Wednesday, March 21, 2018

FREE LANGUAGE ARTS LESSONS - "Writing About Book Characters"





Reasons Why Students Should Write About Book Characters
and a FREE Teaching Resource for You

Young readers love the story.  Partly, or mostly because of the main character.  Who the story is happening to is a big reason why the story engages the reader.  Relating to characters in a story develops interest and enjoyment to reading.  
A character, like Oliver Twist, simply creates the background, plot and theme of the story.  Charlotte guides us through lessons of friendship. Henry Huggins teaches us that living 'just an ordinary life' presents adventures and sometimes complications. He shows us the true meaning of kindness and stick-to-itiveness. Karana paints us a picture of being alone and what that can feel like. Little Red Hen teaches us a work ethic we can admire and even the youngest reader can empathize with her dealing with the lazy pig, dog and cat. 
Reading and writing about these book characters develops our own character: Who do you wish to be like?  Judd Travers or Marty?  Each of them have a character situation.  Each of them shows us character traits. Each of them teaches us what we can do and what we might do.

And all readers love their favorite characters. One of my favorite characters is Anne.  That's Anne of Green Gables; she invites me into her life with her delightful language and Montgomery clearly is a master writer when developing this character. Anne moves this story with her words and actions.  She touches our minds and our hearts.  Read below a child's writing about Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery. 

literacy instruction, Anne of Green Gables, teaching reading, MrsQuimbyReads
Question Strips for Reading Journals
Motivate Readers to Write About Their Reading
When children feel a character is real, they can imagine the character's life.  They can understand more fully the character's words and actions. The plot matters more. When this happens, the meaning of reading becomes clear.  We are drawn into the story of the character. How did this happen? What will happen next? How does our world compare to this character's world?  
We become intelligent and sympathetic readers because we imagine ourselves in the character's shoes. What would we do?  What would we say? How might we do things differently?  And yes, now we are thinking! 
And thinking was the goal!  Thinking when reading is essential.  Readers thoughts and ideas about the characters and that character's story brings meaning to the reader.   
In the end, reflecting and writing about book characters is a valuable skill in the reading classroom.  
MrsQuimbyReads, writing about characters, write about reading, graphic organizers, teaching resources
FREE Graphic Organizers - Writing About Book Characters
Get Yours Here



State Standards for Literacy recognizing
 the importance of character study. 
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.9
With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7
Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.9
Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.6
Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7
Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.9Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by thesame author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series)


Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
There are more; but you get the idea.



1 comment:

  1. For instructors and students alike, these free language arts activities are a real gift. Writing about fictional characters helps to improve writing abilities and fosters a better comprehension of literature. I appreciate you providing the education community with such useful materials. In the fast-paced world of academia, students are constantly faced with the challenge of producing high-quality written assignments. From essays and research papers to dissertations and theses, academic writing is an integral part of a student's journey editing help cheap academic writing service

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