Analyze Character Motivation Teacher Resources

Help your pupils determine just what makes a character or person tick by zooming in on one character or person. This graphic organizer is dedicated to analyzing one person and asks pupils to infer a personality trait, note down an action...

Why did they do it? Get to the bottom of complex characters and people by analyzing their motivation. Learners select an action and take a close look at that action in order to infer motive. They then explain why they determined that...

Why do people and characters act as they do? Require your class figure out the motivation of two people or characters they read about in a given text. In the short charts, pupils note down who, what they do, and why they do it. After...

Can ignorance sometimes be a blessing? See what your class thinks as they identify the theme of Aesop's fable "The Herdsman and the Lost Bull" and analyze character motivations within the text. The resource comes with an audiobook...

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...

You can often track a character's development based on others' reactions to their words or actions. Using Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," ninth graders work in a jigsaw activity to analyze how Mirabella's...

What determines the worth of a person? Challenge pupils to identify theme and analyze characterization with Aesop's fable "The Jay and the Peacock." Readers answer a series of comprehension questions after listening to an audio version...

High schoolers examine the Edgar Allan Poe story "The Cask of Amontillado." In this character lesson, students discuss and analyze the characters in the story. High schoolers make personal connections to the characters and create a...

Eighth graders read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and participate in whole class discussions. They evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information in the text in order to explain character motivation and action. Students produce an essay...

I can't wait to try this activity with my class. It's versatile and could be modified to fit any character analysis instructional activity. To analyze characters thoroughly, learners create life boxes. Each box will pertain to a...

Young scholars, utilizing video clips and Web sites, compare specific passages from original texts to moments in Broadway musicals on which they were based, analyzing similarities and differences between them. They adapt literature into...

Eighth graders study Langston Hughes, "Thank You Ma'am" to discover the elements of plot, character motives and reactions. They express the effects of trust and kindness by writing a reflective personal narrative. They illustrate the...

Examine the power of persuasion and have learners consider how it influences events in their own lives. After reading and analyzing informational texts to understand the author's purpose, class members take a written test and craft a...

Examine persuasive literature and writing. In this persuasive literature instructional activity, pupils work through a variety of activities over the course of three weeks (each week is planned by day). The unit's purpose is to examine...

Students inquire about life for pioneer children. In this pioneer period lesson plan, students analyze photographs of children, make information foldables, and create a covered wagon that was typical of the ones of the past. Students...

Learners read and analyze the story. In this language arts lesson plan, students read Come on, Rain! and examine how mood and tone are created, the use of figurative language and the characteristics of the genre. Learners research...

How is Louisiana connected to the Holocaust? After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, eighth graders complete a research report about a survivor of the Holocaust who currently resides in Louisiana. Though the idea is a good way to...

Plan on using Gone with the Wind as a reading selection? Here's a packet of prompts for activities and assessments.

Students create a poem that expresses the physical and emotional turmoil of living through the Dust Bowl.  In this Out of the Dust lesson, students research facts about the time period and discuss the cause-effect patterns...

Students explore the American Civil War. In this Civil War lesson plan, students examine a slave auction advertisement and an Abraham Lincoln quote. Students also read Pink and Say, create a foldable regarding naval warfare, and design a...

Eighth graders discover that literature can be a great way to gather information about the past. Using various types of text, they research its historical data and determine if it is correct. They write two papers to respond to the...

Seventh graders are introduced to and discuss the power of persuasion. After reading text, they identify the author's purpose, perspective and argument. They write their own fiction and non-fiction texts and develop a perspective after...

During this unit, students will ask "Why do we do what we do?" They will read different novels to analyze character motivation. Throughout the unit they will debate whether they think characters made smart choices and why. They will also...

In this lesson, students analyze how a character's personality traits, actions, and motives influence the plot of a story. Students also learn how storytellers use their face, body, and voice, as well as the five senses, to enhance the...