Teaching children about storytelling is a wonderful way to help them develop their language skills, creativity, and understanding of the world around them. Here are some important story elements to teach children:

1. Character Development: Help children create relatable and well-rounded characters. Encourage them to think about their characters' names, appearances, personalities, and motivations.
2. Setting: Explain the importance of setting the stage for the story. Encourage children to describe where and when the story takes place. This helps them set the mood and context.
3. Plot: Teach them about the basic structure of a story, including the beginning (introduction of characters and setting), middle (rising action and conflict), and end (resolution or conclusion).
4. Conflict: Help children understand that a story needs a problem or conflict to make it interesting. Discuss different types of conflicts, such as person vs. person, person vs. self, person vs. nature, and person vs. society. Take a look at Teaching Story Elements resource with a complete ready to use curriculum to teach Story Elements.
5. Resolution: Emphasize the importance of resolving the conflict by the end of the story. Discuss how characters can change or grow as a result of resolving their problems.
6. Dialogue: Teach children how to write dialogue to make their characters' interactions more engaging. Explain the use of quotation marks and tags like "he said" or "she replied."
7. Tension and Climax: Help them understand the concept of building tension and reaching a climax in the story. The climax is the most intense part of the story where the conflict reaches its peak.
8. Theme: Discuss the underlying message or theme of the story. Encourage children to think about the moral or lesson they want to convey in their stories.
9. Imagery and Descriptive Language: Teach children to use descriptive language to paint vivid pictures in their readers' minds. Encourage them to use their senses to describe things.
10. Pacing: Explain how the pace of a story can affect its mood and impact. Discuss when it's appropriate to slow down and provide more details and when to speed up the action.
11. Point of View: Introduce the concept of different narrative perspectives, such as first-person (I), third-person limited (he/she), and third-person omniscient (knowing all characters' thoughts). Check out our resource of teaching Character Point of View.
12. Editing and Revision: Emphasize the importance of reviewing and revising their work. Teach children to check for spelling, grammar, and clarity.
13. Audience: Discuss the importance of considering the audience for their stories. Different audiences may require different approaches to storytelling.
14. Creativity: Encourage children to let their imaginations run wild and come up with unique, original ideas for their stories.
15. Feedback: Teach them to give and receive constructive feedback. This helps them improve their writing skills and learn from others.
16. Read Aloud: Reading stories aloud can help children understand pacing, dialogue, and the flow of a story. It can also make the storytelling experience more enjoyable. Some examples of authors to help you understand story elements are Kevin Henkes and Tomie dePaola. Check out their resources for fun author studies to teach story elements.
17. Empathy: Encourage children to understand and connect with their characters' emotions. This helps them create more relatable and engaging stories.

Check out our free resource: SWBST STRATEGY TEMPLATE WITH SAMPLE SUMMARY

Remember that storytelling should be a fun and creative activity for children. Encourage them to explore their ideas and express themselves through writing, and provide positive feedback and support to foster their love of storytelling.