English · Year 7

Active learning ideas

Introduction to Narrative Structure

This topic benefits from active learning because narrative structure is abstract; students grasp it best by physically mapping, performing, and revising stories. Hands-on activities make the components of exposition, rising action, and climax visible and memorable.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9E7LT01
• AC9E7LY05

• 25–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 45 min · Small Groups

Story Arc Mapping: Group Diagrams

Provide printed story excerpts from Australian texts. In small groups, students identify and plot exposition through resolution on a Freytag pyramid template, labeling events with quotes. Groups present one element to the class, justifying choices.

Compare how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander oral storytelling traditions use non-linear time and Country as central narrative elements with techniques found in contemporary written fiction.

Facilitation Tip

For Story Arc Mapping, assign each group a large sheet of paper and colored markers so they can annotate and revise their diagrams as they discuss different texts.

What to look for

Provide students with a short narrative excerpt. Ask them to identify and label the exposition and the beginning of the rising action, citing specific sentences as evidence.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Think-Pair-Share
• 30 min · Pairs

Flashback Role-Play: Scene Switches

Select a story with flashbacks. Pairs act out linear sequence first, then insert non-linear elements like flash-forwards. Class votes on how changes affect tension and discusses point of view shifts.

Analyze how the manipulation of time , including flashback, flash-forward, and circular structure , affects the reader's or listener's journey through a story.

Facilitation Tip

During Flashback Role-Play, provide scene cards with clear setting details to help students shift quickly between past and present without losing context.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'How does the use of Country as a character in some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories change the way we think about narrative structure compared to a story with a clear protagonist?' Facilitate a class discussion, encouraging students to reference specific examples.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 40 min · Whole Class

Oral Retelling Relay: Cultural Comparison

Whole class divides into chains. First student retells exposition from a First Nations text orally; next adds rising action in linear or circular style. Record and compare to written versions for structure differences.

Explain why authors and storytellers choose specific points of view to tell their stories, drawing on examples from both First Nations and non-Indigenous Australian texts.

Facilitation Tip

In Oral Retelling Relay, seat students in small circles facing inward so they can hear each other clearly and maintain focus on the storytelling.

What to look for

On an exit ticket, ask students to define 'climax' in their own words and provide one example from a story they have read or watched this term. They should also write one sentence explaining why the climax is important to the story's overall impact.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 04

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Individual

POV Rewrite: Individual Edits

Students rewrite a climax scene from third-person to first-person using a provided excerpt. Share in pairs, noting impact on reader engagement and tension.

Compare how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander oral storytelling traditions use non-linear time and Country as central narrative elements with techniques found in contemporary written fiction.

Facilitation Tip

For POV Rewrite, give students highlighters to mark changes in tense or pronouns as they edit, making their revisions visible to peers.

What to look for

Provide students with a short narrative excerpt. Ask them to identify and label the exposition and the beginning of the rising action, citing specific sentences as evidence.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should anchor lessons in familiar stories before introducing non-linear examples, as students need a clear baseline. Expect resistance to circular or flashback structures; model multiple readings of a short excerpt to normalize re-reading. Research shows peer discussion deepens understanding, so prioritize collaborative tasks over lecture.

Students will confidently label and discuss story elements in diverse texts, including First Nations narratives. They will compare structures, justify their reasoning, and revise texts to show how perspective shapes tension and meaning.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Story Arc Mapping, some students may assume all stories follow a straight line from beginning to end.

  Use a First Nations story with a circular or flashback structure as one example on the board. Ask groups to plot it on their large sheets and explain how the timeline loops back, challenging any linear-only diagrams.

• During Flashback Role-Play, students might think the climax is always a loud or dramatic scene.

  Give each role-play group a scene card labeled ‘climax’ and ask them to perform it quietly or subtly, then discuss how tension peaks even without shouting or action.

• During POV Rewrite, students may not see how perspective changes tension.

  Have pairs swap their rewritten scenes and highlight lines where their new perspective created a shift in emotion or suspense, then discuss these changes as a class.

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share