A poem written upon learning that many of my grade 9 students are not 100% sure what “plot” means and most have never seen a plot graph or heard many basic narrative terms. They did have some great guesses for the meanings of various words; it’s just that they were mostly, well, off.
Lost Plot
They’ve lost the plot.
They’re not sure what they’re planning
or where they are landing
or planning to land.
They’re certain that plot
is a place or a person
who’s pretty important and
they’ve got this in hand.
They say not to worry –
they’ll figure out the story.
They’re already exposing
and plotting, they think.
Then rising and falling
with a giggle in the offing because
– gasp –
there’s a climax and they know what that means.
They’ve got resolution –
it’s like revolution and quite near the middle –
or that’s what they thought.
It’s when things come together
for the person (or whatever)
and no one’s left out, so the story’s complete.
Never mind definitions,
they’re now on a mission
to finish this worksheet and get out the door.
So here I am plotting
to break down the story, incite some new learning,
maybe teach some new words.
Not antagonistic, I’m being realistic,
But honest to goodness they all should know plot.
Persistence and Pedagogy 
Chuckling here. Thanks.
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You nailed their confusion, now you get to incite their new learning. Best of luck!
Some of those terms are ones that my grands already know in elementary school. Do you think they’ve just forgotten what they once knew???
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Our school serves students from many backgrounds, and not all of those are stable. I suspect that some of them knew & forgot, but I know that others may come from schools where this type of learning was secondary to keeping children safe.
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I’m trying to tackle this in elementary so it’s solid by high school. I’ve got this whole curriculum in my head that revolves around a story mountain and how it progresses. The comprehension work is something we aren’t talking about…so stuck on phonics. My guess is that it will come back. Your poem is clever!
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Amanda, teachers are always surprised at what children do not know. Then, there are teachers who may be surprised but try to break the lesson down in small pieces to help the students rebound. You are one of the teachers who persistently care, model, and contnue to teach with hope in your heart. Your poem is a great example of what happens and where to forward. As a formal reading speicalist and districtwide ELA director, I commend you. Your poem is a great summary of what you see in the classroom and where you would like to bring these high school students.
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