Other
Building Characters With Adversity
Extensive and very interesting article advising the reader on how to develop characters through adversity.
Caro Clarke
Loving Your Characters Too Much
This article is the fifth in a series that is designed to help new authors with their new novels. This lesson focuses on your main character and what happens when that character lacks character flaws.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: W.4.3b: Use Dialogue and Description to Develop Experiences/events
Links to 12 lessons and activities that build student skills in standard W.4.3b: Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events to show the responses of characters to situations.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Creating Careers for Characters
Interactive lesson which allows students to actually "become" a character in a story they have read. Students analyze and evaluate their character, and extend the activity into choosing a career for that character.
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Curriculum Hub: Ela Guidebooks: The Joy Luck Club: Character's Perspective
Read part one, chapter four from The Joy Luck Club and examine how the author uses words and phrases to create Ying Ying's perspective.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Book Report Alternative Creating a Childhood for a Character
Contains plans for four lessons that ask students to create childhoods for characters in books they have read. This lesson uses Jane Yolen's "Merlin and the Dragons" as an example, but this book report alternative can be used with a...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: W.3.3.b: Use Dialogue and Descriptions of Actions
Links to 2 lessons and activities that build student skills in standard W.3.3.b: Write Narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
SMART Technologies
Smart: Developing Characters and Settings
In this activity provided by SMART, students will give reasons why they feel characters are important in a story. Students will explore how to create effective characters and settings in their own writing by using a character web.
Childnet
Childnet: Online Safety: Picture This (Drama Activity About Sexting)
A practical educational sexting resource that addresses and questions the sensitive issue of sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically with 11-16 year olds. By asking young people to step into the shoes of the...
Other
Create a Fable [Pdf]
Fables include common elements, such as a moral, characters, and a setting. This activity walks students through the process of creating a fable by selecting each item from a list, then putting it all together.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Characters In
Contains plans for five lessons for the book "Because of Winn-Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo. Young scholars create lists of ten to summarize the features of characters. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Using Picture Books to Teach Characterization
Contains plans for two or three lessons that ask learners to examine characterization in picture books to use as models for their own writing. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains links to sites used...
John F. Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center: Chinese Calligraphy & Ink Painting
Students explore Chinese culture while creating unique pieces of calligraphy with watercolor paint. This two-part lesson plan includes an assessment rubric and a list of sources to use as a reference.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Story Writing With Arthur
This series of 12 downloadable activities teach students some basics of story writing, using books or videos from the PBS "Arthur" series as a springboard. Activities include creating story maps, asking questions about characters and...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Realism: "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" by Bret Harte
This lesson focuses on the short story "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" by Bret Harte who uses stereotypical but realistic characters to invent the culture of the "Old West." This story is an example of Regionalism, a sbu-genre of Realism....
Other
Learn How to Draw With Gary Harbo
Create your own world of crazy cartoon creatures. Illustrator Gary Harbo provides simple step-by-step instructions for drawing some unique characters. Each month a new character-drawing activity goes live on his website.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Annie and the Wild Animals Project
[Free Registration/Login Required] This lesson contains pre- and post-reading activities for Jan Brett's Annie and the Wild Animals. Students identify setting and animal characters from the story and learn about Scandinavia (where the...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Unique Imaginary Friends
The writer will first create an original imaginary friend, inspired by Ted from Tony DiTerlizzi's wonderful picture book. The writer will then think of an ordinary activity done on a daily basis, like feeding the family dog. The writer...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Story Character Homepage
Online lesson which allows for students to create an electronic "Home page," for a specific character when reading a class novel. Students research and create web pages, then present findings to the class.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Silly Story Builder: Martha Speaks
This activity will help children build vocabulary, become familiar with essential parts of a story, and develop story sequencing skills. They can create silly stories by drawing story parts out of a bag.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Make an Alarm!
After reading the story "Dear Mr. Henshaw" by Beverly Cleary, students will build an alarm system for something in the classroom, as the main character Leigh does to protect his lunchbox from thieves. Students will learn about alarms and...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Intro to Julius Caesar Using Universal Theme Analysis
In this 4-session lesson plan, students explore the theme of betrayal from different perspectives in their own lives and in modern scenarios through discussions and activities where they create and talk about comic strip scenarios. They...
Google
Cs Education at Google: Cs First: Gumball's Coding Adventure
Teaches basic computer science concepts using the programming language Scratch. For this activity, students use characters from Cartoon Network's "The Amazing World of Gumball" to create an animated story.
BBC
Bbc: Celts: Make Your Own Cartoon Strip
Create a cartoon based on the Celts during the Iron Age. Choose a background and two characters. Then type dialogue for both characters and add a title. Finally, watch the cartoon come to life. Print to share with others.