• During the lesson, emphasize the importance of analyzing characters’ feelings and actions in literary nonfiction as well as in fiction. Collect and use the Events, Feelings, Actions Charts to assess students’ understanding. Provide specific feedback to each student.
• Observe students to determine if they understand how to interpret characters’ feelings and can cite evidence to support their interpretation. Informally, assess if students are able to summarize the text by using anecdotal observation and notes.
• Use the following checklist to evaluate students’ understanding:
  • Student demonstrates the ability to identify a character’s feelings at different points in the text.
  • Student accurately cites evidence from the text.

Focus Question:  How does an author use key ideas and details to develop characters and events in a literary nonfiction text?

Distribute a variety of nonfiction texts such as biographies, memoirs, and magazines dealing with nature or places. Give students several minutes to look through some of the texts. Ask, “Are these texts fiction or nonfiction? Which of these nonfiction texts have characters and events, the literary elements we talked about in the fiction books we read in Lesson 1?”

Explain that certain types of nonfiction can have a text structure similar to a story or fictional piece of literature. Say, “Today we will explore literary nonfiction and see how this text structure is similar to that of fiction. We will also focus on character in literary nonfiction.”

Ask, “Have you ever faced a challenge in your life? How did you overcome the challenge?” Allow volunteers to share their challenges. Show the cover of the book Piano Starts Here—The Young Art Tatum. Ask students to make predictions about the text. Then say, “This book is about a boy who faces a big challenge in his life. Knowing this might change your prediction.” Allow students to revise their original predictions.

Ask, “What genre is this text?” (literary nonfiction) Explain that literary nonfiction contains factual information about a person, place, or thing but is written in a story format. Point out that it contains a story with character, setting, conflict, and resolution. Say, “We will focus on character in this book and see how this literary element impacts your comprehension of literary nonfiction.”

Read the book aloud. During the reading, think aloud and model various reading strategies, such as the following:

• Predicting: “Do you think Art will learn to play the piano?”
• Inferring: “How do you think Art feels about being almost blind?”
• Visualizing: “Can you hear the sounds of the piano or smell the food cooking in the kitchen?”
• Analysis:  “Why did the author choose this setting for the story?”

Discuss that even though this book is nonfiction, there is a clear story structure. Together, identify the character, setting, conflict, and resolution in the story. Analyze why the author chose to include certain characters. Discuss how the characters’ reactions impacted the sequence of events in the story.

Ask, “How did Art feel when he learned to play the piano?” (excited, happy) “How do you know?” Have students cite evidence from the text to support their answers. (He wanted to keep playing the piano instead of going outside.)

Have partners share their thoughts about Art’s feelings at other times in the story. Walk around the room and monitor the conversations to determine if students understand the character’s feelings. Reteach where necessary. Extend with text analysis as appropriate, questioning why the author included certain words, emotions, and events.

Provide each student with a copy of the Events, Feelings, Actions Chart (L-4-1_Events, Feelings, Actions Chart.doc). Ask, “What are the main events in the story?” (Examples: learning to play the piano, playing in church for the first time, getting paid for playing at the bar, touring with other musicians) Model filling in the events, based on students’ responses.

Call on volunteers to help fill in the chart. Write Art’s feelings under the heading “Character’s Feelings.” Then write the supporting evidence under the heading “Character’s Actions.” Have students fill in their charts. When the chart is complete, ask students to turn to their partner and tell how Art’s mother feels at each of these times in the story. Encourage students to cite evidence from the text to support their answers.

Ask volunteers to share their thoughts about Art’s mother’s feelings. Ask why the author chose to have her react this way. Ask other students whether they agree or disagree. Then have students support their answers by citing evidence from the text.

Say, “Now you will show how well you can analyze how characters feel.” Distribute the selected nonfiction texts along with another Events, Feelings, Actions Chart.

Say, “You will now read the text and fill in the chart. Determine the main events in the story and how the main character feels during those events. Write the events in the left column. Write the character’s feelings in the middle column. Then write the character’s actions, or evidence, in the right column, just as we did for the chart about Art Tatum.” Allow students time to read the text, discuss with a partner, and fill in their charts.

Extension:

• For students who need additional practice, have partners read a selected piece of literary nonfiction and fill in a chart identifying the main events, the character’s feelings, and the character’s actions (with evidence from the text).
• For students who are ready to move beyond the standard, have volunteers in small groups tell about an event involving two people and have other students interpret the feelings of each person.