1 Bright Morning : Exploring Character Development in Fiction Resource Type: Lessons Discipline: Reading Grades: Grades 4–5 Professional Commentary: This lesson teaches characterization through Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell; however, any fictional text (even picture books) that all students have read or heard can be adapted to fit the lesson. Thinking about how an author writes to make a character "come alive" in a piece of literature is the focus of this lesson.... 2 Story Character Homepage Resource Type: Lessons Discipline: Reading Grades: Grades 4–8 Professional Commentary: This lesson effectively combines collaborative work, deep analysis of a character, and integration of technology. Working in small groups, students analyze a character from a piece of fiction and create a web site to represent their interpretation of that character.... 3 He Said/She Said Analyzing Gender Roles through Dialogue: Analyzing Gender Roles through Dialogue Resource Type: Lessons Discipline: Reading Grades: Grade 6 Professional Commentary: Middle school students face a lot of pressure, including pressures coming from stereotyped gender expectations. This lesson has students brainstorm some gender stereotypes, find examples in popular culture, and discuss how the stereotypes affect their lives.... 4 Charlotte Is Wise, Patient, and Caring: Adjectives and Character Traits Resource Type: Lessons Discipline: Reading Grades: Grades 3–4 Professional Commentary: In this activity, students apply their knowledge of adjectives as they study characterization. Students locate examples of adjectives in a text, then describe one of the major characters.... Resource Type: Lessons Discipline: Reading Grades: Grades 3–5 Professional Commentary: In this lesson, students analyze how a character's personality traits, actions and motives influence the plot of a story. Students learn to recognize emotions and feelings that are being displayed by a character.... 6 Action Is Character: Exploring Character Traits with Adjectives Resource Type: Lessons Discipline: Reading Grades: Grades 6–8 Professional Commentary: In this lesson on characterization, students "become" one of the major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters with lists of strong adjectives. When the lists are posted in class, peers try to identify the characters.... 7 Girls Read: Online Literature Circles Resource Type: Lessons Discipline: Reading Grades: Grades 6–8 Professional Commentary: In this lesson, girls are given a selection of five multicultural young adult novels with strong female protagonists. A suggested booklist is provided.... Resource Type: Lessons Discipline: Reading Grades: Grades 7–8 Professional Commentary: This resource is a literature-based instructional unit centered around survival novels. Maintained by the New Zealand Ministry of Education, this unit presents opportunities for students to read novels and stories that share a survival theme, conduct research, and share a presentation of their findings.... 9 Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Character Resource Type: Lessons Discipline: Reading Grades: Grades 3–4 Professional Commentary: Although the Disney version is the most popular in America, hundreds of versions of the Cinderella story exist. This resource provides lessons, in which students define the major differences in the characteristics of the heroine (e.g., meek, assertive) in a variety of Cinderella tales.... 10 Book Report Alternative: Creating Careers for Characters Resource Type: Lessons Discipline: Reading Grades: Grades 6–8 Professional Commentary: What if one of the characters in the book you've been reading was looking for a job? What is the character qualified to do?... |