Lesson Plans and Worksheets
It's been great having a resource that helps me find lesson plans and worksheets for grades 9 - 12, especially for business education.
- Coconut Grove, FL
- 09-13-10
Character Traits Teacher Resources
Find teacher approved Character Traits educational resource ideas and activities
Combining art, music, dance, and reading comprehension, this instructional activity is geared to reach all ability levels. After reading a variety of fables and discussing story elements and character traits, class members select a moral to use as the basis of their own fable about two characters, one with foibles and one without. Your fabulists then collaborate on a class mural, a music composition, and a dance which reflect the traits of characters in their stories. Document it all on a class website.
Here is a fun resource that your kids will love. While reading the book Because of Winn-Dixie, they analyze the story's main characters by creating an online scrapbook. The purpose is to have them identify character traits and use textual evidence to support their ideas. The step-by-step process, extensions, and activity links are included.
Here is a lesson which is "flexible," and can operate as an individual or whole class activity. After reading a book of their choosing, with the use of a semantic map, learners identify character traits. They infer how their feelings towards the main character of the story changed throughout their reading. Finally they create a character Bio Poem. Incorporate these activities into any story you read.
Some of what we know about a character is directly stated. Some of what we know is inferred by events in the story. Character maps help primary learners recognize the difference. After modeling with a story your class has read, pupils choose a character from one of their favorite books and use the maps to record and analyze traits. A character map template is available from Microsoft Visio.
Focus on character analysis using "Thank You, Ma'am" or "The Gift of the Magi." Through concept mapping, class members explore character traits and then discuss their ideas while citing specific examples from the work. Lastly, individuals compose a multi-paragraph essay that explains the significant aspects of a character. Emphasis is placed on correct verb tense.
What ingredients make up a character? A cup of honesty, a dash of humor, a pinch of cynicism? Based on real cookbooks they review in class, learners at any grade level three and up write recipes to describe characters familiar to your class. Others try to decipher who the recipe describes.
Who is a champion to your class? Elementary and middle schoolers think of a role-model from their lives. Then, in their journals, they write evidence of that person's perseverance. They identify the character trait of perseverance with the autobiographical character, Michelle Kwan. Additionally, they write a personal narrative essay that describes the steps they took to achieve a personal goal.
Bring Edgar Allan Poe's spooky story to life! After reading the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart," middle and high schoolers identify the theme, character traits, irony, and other story concepts. During pre-reading, they take notes, underline key passages, and circle unknown words. They finish by writing a three-page reaction and review of the story.
Learners practice their reading comprehension by analyzing and discussing books with their classmates. They record their responses to comprehension, evaluation, and interpretation questions provided on a worksheet that is referenced but not included with the plan.
Who were Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton? High schoolers examine the character traits of these historical figures and watch the video, The Duel. Hamilton vs. Burr: An Event that Changed History (available from PBS), to gain an understanding of the relationship between the two. Learners complete their investigation by crafting an essay in which they compare and contrast Burr and Hamilton. Modification: You may be able to use another media source in place of the video.