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Introduce the idea of plot by utilizing a story map. I like to use the analogy as the plot of a story being like climbing a mountain. Students can draw the organizer or you can make one up.

Grab a fairy tale or a kids'
book that has a strong plot. Stories are made up of an introduction about how the character gets to the situation they are in. Next are three events of rising action. This is followed by the climax and lastly the resolution.
Read the story first. Next, model for students on the overhead as you graph plot points on the mountain. (Intro at base of the mountain. Each conflict or

plot point moves up in rising action up the mountain. Briefly jot down a phrase to describe the event. The climax of the story is at the peak of the mountain--(like the prince finds cinderella and puts the shoe on her foot). Finally the action goes down the mountain again with the resolution. Resolution wraps up the loose ends of the story. Resolution is like "so they got married and everyone was happy" or "and so little Johnny learned his leason and never did that again".

After you have modeled this, have students draw their own organizer and this time read another story. They can draw the mountain and chart the story with clues from you and giving them time to write the ideas.

Finally, have them choose their own books and graph the story map. This would be a good partner activity.