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Narrative Structure Story Map

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Narrative Structure Story Map

Read the story, then explore how its beginning, middle and ending fit together. Use the story map to plan a different ending of your own.

Read the story

At the end of a windy school day, Maia and her cousin Freya walked down to the beach to check the tide pools. Maia spotted a brass key wedged beneath a piece of driftwood. A faded tag tied to it read, “For the old signal shed.” The shed stood above the beach, its door swollen shut. Freya wanted to leave the key and go home, but Maia noticed fresh footprints leading around the back. They followed them to a narrow side door. The key turned, but the door would not open: a fallen branch had jammed it from the inside. Together, they pushed the branch through a gap with a long piece of driftwood. Inside, they found a dusty shelf and a small radio. A note explained that the radio had once been used to report dangerous waves to the nearby camp. Maia and Freya carried it to the caretaker, who promised to have it checked. As they headed home, the wind dropped and the clouds broke apart. Maia smiled: their walk had uncovered a useful piece of local history.

Unpack the structure

Use evidence from the story in your answers.

1.Which detail from the first paragraph helps establish the setting? Choose the best answer.

Maia and Freya walked to the beach at the end of a windy school day.
A branch jammed the side door.
The caretaker promised to check the radio.

2.What discovery starts the main events of the story, and why does it matter?

3.The key turns in the side door, but the door still will not open. What is blocking it, and how do Maia and Freya respond?

4.Which event most directly helps the cousins move from the problem towards a solution?

They notice footprints near the shed.
They free the jammed door and get inside.
The clouds break apart as they head home.

5.True or false: the cousins solve the problem by finding a new key inside the shed.

TrueFalse

6.Complete the sequence with a time connective: “The cousins freed the door. , they found the radio and note.”

7.What do Maia and Freya do with the radio, and how does the final sentence show Maia's response to the adventure?

Build a story map

Use the three-stage map to plan a new version of the story. Keep Maia, Freya and the signal shed, but invent a different problem and resolution.

BEGINNING Who is there? Where and when does it happen? What discovery starts the action?

MIDDLE What problem appears? What do the characters try? What makes the problem harder?

ENDING How is the problem solved? What changes? What final feeling or image closes the story?

8.Write a short ending for your mapped story. Show how the problem is resolved and use at least one time connective, such as “then”, “afterwards” or “finally”.

9.If the story ended immediately after Maia found the key, what important part of narrative structure would be missing? Explain your choice.