017 02:17:26 pm

I think this great because I had to do a project and it was pretty good so please pick one of this books because it will really help you with your work so yes i would fir you to use this it is very great

Reply
Ciara O’Neal link
8/22/2018 06:18:41 pm

Love this! This is great information. I love the book suggestions too!

Reply
Alice Lasswell
2/3/2019 08:32:36 am

So how do you use this retelling format? This is year 30 teaching 1st and 2nd grade and I usually teach character, setting, problem and solution and I'm interested in your retelling method.

Reply
Reeva M link
12/6/2020 11:12:08 pm

Nice blog thaanks for posting

Reply



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  • Home
  • WRITING
    • Craft & Business of Writing Childrens Picture Books
  • Picture Book Palooza
    • Contributor Bios
  • ILLUSTRATION
    • Craft & Business of Illustrating Children's Books
  • TECH
  • About Us
    • Why Us?
    • Meet the Faculty, Lives & GT Judges
    • Testimonials
    • Books by Students
    • Our Bookshop
    • As Seen In
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
  • Blogfish
  • Teachable Student Course Portal
  • Community
    • Our Bookshop
    • Come Play With Us!
    • Resources
    • Course Scholarships >
      • Yuyi Morales Picture Book Scholarship
      • Andrea Davis Pinkney MG CB Mastery Scholarship
      • Rafael Lopez Illustrating Childrens Books Scholarships