KerryFarnumRAL320

Spring2016
WritingMiniLessonPlan
Title:CharacterDevelopment
Topic:CharacterizationinaNarrative,Grade2
EssentialQuestion:Whatelementsarepertinenttodevelopinganewcharacterina
narrative?
Standards:
CCSS.ELALITERACY.W.2.3
Writenarrativesinwhichtheyrecountawellelaboratedeventorshortsequenceof
events,includedetailstodescribeactions,thoughts,andfeelings,usetemporalwordsto
signaleventorder,andprovideasenseofclosure.
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.2.3
Describehowcharactersinastoryrespondtomajoreventsandchallenges.
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.2.6
Acknowledgedifferencesinthepointsofviewofcharacters,includingbyspeakingina
differentvoiceforeachcharacterwhenreadingdialoguealoud.
LearningObjectives&Assessments
Objectives
Learnerswillbeabletoanalyzeelementsof
agivencharacter,includingfeelings,
personalityandpointofview.
Learnerswillbeabletoconstructa
characterfromagivensetofconstraints.

Assessments
Learnerswillcompleteadetective
analysissheet,notingthecharacters
perceivedappearance,thoughts,feelings,
actions,dialogue,andwhatothersbelieve
aboutthecharacter.
Learnerswillworkasadetectiveteamto
analyzeavarietyofclothing,
speech/thoughtbubbles,props,orletters,
andusethesetoformdirectandindirect
conclusionsaboutthecharacter.

Materials:
Fortheclass:
Worksheet
4setsof:Clothing,letter,speechbubble,thoughtbubble,prop(s)
Chromebooks(incaseresearchisneededtosupportdevelopment)
Fortheteacher:
Cautiontape

Detectivehat
Crimenumbermarkers
Prelessonassignmentsand/orpriorknowledge:
Studentswillbefamiliarwithwhatadetectiveis,andhowdetectivesinvestigatetolearn
alotaboutpeople.StudentswillbefamiliarwithhowtouseaChromebooktoresearch
specificinformation.Studentsdonotneedtohaveexperiencewithcharacterizationor
characterdevelopment.
LessonBeginning:
Theteacherwillbeginbyliningstudentsupoutsideoftheclassroomwhenreturning
fromspecial.Theteacherwillinformstudentsthattheyareenteringaliterarycrime
scene,andthatcharactersfromsomestorieshaveescapedfromtheirbooksandcantfind
wheretheybelong.Shewillwarnthemnottotouchanythingwithoutputtingontheir
detectivecapsandgloves.Theteacherwillthenmimewithstudentstheactofputtingon
ahat,andputtingoneachglove.Theteacherwillthengivestudentsanumberfrom14
astheywalkintotheclassroom,assigningthemtoaparticularcrimescene.(2minutes)
InstructionalPlan:
Timetable&Transitions:
0:02:000:05:00
Studentswillbeallowed2minutestoexploretheircrimescenes,inordertocalm
someoftheirexcitementwiththeprops.
Theteacherwilltheninformstudentsthatthereareinvestigativenotesheetsinat
eachtablewithcluesabouttheinformationtheyneedtolearninorderto
determinethestoryfromwhichtheircharactermayhavecomefrom.Theteacher
willinstructstudentstousethepropsavailableandworkasateamtoanalyzethe
givenelementsoftheirmysterycharacters.
0:05:000:20:00
Studentswilltaketimetoanalyzetheircharacters.Studentswilldiscussandwork
asateamtofillouttheirnotesheetswiththeirperceivedcharactersthoughts,
feelings,appearance,actions,anddialogue.
Somegroupswillnothaveevidencefromtheirscenestofillinallsectionsof
theirnotesheets.Oncestudentsrealizethattheycannotfindallinformationbased
ontheirevidence,theteacherwilladdresstheclassbyfirstgainingtheirattention
(handsup:okay).Theteacherwillthenhaveagroupsharetheirconcernswiththe
class,thatsomeelementscannotbeconcludedfromthegivenevidence.The
teacherwillthenasktheclassforsuggestionsabouthowtofilloutthatsectionof
thenotesheet.Theteacherislookingforstudentstosuggestthattheywillhaveto
comeupwiththeirownideasabouthowthecharacterthinks/feels/etc.basedon
otherevidencetheyvegathered.

Oncetheteacherhaselicitedthisresponse,heorshewillencouragestudentsto
determinewhotheircharacterisandthinkaboutastorythecharactercouldhave
escapedfrom.
Transition:Teacherwillwalkaroundtoonegroupatatimeandaskthemtoquietly
sitatthecarpetwiththeirnotesheets.
0:20:000:30:00
Onceseatedatthecarpet,studentswillsharetheircharactersandinvestigative
findingswiththeclass.Theywillalsosharewhotheybelievetheircharacterto
be,andasuggestionaboutwhatstorytheythinkthecharactermayhaveescaped
from.
Differentiation:
Groupswillbeofmixedabilitysomoreablelearnerscanassistlessablelearners
withintheirsmallgroupsattheirtables.Studentleaderswillalsobeevenly
distributedamongstthegroups,sothatallteamconversationsareproductive,but
allstudentsideascanbeheard.
Ifstudentsfinishearly,theycanadddetailstotheirnotesheets,continueto
brainstormandbegintodeveloptheircharacters.
Questions(postactivityclassdiscussion):
Whatelementsareimportantwhenbuildingacharacter?
Whyisitsoimportantforauthorstothinkaboutallofthesedetailswhenbuilding
theircharacters?
Whatstrategiesdidyouusetolearnmoreaboutyourcharacter?
Howdidtheevidenceyouweregivenhelpyoudevelopyourcharacter?
Ifanothergroupwasgivenyourprops,doyouthinktheywouldhavedeveloped
thesameexactcharacterthatyourgroupdid?
ClassroomManagement:
Studentswillcompleteworksheetsfromtheirtablessothattheteacherhaseasy
accesstomonitorbehavior.
Teacherwillgroupthechildrentoavoidconflictandensuremaximum
productivity.
Classwillbesplitinfourduringcharacteractivityandmonitoredbythree
instructorstoavoiddistractionorwildbehaviorduringlearning.
Closure:
Teacherwillinformstudentsthattheywilluseanddevelopthesecharactersinafuture
narrativewritingpiece,andwillaskstudentstokeeptheirnotesheetsinasafeplace.The
lessonwillconcludewithaclassdiscussiontoanswerabovequestions.Therewillnotbe
ahomeworkassignmentrelatingtothislesson.(5minutes)