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Curriculum Framework
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Lesson Plan
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Subject
Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening
Grade Levels
3rd Grade , 4th Grade , 5th Grade , 6th Grade , 7th Grade , 8th Grade
Identify, explain, interpret, compare, and/or describe character actions, motives, dialogue, emotions/feelings, traits, and relationships among characters
within fictional or literary nonfictional text.
Identify, explain, interpret, compare, and/or describe the relationship between characters and other components of text.
Setting:
Identify, explain, interpret, compare, and/or describe the setting (when or where a story or personal narrative takes place);
Identify, explain, interpret, compare, and/or describe elements of the plot (conflict/problem, sequence of events, cause and eect relationships in the plot,
how the problem was solved).
Note: Items may use the terms event or solution. Items will not use the word plot. Items will ask what happened first, next, last, etc.
Big Ideas
Concepts
Competencies
Vocabulary
Character: the person or animal in a story
Setting: when and where a story takes place
Plot: the events or happenings in a story
Conflict: the problem the main character faces
Resolution: the solution to the conflict
Objectives
Students will develop strategies for character development. Students will:
Review how characters tend to develop in stories by recalling their own favorite characters
Create character outlines on trading cards
Demonstrate comprehension of character development and story elements
Write a story in which they develop their own character
Duration
90-120 minutes
Materials
Materials:
Brave Irene by William Steig
computers with Internet access
LCD projector or overhead projector with transparency
Transparency - Character's Childhood Planning Sheet
samples of popular trading cards
Character Trading Cards Planning Sheet
a variety of stories where a character has a problem that is resolved
Instructional Procedures
Session1 - Introduction
Ask students to think of a favorite story character and describe how that character developed (changed) in the story; you might ask students to discuss
this with a partner. Summarize the conversation by stating that in most stories characters have a goal. A problem or conflict with this goal develops and
the character spends the story working through the conflict to resolve it and meet the goal.
Show students the trading cards you have collected. You may also ask students to bring in their own trading cards to share with the class. Discuss the
purpose of trading cards. Ask students to study the trading cards and notice what kind of information is included. Ask them why they think trading cards
were developed and how they use their trading cards. Review that trading cards provide the reader with some basic information about a person or
character, include a picture, and can easily be traded.
Let students know that writers collect this same kind of basic information about characters before they write about them. They think about what their
characters look like, where they live, what their personality is like, and what might happen to them. Explain to students that they will be creating their own
trading cards in order to plan for a character they will include in the stories they are working on.
Session 2 - Modeling
Choose a book to use as an example. You want a book with a character who has a problem that is resolved by the end of the story. This lesson uses Brave
Irene by William Steig. Read the text you have selected, identifying places where the character is described, where the conflict/problem is introduced,
where the character deals with the conflict, and where the conflict is resolved or the goal is reached. For older students, you may want to use a novel you
have read aloud as a class or short stories with more complex characters.
Show students the online Character Trading Cards tool with an projector; if you do not have a LCD projector, show students the transparency Character's
Childhood Planning Sheet using an overhead projector. Character's Childhood Planning Sheet can also be print out and displayed if technology is
unavailable. Using Brave Irene, model how the author might have developed the main character by asking the questions that are on the card. Read the
text aloud and stop along the way to model your thinking and let students observe and discuss the author's description of the character, the
conflict/problem, and the resolution. Fill in the Character Trading Card online or write on the blank transparency of the card you have created. Students
should think not only about their characters but also about the plot and setting of their stories.
Review how asking questions like the ones on the trading card can help authors plan their characters before writing. If you have been completing the card
online, print the trading card to show students this step and to have a sample for them to follow.
Session 3 - Creating a Character
Explain to students that they used the trading cards to study how authors describe and develop characters in their stories. They will now do the same
work to plan their own characters. Ask students to think about the story they are working on or to look at their list of story ideas and choose one. They
should then focus on the main character in that story. You may want to have students work in pairs for a few moments to talk through their story ideas and
their character ideas. It is often helpful to talk through ideas before writing them, especially for struggling writers.
Have students use the Character Trading Cards tool to plan a character by asking questions. If computer time or computers are limited, have students fill
out the Character Trading Cards Planning Sheet.
Confer with students as they work through the questions. Depending on your students' writing abilities, you can push for more detail and sophistication in
the characters they are developing. Have students print out and review their trading cards together. They should work through the questions with each
other, making notes on their trading cards based on the feedback. Students can then revise their trading cards.
Intervention Strategies:
model characters from stories that were read and discussed previously
use graphic organizers that are commonly utilized in your classroom to help explain conflict and resolution
provide examples of real life conflicts that students can relate to
Formative Assessment
Options:
Student Observations and Discussion
Story Mapping and Creation using Newly Created Character
Criteria Checklist for Character Trading Cards:
eectively plan a character outline
provide a clear description of the character physical appearance and personality
provide clear description of the setting.
describe how the conflict is related to the character's goals.
describe how the conflict is resolved.
Author
Date Published
May 10, 2010
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