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Who, Where and What Happened

A 30-minute Kindergarten lesson on naming the characters, the setting and the main events of a story, and telling them apart.

Who, Where and What Happened is a free 30-minute Kindergarten English lesson plan for Common Core standard RL.K.3 — say who is in the story, where it happens, and what happens. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the meaning, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.

Grade:
Kindergarten
Length:
30 minutes
Standard:
RL.K.3

Kindergarten · Reading: Literature

RL.K.3

With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

Objective

Students will be able to name the characters, the setting and one major event in a story.

Students are successful when they can

  • Names Hen and Fox as the characters.
  • Names the farm at night as the setting.
  • Tells one big event: "Fox tried to get into the hen house."

What you need

  • The story "Hen and the Clever Gate" (in Teach)
  • Three labeled hoops or columns: WHO, WHERE, WHAT HAPPENED
  • Picture cards: hen, fox, moon, barn, gate, a fox at the gate, a running fox
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — three questions

4 min
  1. Hold up a photo of the playground. Ask: "Where is this?" Then "Who might be here?" Then "What could happen here?"
  2. Say: "Every story has these three things: who is in it, where it happens, and what happens."

Teach — sorting what you notice

10 min
  1. Read: "It was night on the farm. The moon was bright. Hen was asleep in the hen house. Fox crept up to the gate. He pushed the gate, but Hen had tied it shut with string! Fox pushed and pushed. Then the farm dog barked, WOOF! Fox ran away into the woods. In the morning, Hen laughed."
  2. Ask: "Who is in this story?" Place the hen and fox cards in the WHO hoop. Ask if anyone else was in it. Fish for the dog, and add a dog drawing.
  3. Ask: "Where does it happen?" Place barn and moon in WHERE. Say: "The setting is where AND when: on the farm, at night."
  4. Ask: "What happened?" Place "fox at the gate" and "running fox" in WHAT HAPPENED.
  5. Hold up the gate card. Ask: "Who, where or what happened?" Let them argue. Say: "The gate is part of the place. It goes in WHERE."
“Who is in it? Where is it? What happened? Every story has all three.”

Guided practice — sort it yourselves

8 min
  1. Read a short second story: "Lily and her grandpa went to the beach. They built a sandcastle. A big wave came and knocked it down. Lily and Grandpa laughed and built a new one."
  2. Pairs say one thing for each hoop. Take answers: who (Lily, Grandpa), where (the beach), what happened (a wave knocked the castle down).
  3. Ask: "Is the wave a who?" Let a pair explain. Fish for "No, it is a thing that happened."
“Tell your partner who, where and one thing that happened.”

Independent practice

6 min
  1. Read the short story on the sheet aloud.
  2. Children answer the who and where questions by circling, and draw one event in the box.

Close

2 min
  1. Ask one quick question per hoop about the hen story.
  2. Fish for "Hen," "the farm at night" and "Fox ran away."

What goes wrong, and why

Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.

Names only the main character: "Who is in it? Hen." Forgets Fox and the dog.

Why: Children identify with one character and the others become part of the scenery.

Fix: Ask "Who else?" every time, and turn the pages to count every person or animal who does something.

Gives a thing as a setting: "Where? The string."

Why: Where has been heard as "what can you see," and the string is in the picture.

Fix: Ask: "Could Hen live in the string?" Setting is a place you could be in. Offer: "Is it a farm, a beach or a house?"

Gives a tiny event as the main event: "The moon was bright."

Why: Every sentence feels like a thing that happened; the child has not ranked them.

Fix: Ask: "If that did not happen, would the story change?" The moon: no. Fox at the gate: yes. That is a big event.

If they are not there yet

  • Offer two pictures for each question and let the child choose.
  • Ask one question at a time, starting with WHO.
  • Act the story with puppets so the characters are visible.

If they finish early

  • Change the setting: "What if the story happened at a city zoo? What would change?"
  • Say how a character felt at the start and the end: Hen was asleep, then laughing.
  • Find all three in a new book from the class library and tell a partner.

Exit ticket

In "Hen and the Clever Gate," who are the characters? Where is it? What is one big thing that happened?

What to look for: Hen and Fox (dog a bonus); the farm at night; Fox could not open the gate, or Fox ran away. Only Hen: ask "Who else?" A thing as setting: setting is a place you can be in. "The moon was bright" as the event: rank events by what would change.

Printable practice for RL.K.3

Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.

Questions about Who, Where and What Happened

How long does the Who, Where and What Happened lesson take?

30 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 4 min, teach 10 min, guided practice 8 min, independent practice 6 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.

Which standard does Who, Where and What Happened teach?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3 — RL.K.3, Reading: Literature for Kindergarten: “With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.” In plain terms, say who is in the story, where it happens, and what happens.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

The story "Hen and the Clever Gate" (in Teach), three labeled hoops or columns: WHO, WHERE, WHAT HAPPENED, picture cards: hen, fox, moon, barn, gate, a fox at the gate, a running fox and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.

What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?

Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: names only the main character: "Who is in it? Hen." Forgets Fox and the dog; gives a thing as a setting: "Where? The string." and gives a tiny event as the main event: "The moon was bright.". The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.

How do I know whether the lesson worked?

The exit ticket asks: “In "Hen and the Clever Gate," who are the characters? Where is it? What is one big thing that happened?.” Hen and Fox (dog a bonus); the farm at night; Fox could not open the gate, or Fox ran away. Only Hen: ask "Who else?" A thing as setting: setting is a place you can be in. "The moon was bright" as the event: rank events by what would change. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.

Is there a worksheet to go with Who, Where and What Happened?

Yes — 1 printable RL.K.3 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.

Is Who, Where and What Happened free to use?

Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on October 8, 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-10-08. Aligned to RL.K.3 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.