Activity
Curated OER

Character Development Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Scrambled Stories II

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Review story elements with your class. They will use examples from a story to develop critical-thinking questions. Then they use a graphic organizer to describe the setting, character, and plot of the story, focusing on how they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Character Development - Flora

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Watch video clips that illustrate a character's development. Your class can watch video's about a character and her development through a life decision. They then complete a timeline activity for the story.
Lesson Plan
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Examining Character Traits through Character Mapping

For Teachers K - 6th
Some of what we know about a character is directly stated. Some of what we know is inferred by events in the story. Character maps help primary learners recognize the difference. After modeling with a story your class has read, pupils...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Character in a Bag

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Develop a mystery character using clues from a bag. This engaging activity will help learners understand character traits. They develop a list of the items from the bag, discuss and develop the character with a partner, and create a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Character Traits in Fables

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Combining art, music, dance, and reading comprehension, this lesson is geared to reach all ability levels. After reading a variety of fables and discussing story elements and character traits, class members select a moral to use as the...
Lesson Plan
The Kennedy Center

Fairy Tale Variations

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Here are two great lessons that work together and are inspired by the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Young writers and actors will retell the story of "The Frog Prince" through games, improvisational script writing, and...
Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Writing Short Stories: The Fun Way

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Do your young authors suffer from writer's block when they try to write short stories? Access their natural creativity with C-Gor, the writing monster! The instructional activity takes aspiring authors through a new writing process...
Lesson Plan
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Scrambled Stories

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Character development, setting, and plot? Sounds like the makings of a good narrative story. Young authors read and analyze several narrative examples, and then they use what they know to pen an original composition. They work both in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Do You Have Character?

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders read Katherine Paterson's novel, Bridge to Terabithia, and watch a video of Maurice Sendak's book, Where the Wild Things Are. They examine the characters in both stories that share similar characteristics. Students use the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Drama: Learn A Lesson from the Lion

For Teachers 1st
Reading is reading, whether it's for drama or English class. Boost reading fluency, accuracy, intonation, and comprehension while fostering creative acting skills. Kids read the provided tale of "The Lion and the Mouse" several times in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Character Bust: Ceramics Lesson

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Whether it is a protagonist, antagonist, hero or heroine, characters are a must in any story. Learners analyze a character from a narrative they are reading, then use that character as inspiration. They create a ceramic bust depicting...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Developing a Topic for Writing Using an Idea Web

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Teach your upper graders how to use an idea web to develop a topic for writing. After reading a variety of stories about friendship (a list of stories with the theme of friendship is included), model using an idea web. Class members...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Counting Up/Down Stories

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Mirroring Jerry Spinelli's style in Wringer, chapter 5, pupils use the "counting up/down technique" to recall an important moment in their lives. In the book, the character is being punched, and between blows he remembers details...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Animation Pre-Production

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
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Character Traits

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore details from a story to develop ideas and opinions about character traits. Using a Smart Board, 6th graders create a chart explaining the character's action and traits. In groups, students discuss and describe...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fairy Tales Unit Ideas

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students listen to children's fairy tales and watch them on a video. Afterward, they list the heroes from each story. Students write a short paragraph about a typical day for the hero. Students dress up like their character and give a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Character

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars read a variety of Cinderella tales from different cultures. They discuss the differences in character, plot, and conflict resolution in the stories from different countries.
Lesson Plan
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Lesson Plan 10: Writing Really Good Dialogue

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Boring dialogue can run a great story into the ground; get your novelists using dialogue as a tool to move their story into deeper and more developed territory. As part of a larger writing series, this lesson has a worksheet that can...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

We Tell Stories

For Teachers K - 5th
Young readers bring characters to life by working in small groups to script and perform stories that contain a community concept. Detailed questions and activities are outlined for the class. Consider having your groups create...
Lesson Plan
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Creating an Original Opera

For Teachers 9th - 12th
This may be a lot to ask of a high schooler, but then again, who knows? Pupils work in groups to explore, write, and then perform an original opera. They view versions of The Magic Flute and La Traviata, then compose a plot, characters,...
Lesson Plan
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The Art of Creating a Character Using a Press Conference

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students 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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cinderella Stories

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Young scholars listen to the Scottish tale, The Princess and the Golden Shoes, creating a character chart. They develop a newspaper containing news stories, personality profiles, and editorials regarding The Princess and the Golden Shoes.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Growing in Character

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore how to build their character by respecting and appreciating various cultures. In this character education lesson, students read the book Seedfolks and answer questions based on the character's cultural backgrounds....