Curated OER
How Characters Get What They Want
Sixth graders analyze the primary force that drives a character's actions in a character analysis lesson. In this character analysis lesson, 6th graders analyze how characters present their actions and participate in a group activity...
PB Works
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Record the plot elements of The Cay on this worksheet. Pupils note basic information about the book and answer questions about the introduction, point of view, character, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution of...
Curated OER
Jem in "To Kill a Mockingbird": Fun Trivia Quiz
An in-depth quiz on Jem from Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, this quiz combines basic recall skills with some plot and character analysis. Unlike many Fun Trivia quizzes, the content of this quiz deals with plot events...
Curated OER
Defining Success
The class defines what it means to be successful by examining the achievements of Rich Wilson. They create headlines for a mock paper, discuss achieving personal goals, and create a scrapbook of his journey. Tip: Use this resource when...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 7: The Elements of Story
Budding novelists work on character development by relating to the characters in their stories. They imagine their own hopes and dreams and recall those of characters from books they've read. Learners also consider struggles the...
US Institute of Peace
Effectiveness of Nonviolent Civic Action Simulation on Colombia
With new leadership comes new hope! After years of violence, the people of Colombia elect a new president ... could this mean an end to conflict? Civics scholars take part in a large group role-playing exercise designed to illustrate the...
US Institute of Peace
Peacebuilders in Action
What contributions have great peacebuilders made to our society? Civic-minded scholars take an in-depth look at people who have made a difference world-wide during the 12th lesson in a 15-part series. After researching facts about their...
Curated OER
Sorting Characters in More Than One Way
Introduce your class to characterization. Familiar story characters are sorted into "good" and "bad" categories based on the characters' personalites and actions in the story. The class discusses and describes characters they have read...
EngageNY
Making Character Inferences: Analyzing How Words and Actions Reveal Character in To Kill a Mockingbird
Partner up! After an I have/who has activity, readers partner with one of their discussion appointments to add evidence from chapters 11-13 in To Kill a Mockingbird to the Atticus Note-catcher. Partners then share with the class and add...
Reed Novel Studies
One Crazy Summer: Novel Study
Rita Williams-Garcia's One Crazy Summer describes three girls who go looking for their mother who ran out on them. Scholars complete a novel study guide with vocabulary exercises, character descriptions, and comprehension poems.
Curated OER
Taming of the Shrew Act 4.5 Study/Discussion Questions
If you're delving into Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, this worksheet might be for you! Literature scholars respond to higher-level questions about character actions and motivations and the Zefferelli film version of the play. The...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Heroes
Three creative activities follow reading a fiction and nonfiction book about heroes. Scholars build hero action figures out of clay for make-believe play, explain in written form how they show bravery, kindness, patience, thoughtfulness,...
EngageNY
Introducing Close Reading: Finding the Main Message and Taking Notes About Rain School
This second instructional activity in a larger unit is perfect for the beginning of the year because it explicitly teaches 3rd graders how to use close reading skills by identifying unfamiliar words, figuring out the gist, and defining...
EngageNY
Close Reading of Thank You, Mr. Falker: Identifying the Superpowers of Reading
Third graders read excepts from the story, Thank You, Mr. Falker in order to gain practice in understanding an unfamiliar story by focusing on the details. They use a worksheet, embedded in the plan, which directs them to certain...
Kentucky Educational Television
What Is Honesty?
This is an absolute must-have resource for exploring honesty with your learners! Youngsters role play four scenarios that involve honest and dishonest actions, and then engage in meaningful discussion and activities regarding those...
Curated OER
Developing Kids with Character Through Service Learning
Students discover service learning and how it can help them build character. In this community instructional activity, students brainstorm ways they can assist their classmates with problems, and write about it in their journal....
Curated OER
Literature Circles in Action
Learners form cooperative groups to read, discuss, and respond to a novel. They select a novel from offered choices or by criteria given by teacher and complete a culminating project on the novel from such choices as: creating a...
Curated OER
Character Analysis Lessons
Graphic organizers can be a great tool to help students understand character analysis.
Orange County Department of Education
The Glass Slipper Shatters
High school freshmen craft their own definition of honesty. They provide an example from their lives and reflect on the outcomes of their honest behavior. They also identify a time when they may have been dishonest in a relationship and...
Curated OER
Respect
Investigate "respect" with your class. They will participate in a think/share activity in which they complete sentence starters about their personal experience with "respect." Then they view a video clip in which Holocaust survivors...
Curated OER
Drama/Theatre
Young scholars discover how setting, props, and character-action communicate information about the characters and the story. Access to videos and a video camera are important to make this lesson a success.
Curated OER
Courage in Action
Seventh graders explore what it takes to be courageous. For this social studies lesson, 7th graders analyze different character traits. Students explain their feelings on their specific character traits.
Curated OER
Creative Characterization
Students write a character description journal in which they take on the voice of one of the character's made-up friends or relatives. They write a sketch of that character from the friend or relatives' point of view.
Curated OER
Dear Diary
Learners analyze a piece of writing by creating diary entries based on a character. In this reading comprehension instructional activity, students read an assigned book with their classmates and create a sketch of what they believe the...