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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hamilton and Burr : Compare and Contrast

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Who were Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton? High schoolers examine the character traits of these historical figures and watch the video, The Duel. Hamilton vs. Burr: An Event that Changed History (available from PBS), to gain an...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Character Traits: Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Lensey Namioka’s Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear provides an opportunity for young readers to observe how writers bring their characters to life. Each class member selects a character to trace through the novel, recording...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Rescue Josh McGuire

For Students 4th - 6th
An excellent, 3-activities-in-one worksheet goes along with the book, Rescue Josh McGuire. Learners complete short answer, vocabulary, and crossword puzzle activities. A great literary resource!
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cinderella

For Teachers K - 2nd
Explore positive and negative character traits and universal themes in the story of Cinderella with primary learners. Story elements are reviewed and discussion questions are listed. Learners practice retelling the story and begin a...
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PPT
Curated OER

Characterization

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
A 46-slide presentation focuses on ways to describe characters in stories, how to create story characters, and how to show a character's personality in a student-created story. The colorful and engaging slides provide lots of great ideas...
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Organizer
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Teacherfiles

Character Connections

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
Making connections with characters in literature is a great way to engage young children in reading. This task is made much easier with this Venn diagram template that asks young learners to compare and contrast themselves with a...
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Lesson Plan
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Scholastic

Quick as a Cricket Lesson Plan

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd Standards
Teaching young learners about similes is easy as pie with this primary grade language arts instructional activity. Following a class reading of the children's book, Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood, young readers learn the definition of...
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Organizer
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Teacherfiles

Character Grid

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Characters are built with more than just what the author directly says about a character (ex: she is smart). Help your pupils focus on several elements of characterization with a graphic organizer that has space for two characters....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Descriptive Writing Using the Book Rumpelstiltskin

For Teachers 2nd - 4th Standards
Use the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin to teach your third grade class about descriptive writing. Following a teacher read-aloud of the story, the class brainstorms a list of adjectives describing the main character. Students use this list...
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Worksheet
La Jolla High School

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Sketching a Portrait--Character Traits

For Students 6th - 9th
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...
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Unit Plan
Roald Dahl

Fantastic Mr. Fox

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
A fancifully illustrated guide to Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox, this series of lessons, activities, and tasks could be used in its entirety or picked apart and used piecemeal. Have young readers investigate the role of dialogue in...
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Lesson Plan
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education

Characters from a Box

For Teachers 5th
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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Patience, Practice and Persistence

For Teachers 6th - 12th
First the class analyzes the painting, Rodeo-Pickup Man by Frank Mechau, then they get to work. They explore the painting through verbal descriptions, focusing on vivid language to describe detail. They then compose a written piece using...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

What a Character!

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Guide your readers to explore character traits. As a class, discuss and record the traits of a commonly-known fairy tale character. Then do the same with the main character in the class novel. Finally, have learners use magazines and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building Character: Holocaust Survivor Testimonies

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Host a fishbowl discussion to help your class recognize and articulate the relationship between words and the character traits they describe. They analyze Holocaust survivor testimonies and apply the character traits they observe. No...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Body Biography: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

For Teachers 7th
Class groups assume the identity of one of the primary human characters in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. They create a body biography that identifies the most important traits of their character, translate these traits into...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stir Up a Character Analysis Recipe

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
What ingredients make up a character? A cup of honesty, a dash of humor, a pinch of cynicism? Based on real cookbooks they review in class, learners at any grade level three and up write recipes to describe characters familiar to your...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

All Aboard the Freedom Train!

For Teachers K - 2nd
Young historians identify Harriet Tubman, her character traits, and role as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. They create an escape map using map legends and the Cardinal directions. This plan utilizes one of my favorite video...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Because of Winn-Dixie Scrapbook

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Here is a fun resource that your kids will love. While reading the book Because of Winn-Dixie, they analyze the story's main characters by creating an online scrapbook. The purpose is to have them identify character traits and use...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Boys Will Be Boys...Right?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Through this exercise, high schoolers identify character traits present in Romeo and Juliet. They listen to an excerpt from "The Office of Christian Parents: Showing How Children Are to be Governed" and participate in a Socratic...
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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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Special Traits: Alabama quarter reverse

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Who knew a state quarter could say so much? Alabama's quarter is embossed with an image of Helen Keller, pupils will use this image to think about what the phrase "Spirit of courage" means. They will use a graphic organizer to...
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Organizer
Polk Bros Foundation

I Can Analyze a Story or History Completely and Carefully

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Start off analysis of a text with a worksheet that asks pupils to complete several tasks. Class members note down a couple of characters or people and their distinguishing traits, describe the most important event, summarize the text...
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Worksheet
DePaul University

The Football Team

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
Playing team sports is about more than just scoring the most goals or winning the most games. Read this passage with your class and learn how athletes build character as members of a team. When finished, individuals identify the main...