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Lesson 5

We will draft the closing scenes of our narrative. We will view the “Act 3” Pixar video, which focuses on how to build to a climax and resolve a storyline in a narrative.

Lesson Goals

  • Am I progressing in the development of my narrative?

  • Can I provide and utilize constructive peer feedback in the process of developing a narrative?

Texts

Optional

  • Digital Access
    • “Act 3” from “Pixar in a Box: The Art of Storytelling,” Pixar Animation Studios, Khan Academy, 2017

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: View

We will begin thinking about the closing scenes of our narrative—the story’s final events, climax, and resolution—by watching a Pixar video called “Act 3.”

Watch the Pixar video, "Act 3," and think about how you will bring your story to a climax and resolution in its final acts.

Activity 2: Discuss

We will discuss our ideas for the end of our story with our writing partners.

Review your story drafts and discuss ideas for developing the ending of your story with your writing partner, considering what you learned from the "Act 3" video. Discuss what you recorded in the Resolution section of your Storyboard Planning Tool and how you might best bring the draft of your narrative to a climactic moment and then resolve the story.

Activity 3: Write

We will draft the closing scenes of our narrative.

Using your storyboard as a guide, draft the closing scenes of your story.

Resolve your story by building to a climax, then add a concluding scene that brings its meaning into focus.

  1. Describe and dramatize a scene that presents both a high point of action and a turning point in the story.

  2. Bring character conflicts and interactions to a head, then suggest where they may go in your story’s final scenes.

  3. Surprise or delight your reader through unexpected events and vivid description.

  4. Follow your climactic scene or turning point with the story’s falling action, which leads to its ending.

  5. Create a dramatic final scene that presents an interesting ending to your story or that highlights its theme or meaning.

Activity 4: Write

For homework, we will complete our stories.

For homework, continue working on the closing scenes of your narrative.

As you complete your draft, review your work, considering how well you have connected the elements and scenes of your narrative. Consider the following review questions:

  1. How well have you made connections and transitions among scenes, events, and character interactions?

  2. Is the story well-paced? Is it strongly and evenly developed in all four of its storyline phases (exposition/Act 1, complication/Act 2, climax/Act 3, resolution/Act 4)?

Review and revise your draft narrative for the coherence of its plotline and character development, looking at how you have made connections and transitions among scenes, events, and character interactions.

Make sure that your story is well-paced and that it is strongly and evenly developed in all four of its phases.