Character: the person or animal in a story

Setting: when and where a story takes place

Plot: the events or happenings in a story

Conflict: the problem the main character faces

Resolution: the solution to the conflict

Students will develop strategies for character development.  Students will:

• Review how characters tend to develop in stories by recalling their own favorite characters
• Create character outlines on trading cards
• Demonstrate comprehension of character development and story elements
• Write a story in which they develop their own character

90-120 minutes

Materials:

• Brave Irene by William Steig
• computers with Internet access
• LCD projector or overhead projector with transparency
• Transparency - Character's Childhood Planning Sheet
• samples of popular trading cards
• Character Trading Cards Planning Sheet
• a variety of stories where a character has a problem that is resolved

W = During these sessions, students will use inference, plot development, and conflict resolution to understand how characters tend to develop in narrative text.

H = Students have the opportunity to practice story structure and character development.

E = Students demonstrate comprehension of character development by working together to brainstorm ideas to complete a trading card for Brave Irene.

R = Students engage in discussion by sharing their trading cards to provide constructive feedback to guide the revision process.

E = Students apply what they have learned by creating their own character outline for a character in a story they are writing.

T = These sessions involve the clear visualization and manipulation of creating characters and settings.  This lesson can be extended by creating and developing additional characters.  Students can use these new characters to write and illustrate their own story or make and share character cards.

O = First these sessions work through the process of brainstorming.  Next they build up to group modeling through the process of guided practice.  Then these sessions allow for creation and peer sharing.  Finally, peer feedback leads to revision. 

Session1 - Introduction

•  Ask students to think of a favorite story character and describe how that character developed (changed) in the story; you might ask students to discuss this with a partner.  Summarize the conversation by stating that in most stories characters have a goal. A problem or conflict with this goal develops and the character spends the story working through the conflict to resolve it and meet the goal.
• Show students the trading cards you have collected.  You may also ask students to bring in their own trading cards to share with the class.  Discuss the purpose of trading cards. Ask students to study the trading cards and notice what kind of information is included. Ask them why they think trading cards were developed and how they use their trading cards. Review that trading cards provide the reader with some basic information about a person or character, include a picture, and can easily be traded.
• Let students know that writers collect this same kind of basic information about characters before they write about them. They think about what their characters look like, where they live, what their personality is like, and what might happen to them. Explain to students that they will be creating their own trading cards in order to plan for a character they will include in the stories they are working on.

Session 2 - Modeling

• Choose a book to use as an example. You want a book with a character who has a problem that is resolved by the end of the story. This lesson uses Brave Irene by William Steig. Read the text you have selected, identifying places where the character is described, where the conflict/problem is introduced, where the character deals with the conflict, and where the conflict is resolved or the goal is reached. For older students, you may want to use a novel you have read aloud as a class or short stories with more complex characters.
• Show students the online Character Trading Cards tool with an projector; if you do not have a LCD projector, show students the transparency Character's Childhood Planning Sheet using an overhead projector.  Character's Childhood Planning Sheet can also be print out and displayed if technology is unavailable.  Using Brave Irene, model how the author might have developed the main character by asking the questions that are on the card. Read the text aloud and stop along the way to model your thinking and let students observe and discuss the author's description of the character, the conflict/problem, and the resolution. Fill in the Character Trading Card online or write on the blank transparency of the card you have created.  Students should think not only about their characters but also about the plot and setting of their stories.
• Review how asking questions like the ones on the trading card can help authors plan their characters before writing. If you have been completing the card online, print the trading card to show students this step and to have a sample for them to follow.

 Session 3 - Creating a Character

• Explain to students that they used the trading cards to study how authors describe and develop characters in their stories. They will now do the same work to plan their own characters.  Ask students to think about the story they are working on or to look at their list of story ideas and choose one. They should then focus on the main character in that story. You may want to have students work in pairs for a few moments to talk through their story ideas and their character ideas. It is often helpful to talk through ideas before writing them, especially for struggling writers.
• Have students use the Character Trading Cards tool to plan a character by asking questions.  If computer time or computers are limited, have students fill out the Character Trading Cards Planning Sheet. 
• Confer with students as they work through the questions. Depending on your students' writing abilities, you can push for more detail and sophistication in the characters they are developing.  Have students print out and review their trading cards together.  They should work through the questions with each other, making notes on their trading cards based on the feedback.  Students can then revise their trading cards.

Intervention Strategies:

• model characters from stories that were read and discussed previously
• use graphic organizers that are commonly utilized in your classroom to help explain conflict and resolution
• provide examples of real life conflicts that students can relate to

Options:

Student Observations and Discussion

Story Mapping and Creation using Newly Created Character

Criteria Checklist for Character Trading Cards:

• effectively plan a character outline
• provide a clear description of the character physical appearance and personality
• provide clear description of the setting.
• describe how the conflict is related to the character's goals.
• describe how the conflict is resolved.

"Http:readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/trading_cards/." Web. 1 Mar. 2010. <htttp:www.thinkfinity.org/>.

"Http:readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson932/planning-sheet.pdf." Web. 1 Mar. 2010. <htttp:www.thinkfinity.org/>.

"Http:readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/storymap/index.html." Web. 1 Mar. 2010. <htttp:www.thinkfinity.org/>.

"Http:readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson958/PlanningSheet.pdf." Web. 1 Mar. 2010. <htttp:www.thinkfinity.org/>.