Resolving the End: Solutions and ConclusionsActivities & Teaching Strategies
Active learning helps students move beyond passive listening by engaging with the material directly. For this topic, manipulating story endings through discussion, role-play, and writing makes abstract concepts concrete and easier to grasp for young learners.
Learning Objectives
- 1Identify the specific actions a character took to resolve a problem in a story.
- 2Compare a character's emotional state at the beginning of a story with their emotional state at the end.
- 3Explain how a story's conclusion addresses the main conflict.
- 4Evaluate the effectiveness of a story's ending and propose one specific change.
- 5Articulate how a character's actions led to the story's resolution.
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Pair Discussion: Ending Mapping
Pairs reread the story ending and draw a simple before-after chart showing the character's problem, solution, and feelings. They discuss one change they would make. Share one idea with the class.
Prepare & details
How did the character solve their problem at the end of the story?
Facilitation Tip: During Pair Discussion: Ending Mapping, circulate to prompt pairs to point to specific lines in the text that show the resolution.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Small Group: Role-Play Resolutions
Groups of four select a story problem and act out the original ending, then improvise a new one. Record feelings before and after. Present to class for feedback.
Prepare & details
How does the character feel at the end compared to the beginning?
Facilitation Tip: In Small Group: Role-Play Resolutions, model how to stay in character while acting out the solution to keep the focus on the story's logic.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Whole Class: Ending Carousel
Post story excerpts around the room. Students rotate in pairs, noting problem solutions and character changes on sticky notes. Class compiles insights on a shared board.
Prepare & details
Did you like how the story ended? Tell us one thing you would keep the same or change.
Facilitation Tip: For Whole Class: Ending Carousel, assign each group a different colored marker to visually track their comments and ensure all voices are represented.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Individual: Reflection Journal
Students write or draw their response to key questions: problem solution, feeling changes, and one keep-or-change idea. Share voluntarily in circle time.
Prepare & details
How did the character solve their problem at the end of the story?
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Teaching This Topic
Teachers should model close reading by thinking aloud about how the ending connects to the problem, then gradually release responsibility to students. Avoid summarizing the ending for them, as this prevents deeper analysis. Research shows that when students physically manipulate story elements, their comprehension of causality improves significantly.
What to Expect
Students will confidently identify how problems resolve, track emotional changes, and justify their opinions about endings. Their work should show evidence from the text and reflect thoughtful peer interaction.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring Pair Discussion: Ending Mapping, watch for students who assume all stories must end happily.
What to Teach Instead
After students map the ending, ask them to consider: 'Did the character feel happy? How do you know?' Then have them discuss if an unhappy ending could still be a good resolution.
Common MisconceptionDuring Small Group: Role-Play Resolutions, watch for students who overlook emotional changes in characters.
What to Teach Instead
During the role-play, pause after the resolution and ask actors to freeze. Have them show the character's face at the start and end, then explain what changed and why.
Common MisconceptionDuring Whole Class: Ending Carousel, watch for students who believe the ending is the only possible one.
What to Teach Instead
After the carousel, ask groups to propose one alternative ending. Vote as a class on which ending best fits the story, highlighting that multiple options exist.
Assessment Ideas
After Pair Discussion: Ending Mapping, provide each pair with a short story excerpt. Ask them to circle the sentence that shows how the character solved the problem and underline how the character felt at the end.
After Small Group: Role-Play Resolutions, bring the class together. Ask: 'What was the biggest problem the main character faced? How did they solve it?' Then ask: 'How did the character feel when the problem was solved? Tell me one thing you liked about how the story ended and one thing you might change.'
During Whole Class: Ending Carousel, give students a slip of paper. Ask them to write down one problem from the story and one way the character solved it. On the back, they should draw a face showing how the character felt at the end of the story.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge students who finish early to rewrite the ending with a twist and present it to the class for voting on which version best resolves the problem.
- For students who struggle, provide a word bank of feeling words and sentence starters to support their journal reflections.
- Give extra time for students to create a comic strip version of the story ending, focusing on how the character's actions and feelings change.
Key Vocabulary
| Resolution | The part of the story where the problem is solved or the conflict is ended. |
| Conclusion | The ending of the story, where loose ends are tied up and the reader understands the final outcome. |
| Character Development | The changes a character goes through, especially in their feelings or actions, from the beginning to the end of the story. |
| Conflict | The main problem or struggle that a character faces in the story. |
Suggested Methodologies
More in Narrative Worlds and Character Journeys
Understanding Story Beginnings
Identifying how authors introduce characters, settings, and initial situations in stories.
2 methodologies
Developing the Middle: Conflict and Events
Exploring how problems and events unfold in the middle of a story, driving the plot forward.
2 methodologies
Identifying Character Traits
Using textual evidence and illustrations to infer how characters feel and why they behave in certain ways.
2 methodologies
Character Motivation and Change
Exploring why characters make certain choices and how they might change throughout a story.
2 methodologies
Sensory Details in Setting Descriptions
Exploring the use of adjectives and sensory details to create vivid mental images for the reader.
2 methodologies
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