Curated OER
Reading Study Guide: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Meant for use with Maya Angelou's first autobiographical volume I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the materials here are designed for a homeschool setting, but they'd suit any classroom or text. Graphic organizers, chapter summary guides,...
Curated OER
“The Story of an Hour” Extension Activities: Teacher’s Guide and Notes
Enhance and extend instruction of "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin with one or all of these ideas. You might want to cover characterization and summary, or improve understanding of context clues and irony. You can cover any...
Curated OER
What is a Philanthropist?
What does a philanthropist do? Help your class explore philanthropy using character development and literacy ideas. Learners will define and give examples of philanthropy, listen to The Lion and the Mouse, discuss how the characters help...
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: Personal Phrenology Chart During Reading Activity
Phrenology, the belief that parts of your brain control certain aspects of your personality, is described in Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science. While we now know much more about the brain, learners use this idea...
Curated OER
What a Character!
Middle schoolers read a novel and discuss character personality. First, they analyze a character in a novel and keep a chart or web of the character's identity, which includes specific examples from the book. They then write a script...
EngageNY
Interpreting and Connecting Information: Creating a Cascading Consequence Chart Using Frightful’s Mountain
Decisions, decisions. Scholars take a close look at making decisions by discussing the character Sam in chapters one through eight of Frightful’s Mountain. Partners discuss whether Sam should interact with Frightful and then complete a...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Goldilocks Revisited
After a read-aloud of the story Goldielocks and the Three Bears, scholars gather into small groups to answer a series of questions. Peers examine the idea of smart decisions and identify three feelings of characters alongside three...
Curated OER
Greek Origins and Character Development
Seventh graders examine words of Greek origin and discuss character development in fiction. They read a list of Greek word parts and create words on a worksheet. Students then read and discuss an informational handout about character...
Curated OER
Animation Pre-Production
Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...
Curated OER
Mystery Lessons
Learn about mysteries with your readers. They will investigate plot, basic elements of mystery, famous characters, and become familiar with genre vocabulary. Bring in props and mystery books to begin and then have learners create story...
Fairfax Public Schools
Walter Dean Myers
If you are reading works by Walter Dean Myers in your class, this resource might be worth a look. Included here are activities and discussion questions for Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary, Somewhere in the Darkness, Scorpions, Fallen...
Curated OER
Out of the Dust 3
Students read the novel, Out of the Dust, and complete a cause and effect chart and a character chart. When the book is completed, they answer review questions.
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....
EngageNY
Introducing the Process for Close Reading: Meeting Frederick Douglass
To learn more about Frederick Douglass, class members complete close reads of excerpts from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. They complete a close reading guide and questions for each excerpt. Pupils then add to the...
Curated OER
Characterization
For this characterization worksheet, students fill out a graphic organizer chart. Students write the character's name in the center and an example of each of the 4 characterization methods by the author. There are instructions to help.
Curated OER
Cinderella Stories
Students listen to the Scottish tale, The Princess and the Golden Shoes, creating a character chart. They develop a newspaper containing news stories, personality profiles, and editorials regarding The Princess and the Golden Shoes.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Finding the Positive
To instill the importance of a positive classroom community small groups create a collage out of magazine clippings that highlight three characteristics of self-awareness. Written examples accompany the finished product. Groups turn in...
Curated OER
The Things That Bothered Farmer Brown
Link language development to literacy skills. This lesson template provides a comprehensible way to use the Braidy Web to maximize language and reading skills. It would be appropriate for developmentally disabled pupils reading at a K-2...
Curated OER
Building Vocabulary: Touching Spirit Bear
Two activities are provided for you here as you start to read Touching Spirit Bear with your class. First, introduce them to some of the new vocabulary they'll encounter once they start reading. Then, complete two KWHL charts. For the...
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
Celebrating Caring and Kindness
Students create a poster that represents how to care and give kindness. In this caring and kindness lesson plan, students demonstrate character development by creating a poster in groups on how they can care and be kind at home, school,...
Curated OER
Character Value
Young scholars discuss their value systems. In this value lesson plan, students read a book and fill in a chart describing the values of the characters and examples that prove these values. They compare the character's values to their own.
Curated OER
Filling the Holes, 20 Years Later
Students learn to analyze traits of the main character after reading Holes by Louis Sachar. In this character analysis lesson, students illustrate one of the characters at their workplace 20 years in the future.
Curated OER
Seedfolks
Students explore sequencing. In this sequencing lesson, students sequence events to analyze character actions as cause and effect or the plot of the story. Students discuss character actions and list them on a chart.