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Who's Who? Character Deep Dive

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Lesson Plan

Who's Who? Character Deep Dive

Students will be able to infer character traits and motivations by using specific details and evidence from the text.

This lesson helps students develop critical reading skills, allowing them to understand characters on a deeper level. This skill is crucial for understanding literature and even people around them.

Audience

3rd Grade

Time

15 minutes

Approach

Modeling, guided practice, independent application.

Materials

Character Clues Slide Deck, Short Story Reading, and Character Detective Worksheet

Prep

Teacher Preparation

10 minutes

Step 1

Connect to Prior Knowledge: What are people like?

3 minutes

  • Begin by asking students about people they know and how they describe them.
    - Introduce the idea of 'character traits' – words that describe a character's personality.
    - Show Slide 1 of the Character Clues Slide Deck and discuss.

Step 2

Model the Skill: Be a Character Detective

5 minutes

  • Explain that good readers are like detectives, looking for clues to understand characters.
    - Display Slide 2 of the Character Clues Slide Deck and read aloud the Short Story Reading as a class.
    - Model how to identify a character trait and support it with text evidence, using a character from the story. (e.g., "I think [Character Name] is [trait] because the text says '[specific detail]'").
    - Use Slide 3 to guide the modeling process.

Step 3

Guided Practice: Let's Find Some Clues Together

4 minutes

  • Assign students to work in pairs.
    - Have them re-read a different section of the Short Story Reading or focus on another character.
    - Provide each pair with a Character Detective Worksheet.
    - Guide them to identify character traits and supporting evidence, circulating to offer support. Use Slide 4 to facilitate discussion and check for understanding.

Step 4

Independent Application: Your Turn to Detect!

3 minutes

  • Students will complete the remaining sections of the Character Detective Worksheet independently, focusing on a new character or section of the story.
    - Collect worksheets for assessment.
    - Conclude by reiterating the importance of looking for clues to understand characters better. Use Slide 5 to summarize the learning.
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Slide Deck

Who's Who? Character Deep Dive

🕵️‍♀️ Become a Character Detective!

What makes people unique? Just like your friends and family, characters in stories have special qualities that make them who they are. We call these character traits.

Today, we'll learn to find clues in stories to figure out what characters are like and why they do what they do!

Welcome students and introduce the exciting topic of character deep dives! Explain that today, they will become character detectives.

What are Character Clues?

How do we know what a character is like?

Look for clues like a detective!

  • Actions: What does the character do?
  • Words: What does the character say?
  • Thoughts: What does the character think or feel?
  • Others Say: What do other characters say about them?

Discuss different ways characters show their traits. Emphasize that actions speak louder than words, but words and thoughts are important too! Ask students for examples from books they've read.

Detective Time! (Modeling)

Let's be detectives together!

  1. Read a part of our story.
  2. Pick a character.
  3. Find a clue! (What they do, say, think, or what others say about them.)
  4. Infer a character trait. (What kind of person are they?)
  5. Explain your evidence! (Show where you found the clue in the text.)

Guide students through an example from the Short Story Reading. Read a section aloud, then model identifying a character trait and supporting it with evidence. For example, if a character shares their lunch, you might say, "I think [Character Name] is generous because they shared their lunch with a friend. That's a kind action!"

Partner Up! (Guided Practice)

Now, with a partner, let's practice!

  1. Choose another character or section.
  2. Look for clues together!
  3. Discuss: What trait does this character show?
  4. Fill out your Character Detective Worksheet with your findings.

Have students work in pairs. Assign them to reread a specific part of the story or focus on a different character. Circulate and provide support as they fill out their Character Detective Worksheet.

Your Turn! (Independent Application)

Time to show off your detective skills!

  1. Work quietly and independently.
  2. Choose a character or a part of the story.
  3. Find the clues!
  4. Infer the character traits.
  5. Write down your evidence on your worksheet.

Remember, every great detective uses evidence!

Instruct students to complete the remaining sections of their worksheets independently. Remind them to think like detectives and use the text as their evidence. Collect the worksheets at the end for assessment.

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Reading

The New Kid

The bell rang, and Mrs. Davis smiled at her class. "Good morning, everyone! Today, we have a new friend joining us. This is Leo."

A boy with bright red sneakers and a shy smile walked to the front. He clutched a worn backpack tightly. Some kids whispered and giggled. Leo looked down at his shoes.

Lily, who always had a kind word, raised her hand. "Welcome, Leo! My name is Lily. I hope you like our class." She gave him a small, friendly wave. Mrs. Davis nodded at Lily approvingly.

During recess, most of the kids rushed out to the swings and the soccer field. Leo stood by the wall, watching. He kicked at a loose pebble.

Suddenly, a soccer ball rolled past him. Mark, who was usually the loudest kid in class, ran after it. When he saw Leo, he stopped. "Hey, new kid! Wanna play? We need one more!" Mark grinned and kicked the ball gently towards Leo. Leo's face brightened, and he slowly walked over to join the game.

Later, during art class, everyone was painting pictures of their favorite animals. Leo was having trouble. His paintbrush slipped, and a big blob of green paint landed right on his purple elephant. He sighed sadly.

Sitting next to him, Chloe noticed. Chloe was known for being very creative and always helping others with their art. "Oh no!" she said softly. "Don't worry, Leo. Look! We can turn that green blob into a cool tree! Your elephant can be standing under it." Chloe picked up a smaller brush and showed him how. Leo watched, then tried it himself. A small smile returned to his face.

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Worksheet

Character Detective Worksheet

Name: _____________________________
Date: _____________________________

Great job being a character detective! Now it's your turn to find clues and figure out what characters are like.

Character 1: Lily

  1. What did Lily do or say in the story?






  2. What character trait describes Lily? (Circle one or write your own)

    • Kind
    • Shy
    • Loud
    • Helpful




  3. What is your evidence from the story that makes you think this? (Write down the sentence or idea from the story).






Character 2: Mark

  1. What did Mark do or say in the story?






  2. What character trait describes Mark? (Circle one or write your own)

    • Grumpy
    • Friendly
    • Quiet
    • Thoughtful




  3. What is your evidence from the story that makes you think this? (Write down the sentence or idea from the story).






Character 3: Chloe

  1. What did Chloe do or say in the story?






  2. What character trait describes Chloe? (Circle one or write your own)

    • Creative
    • Angry
    • Silly
    • Generous




  3. What is your evidence from the story that makes you think this? (Write down the sentence or idea from the story).






Character 4: Your Choice!

Think about another character in the story or a detail you noticed.

  1. Which character or detail are you focusing on?



  2. What character trait did you infer?



  3. What is your evidence from the story?






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Who's Who? Character Deep Dive • Lenny Learning