Conflict at Open House

Overview

In this fourth lesson of Character, Conflict, and Plot, students trace how a character’s conflict leads to a response and changes the next event. Students apply this analysis to the teacher-created passage “The Open House Map,” then invent a new conflict and evaluate possible character responses.

Learning intentions

Students will be able to:

• Identify character-versus-self and character-versus-other conflict.
• Explain how a character responds to a conflict.
• Trace how a response changes the next event.
• Create two possible responses and choose the one that best fits a character.

Success criteria

• I can name the conflict.
• I can identify the character’s response.
• I can explain how the response changes the next event.
• I can write two possible responses and choose the best one for the character.

Curriculum links

• Reading Literature — determine theme or central idea through details and summarize without personal opinions.
• Reading Informational Text — determine a central idea through details and summarize objectively.
• Writing Narratives — develop experiences or events using relevant details and well-structured event sequences.
• Writing Narratives — establish context, introduce characters, and organize events that unfold naturally and logically.

Lesson structure (55 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Bellwork and retrieval. Display the bellwork directions and distribute the conflict analysis worksheet. Students sort the words from five sentences into “pronouns” and “nouns,” then compare answers with a partner. Briefly review that nouns name people, places, things, or ideas, while pronouns take the place of nouns. Use the opening bellwork slide to show the sentences and review answers.

2. 8–16 min · Direct instruction. Use the conflict mini-lesson slides to define conflict as a problem or struggle that affects a character’s choices. Model character-versus-self with an internal decision and character-versus-other with a disagreement or obstacle involving another person. Think aloud: “The conflict is the problem; the response is the choice the character makes; the effect is what happens next.” Students record one example of each type on the worksheet and respond to the prompt, “How can a choice change a story?”

3. 16–28 min · Read the passage. Introduce the teacher-created passage “The Open House Map” using the passage-reading directions. Students read independently or with a partner, marking the character, the conflict, the response, and the next event. Pause once to ask students to predict what the character might do and once to ask which detail proves the conflict. Provide read-aloud or text-to-speech access as needed.

4. 28–40 min · Trace conflict and effect. Model the first organizer entry: “Conflict → Response → Effect.” Students complete the organizer on the conflict-response-effect organizer, citing a word, phrase, or event from the passage as evidence. Partners may discuss their thinking, but each student records an individual response. Confer with students who confuse the conflict with the event that follows by asking, “What problem caused the character to act?”

5. 40–50 min · Create and evaluate responses. Display the character-choice writing prompt. Students create a new conflict for the original character, write two possible responses, and choose the response that best fits the character. They add the likely next event and explain why their chosen response is believable. Students may write, dictate, speak into a recording tool, or draw and label the response sequence.

6. 50–55 min · Exit ticket and collection. Students complete the exit ticket on the final reflection and exit ticket: name the passage’s conflict, identify the character’s response, and explain how that response changes the next event. Collect the completed conflict-response-effect organizer before dismissal. Invite two students to share one clear conflict-to-effect explanation.

Resources

• the complete conflict mini-lesson deck
• the conflict analysis worksheet
• Teacher-created passage: “The Open House Map”
• Pencils or colored pencils
• Headphones and text-to-speech tool
• High-contrast, large-print passage copies
• Quiet workspace
• Timer

Assessment

• During bellwork and direct instruction, check whether students distinguish nouns, pronouns, internal conflict, and external conflict.
• While students read and complete the organizer, conference using the questions, “What is the problem?” “What choice does the character make?” and “What happens because of that choice?”
• Collect the organizer and exit ticket. Look for an accurately named conflict, a supported response, and a logical explanation of the next event.

Differentiation

• Provide a read-aloud, text-to-speech, high-contrast large-print copies, short paragraphs, and marked transition words for students with dyslexia or reading difficulties.
• Offer sentence frames: “The conflict is ___.” “The character responds by ___.” “Because the character ___, the next event is ___.”
• Use icons beside conflict, response, and effect; allow students to highlight each part in a different color.
• Permit independent work, partner reading, spoken or drawn responses, and a quiet workspace. For extension within the task, ask students to explain how the alternative response would create a different next event.