IXL | Analyze plot elements | 5th grade language arts

Read the story.

A Hike to Remember

This hiking trip had been planned for weeks. Mom, Gabe, and Micah walked along a dusty trail in the woods. Mom strolled ahead, admiring the scenery and occasionally turning to smile at Gabe and Micah. The two kids trudged along behind her.

Micah dragged her feet. She clutched her phone in her pocket, glancing at it every few steps. "Mom, why did we have to come this weekend? The new Mission Gear game is coming out," whined Micah.

"Yeah, Mom," sighed Gabe, "And the new episode of Hotel Island is on."

"Maybe," said Mom, "you can look on the bright side. Look at the mountains! You know, something nature-y."

Micah shrugged and Gabe sighed, but they kept walking. Micah peeked at her phone again, imagining all the fun she was missing.

The peaceful blue sky began turning gray and cloudy. Micah and Gabe barely noticed. Before long, their mother pointed to a nearby cave entrance. "We better take cover before this rainstorm hits," she frowned.

Gabe motioned for Micah to stay back.

"I think we're upsetting mom," he said. "Maybe we should at least pretend to have fun."

"What? Why?" asked Micah.

"She planned this, and it's actually really pretty." Gabe pointed to the forest all around them. "Maybe we can find a way to have fun."

"But this isn't fun!" replied Micah as she threw her hands up. "How am I going to get through this hike if you get all nature-y like Mom!" Without another word she stomped toward the cave, and Gabe followed.

When they had almost reached Mom, a sound like a rushing wind roared through the forest. Rain had started falling. It was one of the heaviest downpours they had ever seen.

In seconds, Micah was completely soaked. Muddy puddles formed all around. There was no chance she would find phone service now. Dripping, she looked at Gabe and smirked. Suddenly, she grabbed his hand and started jumping in the puddles. Gabe laughed and did the same.

Soon, the two were screeching and laughing as they raced through the rain.

Mom stared in shock. "What are you two thinking?" she yelled from the cave.

"Come on, Mom!" Micah called. "It's just water. It doesn't get more nature-y than this!"

Mom's expression lit up. Beaming, she stepped into the rain with her arms outstretched.

Mom linked her hands with Micah and Gabe's. The family splashed and laughed together until the rain stopped.

What is the main conflict of the story?

Micah is worried that the trail is too difficult for her to complete.

Micah is struggling to enjoy the hike that her mother organized.

Micah is trying to convince her mom to take them home early.

Micah is concerned about getting wet in the rain during the hike.

ref_doc_title.

Learn with an example

question

Read the story.

A New Catcher

Jamal whipped his arm forward to throw a baseball toward home plate. It clanged against the metal fence and rolled through the dirt in the empty baseball field. Now that his best friend Nico had moved away, Jamal had no one to practice throwing with.

Jamal kept coming to the baseball field after Nico left, but it wasn't the same. Nico was the only person Jamal knew who loved baseball as much as he did. Other kids wanted to play something else after twenty minutes of tossing a baseball. But Jamal and Nico had thrown for hours, pretending to be their favorite pitcher, Mario Rodríguez.

"That would be a lot easier if you had a catcher," Jamal heard, bringing his attention back to the field. The words came from a boy Jamal didn't know. The boy walked to home plate, picked up the ball, and tossed it back to Jamal.

"Yeah, I guess," said Jamal as he stood on the mound. Here was another kid who would probably play for ten minutes before suggesting a different game.

The boy strolled toward him. "My name's Zeke. My family just moved here for my dad's job." Zeke pointed at the shirt Jamal was wearing. "I like your Rodríguez jersey."

"Thanks," Jamal said with a shrug. He tossed the ball into his glove a few times.

"Check this out," said Zeke. He held up a well-used baseball glove and pointed to an autograph on the palm. Jamal read it aloud: "To Zeke. Throw strikes! Mario Rodríguez (M-Rod)."

Jamal's mouth hung open. "Wait! You met M-Rod?" he said. He rubbed his fingers over the name and looked at Zeke in shock. Jamal still missed Nico, but maybe Zeke would actually understand how much he loved baseball. It was a lot to think about.

Zeke smiled, grabbed Jamal's glove and ball, and headed for home plate. "Yeah, M-Rod is from my old town! He's really nice. I met him in the park once and he showed me how to throw his famous curveball." Zeke stood behind home plate. "C'mon. Pitch to me. You use the M-Rod glove, and I'll use yours." He threw the ball to Jamal. "If you want, I can try to teach you what M-Rod showed me."

Jamal stood still for a second. Maybe when Nico came to visit, Jamal and Zeke could show him M-Rod's famous curveball. "Get ready!" Jamal called. He smiled widely as he rocked back, ready to fire the ball to his new friend.

What is the main conflict of the story?

Jamal is missing his friend and feels lonely.

Jamal is frustrated that he can't throw curveballs.

Jamal wants a chance to meet M-Rod.

Jamal doesn't think Nico and Zeke would get along.

key idea

The plot is the sequence, or order, of events in the story. The plot has specific parts, and each part has a purpose. Stories usually contain these plot elements in this order:

The exposition of the story is the beginning, in which the characters and the setting are introduced. It usually lets the reader know what normal life is like for the characters in the story.
The rising action focuses on the
conflict,
or problem, that characters are facing. This is often the longest part of the story. The characters' problems usually get worse during the rising action.
The climax of the story is the turning point. This means that the characters face their problems, learn important lessons, or change as people.
The falling action comes right after the climax and shows what happens as the characters work through their problems.
The resolution is the last part, when the conflict is finally over. It shows how things have changed throughout the story.

Thinking about a story's plot can help you follow along with the action, better understand the characters, and make predictions about what will happen next.

solution

Think about these details from the story:

Jamal's best friend Nico has moved away, and Jamal has been coming to the baseball field alone since then.
The other kids do not want to play baseball for very long. So, Jamal can't find anyone to play with.
At first, Jamal thinks that Zeke will only want to play baseball for ten minutes.

These details show that the main conflict is that Jamal is missing his friend and feels lonely.

$Confetti$

Excellent!

Now entering the Challenge Zone—are you ready?

Questions
answeredQuestions

Time
elapsedTime

hr	min	sec
00	00	06

SmartScore
out of 100
IXL's SmartScore is a dynamic measure of progress towards mastery, rather than a percentage grade. It tracks your skill level as you tackle progressively more difficult questions. Consistently answer questions correctly to reach excellence (90), or conquer the Challenge Zone to achieve mastery (100)! Learn more

Teacher tools

Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? These can help:

I.2Identify story elements

I.New!Analyze plot elements

Excellent! You got that right!

Jumping to level 1 of 1

Excellent!