Character Development Teacher Resources

Read Dangerous Minds with your language learning disabled pupils to identify characteristics and connect to literature. This is a specific activity intended for use with the suggested book. The class uses a character map  as a way to...

Animals oftentimes elicit various characteristics which make them symbolic or representative of human feeling, action, or emotion. The class creates horse characters out of clay to show character action and symbolism. This is a great...

Character analysis is a skill we use when we read literary works or want to write a good story. Learners will use drama to practice character analysis while focusing on the details that make characters act the way they do. They'll each...

Use this handout to focus on the character traits of George and Lennie in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Readers are given a set of specific traits to search for in the first chapter. They are required to list two textual examples of...

Pages and pages of engaging activities, worksheets, and writing projects on teaching folktales and fables await you! You don't want to miss this incredible resource that not only includes a wide range of topics and graphic organizers,...

Students complete a character study using a database to compile information from a novel. They design a five slide presentation highlighting the character's reaction to different situations in the book. They write an acrostic poem using...

A series of reading activities is sure to engage your young readers! Based on comparing and contrasting ideas, the packet provides opportunities to compare characters, themes, texts, and other elements of fiction.

In this character development worksheet, students write the characteristics of the first character in the story they are reading. They note the characters name, age, appearance, favorite things, and other important details.

Students explore community service.  For this character development and community lesson, students sing a song based on the fable The Lion and the Mouse. Students participate in a discussion about kindness, and generate ideas for...

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...

Accompany a reading of Madeleine L'Engle's classic tale, A Wrinkle in Time, with a detailed guide equipped with 15 informative and useful chapters. Scholars discover who the author is, why she wrote the book, and crucial story elements...

Connect with the text using helpful annotation strategies. As your class reads the first section of Karen Russell's short story, "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," they note important passages that establish character...

The second lesson in a historical fiction series encourages pupils to develop a character profile of a colonial person using research acquired in the previous unit. Learners prepare their historical fiction narrative by responding to a...

How much progress has Claudette made at the end of "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves"? Ninth graders note evidence for and against Claudette's successful adaptation into human society with a graphic organizer. Additionally,...

Out of the classroom and into the streets! With Ben Franklin’s Junto society as inspiration, learners develop their ideas for improving their communities and put them into action. After analyzing meeting notes to discover what the Junto...

Finding the central idea in a text can be as simple as deciphering the correct pieces of supporting evidence. As your class reads Stage 4 of "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" by Karen Russell, they analyze the interactions...

Sometimes, sensory details can bring you back to a familiar place. Study the setting descriptions from a critical chapter in Amy Tan's A Joy Luck Club, and discuss how they enhance the book's plot and contribute to a central theme.

Third graders are introduced to character, plot development, point of view, and tone through the use of comic strips. They, in pairs, identify these four attributes in the comic strip and present their findings to the class.

Learners brainstorm and create list of traits of memorable fictional characters they have read about, write down ten characteristics about new character that they are going to create, discuss ways to make characters come alive, and write...

Prophecy and blindness often go hand in hand, as in Sophocles' Oedipus the King. Explore Oedipus' thoughts about prophecy, fate, and responsibility with an activity focused on the discussion between Creon and Oedipus regarding the murder...

Students explore "peace." In this character development lesson, students define "peace" and discuss instances that reflect examples of peace. Students create a windsock using symbols for peace. Directions for the windsock are given.

Three apples—green, red, and rotten—exemplify character traits, negative and positive. Following a discussion about the classroom community, scholars complete an apple-themed worksheet that challenges them to read each trait, color it...

Build your classroom community with an activity that uses apples to examine oneself and their classmates. Participants draw four large apples on blank paper then exchange them within a small group. Group members write a character trait...

Small groups brainstorm their roles in the community. Then, individually, complete a community roles web worksheet. Peers share their completed product and extend the conversation to include the feelings and character traits that go...