Literary Elements Teaching Resources

Are you teaching literary elements and looking for worksheets and activities to get students excited about tone, narration, plot and a host of other elements to writing a great story? How do you engage elementary students on the concept of character traits and make plot development as exciting as recess?

The ELA teachers on the Teach Starter team have done just that with a collection of printable worksheets and digital activities built around this core reading standard. Aligned with both TEKS and the Common Core English curriculum, each literary elements activity in the collection has undergone a careful review by a member of our teacher team to ensure it's ready for your lesson plans and your students.

Explore our teacher team's guide to learn more about the various literary elements and how to bring them to life in your classroom!

Is this your first year teaching this sector of ELA? Or the first year in a while? Our teacher team has put together a quick refresher to get you ready to rock and roll in the classroom, including a way to explain what literary elements are to students.

What Are Literary Elements? A Kid-Friendly Definition

First thing's first: Let's talk about the definition.

Literary elements are the basic components of writing that the author uses to share the story with the reader. Without them, the narrative falls apart!

They are sometimes referred to as narrative elements. No matter what you call them, these elements give a piece of writing structure and help the author convey information to the reader.

On the reading side, literary elements are also key to breaking down a story to understand better what the author is trying to say.

What Are Examples of Literary Elements? 8 Examples That Can Help Your Students

There are eight main examples of literary elements that students will encounter in narrative texts:

1. Setting

This element is crucial for developing a story as it provides the time in which the story takes place as well as where it takes place. Setting helps ground the story.

2. Plot

The plot is the way a story unfolds. It's essentially a pattern for the text.

3. Conflict

Conflict helps move a plot forward as it offers the reader a climax to move toward as they read.

4. Characterization

This element of writing covers the way characters are developed within a story.

5. Point of View

Also called narration, this literary element is the perspective from which a story is told, such as first person or third person.

6. Tone

The tone of a story can be boiled down to the author's attitude about the subject of the story.

7. Genre

Genre covers the type of story written, such as realistic fiction, science fiction or even magical realism.

8. Figurative Language

Similes, metaphors, and onomatopoeia are just some examples of the figurative language students encounter in a text.