Characters

Description

Our Characters Lesson Plan sharpens reading comprehension and analytical skills as students are equipped to describe characters from a story, including their actions, traits, and other significant details.  The interactive lesson taps into collaborative and experiential learning as students assign themselves a character while others in their group list their characteristics.  Build confidence as groups share their findings and supportive evidence with the class.

Sample Classroom Procedure / Teacher Resources Snippet:

1. Display the words: Physical, Actions, Feelings, Personality. Explain to students the meaning of each, ask students to give examples. List their responses.
2. Ask students if they know what a character is in a book.
3. Allow for responses and discussion.
4. Distribute the Characters content pages. Read and review the information with the students. Use additional examples if necessary for student understanding. Stress to students the importance of understanding characters in a story or novel.
5. Distribute Activity pages. Place students in groups of 3. (You may wish to place friends together for this activity since they know each other better.)
6. Review the instructions with the students.
7. Before students begin working in a group, they will identify themselves as a character first. Once completed, they meet with the two group members.
8. Tell them to use the Character Lists for help, or they may use other identifiers that may not be listed.
9. Once completed, allow the students to share their responses about themselves and other students. Ask them if they identified similar characteristics. Ask why they used certain characteristics. What evidence is there to support their choices?
10. Distribute the Practice page. Review the instructions. Read aloud the stories with students, but they will complete the work alone. Check and review the responses. (Some answers may vary.)

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Common Core State Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.3

Class Sessions (45 minutes): At least 2 class sessions

Additional Resources:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GtDvEKdDeg (2 min.)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5DMKme6RR8 (3 min.)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK_LCjQQCPk&list=PLaFhYQpX-qw6TvJrp4rVS_Xjowi7gSQDD (6 min.)
• Many more teaching resources in Download!

Want more reading resources?  Check out our other Reading Lesson Plans!