English · Year 5 · The Art of the Storyteller · Term 1

Plot Development: Conflict and Resolution

Analyzing how authors build tension through rising action and resolve conflicts.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9E5LT01
• AC9E5LY06

About This Topic

In Year 5 English, plot development focuses on how authors craft conflict and resolution to drive narratives. Students analyze texts to trace rising action, where tension escalates through challenges and obstacles, and examine resolutions that tie up loose ends or leave lingering questions. This work meets AC9E5LT01 by responding to literature and AC9E5LY06 by examining language choices that build suspense, such as cliffhangers, dialogue, and descriptive pacing.

Students evaluate how different conflict types, from character versus self to person versus society, engage readers and reflect real-life complexities. They discuss strategies like foreshadowing and pacing that heighten anticipation, building skills in textual analysis and critical thinking essential for later writing units.

Active learning suits this topic well. When students map plots on shared charts, role-play tense scenes, or rewrite resolutions in groups, they experience narrative flow firsthand. These approaches make abstract elements concrete, encourage peer feedback, and boost retention through movement and collaboration.

Key Questions

1. How do authors introduce and escalate conflict to engage the reader?
2. What strategies do writers use to create suspense and anticipation?
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of different resolution types in narrative texts.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the sequence of events in a narrative to identify the rising action and climax.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of different conflict types (e.g., character vs. character, character vs. nature) in engaging a reader.
• Explain how authors use literary devices like foreshadowing and pacing to build suspense.
• Compare two different resolutions for the same conflict and justify which is more satisfying.
• Synthesize plot elements to predict potential outcomes of a story's conflict.

Before You Start

Identifying Main Idea and Supporting Details

Why: Students need to be able to identify the central problem (conflict) and the events that build towards it (rising action).

Character and Setting Description

Why: Understanding characters and their environments is foundational to analyzing the types of conflicts they face and how they react.

Key Vocabulary

Conflict	The main struggle or problem in a story that the characters face. It can be internal (within a character) or external (against another character, nature, or society).
Rising Action	The series of events in a story that build tension and lead up to the climax. Obstacles and complications increase during this phase.
Climax	The turning point of the story, the moment of highest tension or drama, where the conflict is faced directly.
Resolution	The part of the story where the conflict is resolved and the loose ends are tied up. It follows the climax.
Suspense	A feeling of excitement or anxiety that readers experience when they are unsure about what will happen next in the story.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

Conflict means only physical fights.

What to Teach Instead

Conflicts include internal struggles, like fears, or external ones, like nature or society. Group discussions of diverse texts reveal this range, while role-playing varied conflicts helps students internalize broader definitions through active exploration.

Common Misconception

All stories end happily.

What to Teach Instead

Resolutions vary: some triumphant, others bittersweet or open-ended. Collaborative rewriting activities let students test different endings and debate effectiveness, shifting fixed ideas via peer input and creative practice.

Common Misconception

Rising action is random events.

What to Teach Instead

Rising action builds logically from conflict with escalating stakes. Storyboarding in groups clarifies this sequence, as students sequence events and justify tension buildup, correcting misconceptions through visual and verbal structuring.

Active Learning Ideas

Storyboard Mapping: Rising Action Sequence

Provide short story excerpts. In small groups, students sketch a six-panel storyboard labeling conflict introduction, key rising action events, and resolution. Groups present and justify choices to the class.

45 min·Small Groups

Role-Play Dramatization: Conflict Escalation

Pairs select a scene with building tension. They rehearse and perform it, exaggerating language features like urgent dialogue. Class notes techniques used to create suspense.

30 min·Pairs

Resolution Remix: Alternative Endings

Individually, students read a story's rising action then rewrite the resolution in two ways: satisfying and ambiguous. Share in whole class discussion to evaluate impact.

40 min·Individual

Tension Timeline: Class Plot Walk

As a whole class, plot key events on a giant timeline on the floor. Students add tension indicators like arrows for escalation and discuss resolution effectiveness while walking it.

35 min·Whole Class

Real-World Connections

• Screenwriters for television dramas and movies carefully structure plot points, including conflict escalation and resolution, to keep audiences engaged week after week or throughout a film.
• Journalists reporting on complex events, like natural disasters or political negotiations, must organize information to build a clear narrative, highlighting the central conflicts and their outcomes for readers.
• Game designers create interactive narratives where player choices directly influence the unfolding conflict and the ultimate resolution, making the player feel central to the plot's development.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

Provide students with a short story excerpt. Ask them to identify and write down the main conflict and at least two events that contribute to the rising action. Review responses to gauge understanding of these core elements.

Discussion Prompt

Present students with two different endings for a familiar story. Facilitate a class discussion: 'Which ending is more effective and why? Did it resolve the main conflict satisfyingly? What specific words or events made one resolution stronger?'

Exit Ticket

Give each student a card with a literary device (e.g., foreshadowing, dialogue, pacing). Ask them to write one sentence explaining how that device can be used to create suspense in a story and provide a brief example.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I teach rising action in Year 5 English?

Start with familiar stories students know, like fairy tales, then dissect excerpts for escalating events. Use graphic organizers to plot tension points. Follow with group analysis of chapter books, where students highlight language creating suspense, such as short sentences or questions. This scaffolds from concrete to abstract analysis.

What are effective strategies for building suspense in narratives?

Authors use pacing with varying sentence lengths, foreshadowing clues, sensory details, and cliffhanger chapter ends. In class, students annotate texts for these, then apply in micro-writing tasks. Discussing real examples from Australian literature reinforces how these hold reader interest across genres.

How can active learning improve plot development lessons?

Activities like dramatizing conflicts or collaborative storyboarding engage multiple senses and promote discussion. Students physically manipulate plot elements on timelines or perform scenes, making tension and resolution memorable. Peer teaching during shares corrects errors in real time and builds confidence in analysis, aligning with ACARA emphases on responsive learning.

How to assess understanding of conflict and resolution?

Use rubrics for plot maps showing accurate escalation and evaluation statements. Oral retells or journals reflect on resolution effectiveness. Peer reviews of rewritten endings provide formative feedback. These methods capture both identification and critical response skills from the standards.