Students learn about the significance of the setting in literary texts in this lesson. At the end of the lesson, students are able to:
- determine the book's setting.
- elucidate how a book's setting affects the plot.
- explain how the plot might shift if the location were altered.

- How can literary and factual texts become meaningful to strategic readers?
- What is the true purpose of this text?
- How does interaction with text provoke thinking and response?

- Setting: The time and place, or when and where, a story happens.

- Cynthia Rylant. (1993). When I Was Young in the Mountains. Puffin.
Video alternatives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwnb3H7K7u0 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrw45fPXb6g 
- Inga Moore. (1993). Six-Dinner Sid. Aladdin.
Alternative books:
- John Rocco. (2011). Blackout. Disney-Hyperion.
- Lynne Cherry. (2000). The Great Kapok Tree. HMH Books for Young Readers.
- John Steptoe. (2008). Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters. Puffin Books.
Teachers may substitute other books to provide a range of reading and level of text complexity.
- pictures of settings (e.g., illustrations from calendars, travel magazines, or literary texts)
- student copies of the Setting worksheet (L-1-3-2_Setting)
- drawing paper
- pencils, colored pencils, crayons, markers

Throughout the class, pay close attention to the student's abilities to recognize the setting and provide textual evidence to back it up. Examine the students' capacity for expression and openness to taking part in group discussions.
To evaluate each student's progress toward the lesson's objectives, use the following checklist:
- Students can recognize the setting—time, location, or when and where—in literary works.
- Students comprehend the rationale behind the author's choice of setting for a story.
- Students discuss settings in other literary works using the knowledge they gained from the lecture.
- Students can speculate about how the story may differ if the location were altered.

Explicit instruction, modeling, scaffolding, and active engagement
W: Go over with students what setting is—the place and time when a tale takes place—and help them realize that the author use setting to establish the scene for the story. 
H: Ask students to identify settings from photographs to get them involved in the lesson. 
E: Show how to determine a story's setting from both the text and the pictures. 
R: Give students the chance to select a literary work and discuss the setting in small groups. Teach students that the reader can infer the setting from the text by using guided questioning. 
E: Give students a setting worksheet to complete to put what they've learned into practice. Choose a favorite narrative. 
T: Give students the chance to collaborate in both large and small groups. 
O: This lesson's learning exercises offer full-group instruction and discussion, small-group interaction, and individual application of the material. 

Focus Question: Why is the setting important to a story?

On the board or on chart paper, write the words When and Where. Display several pictures of the settings. For example, you might show a city in winter, a farm in fall, a medieval castle, and a modern skyscraper. As you display each picture, ask students to describe the time and place it represents.

Explain that time can mean the time of day or the time of year. It can also mean long ago, now, or in the future.

Say, "A story's setting is the period and location in which it takes place. The setting provides an answer to the query, "Where and when does the story take place?"

Part 1

Propose: "Today, we'll explore the significance of setting in a story."

Raise the book "When I Was Young in the Mountains". Declare, "I'm going to read you this book. Let's consider the setting and period of this narrative as you read it."

Alternatively, you could assign your students to watch a video that tells this story.

Ask, "When do you think this story takes place?" after you've read or seen the narrative. (a long time ago) "How did you figure this out? (The story's characters are dressed in historically accurate attire. The business has a vintage country store appearance. The school has an outdated appearance.) Say, "This book's illustrations let us understand the setting. The images indicate that this story is set in the distant past. However, the novel itself contains hints about the place from the author. What occurs in the narrative that indicates it takes place in the distant past?" (The girl needs to use the restroom outside. At the shop, the family purchases large quantities of butter. The well's water is pumped by the people. Grandpa uses his pocket knife to sharpen pencils.)

Inquire, "Where is the story set?" (It appears to be a tiny alpine settlement.) "What hints enable you to know this?" The story takes place in the mountains, as the title indicates. Few kids could fit in the schoolhouse due to its small size. (No dwellings exist in the vicinity.)

Say, "The story is set in a mountain town in the distant past. That is where the story takes place. What makes you believe that the author selected this location for the story?" (to describe life in the past for us) "Now let's look at a book that has a different setting," you say. Read the title of the book "Six-Dinner Sid" while holding it aloft. "As I read this book to you, please try to identify the setting," you can say.

Read the book out loud. Then inquire, "Is this a story that took place a long time ago?" (No) "What hints enable you to know this?" (referring to the attire of the individuals in the images) "Where does this story take place?" (In a city, at the veterinarian, at six houses on Pythagoras Place, at six houses on Aristotle Street.) "What makes the story's setting in the city—six distinct homes on one street—so significant?" (Sid can eat six meals a day because the houses are near one another.) "How does Sid's experience vary depending on the house?" (Students describe how various people handle Sid.) "What would happen to the plot if Sid visited just one house?" (It wouldn't be nearly as humorous. Without Sid, we couldn't comprehend his character.)

Inquire as to "Why did the author select this particular setting?" After asking the class to respond collectively, have students debate the response with a partner. Say, "Yes, the setting helps the author tell the story," to aid in the narrative.

Part 2

Declare, "Now it's your turn to discuss the setting of a literary work that you really enjoy." Assign pairs of tasks to the pupils. Distribute copies of the Setting worksheet (L-1-3-2_Setting) to every student. Say something like, "You will sketch the setting of one of your favorite books first." Next, ask your companion to guess what story your picture depicts.

Once students have recognized one another's stories, help them finish the setting worksheets by having them write the book's title and complete the phrase that starts, "This story takes place..." Verify that they provide the where and when.

Group the pupils once they have completed the setting worksheet. Ask them to alternate between presenting their photos and discussing the locations of their books. Go around the classroom and observe how well each kid can pinpoint a story's locale. Students should be encouraged to speculate on how the story may differ if the location were altered.

Extension:

Pupils who need more guidance or experience may be paired with a partner who is familiar with the setting concept. Give each student in the pair a sheet of paper to illustrate the setting of a tale they have both read. Ask them to write a sentence describing the setting and time of the story.
Pupils who are prepared to go beyond the norm should try altering the location of a well-known tale. Ask students to rewrite a story from this lesson in a different setting, for instance. To depict the story in its new location, they might create illustrations.