Who's Who? Character Deep Dive

Jessica James

Tier 1

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.

Understanding character traits helps us better comprehend stories and even understand people in our own lives. This lesson will equip students with the skills to dig deeper into characters.

Audience

3rd Grade

Time

15 minutes

Approach

Students will learn to infer character traits through direct instruction, modeling, and practice.

Materials

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

Prep

Preparation

10 minutes

Review Who's Who? Character Deep Dive Lesson Plan and all linked materials.
* Print copies of the Character Detective Worksheet for each student.
* Ensure the Character Clues Slide Deck is ready for presentation.
* Have the Short Story Reading accessible for students.

Step 1

Connect to Prior Knowledge

3 minutes

Teacher: "Who can tell me what a character is in a story? What are some words we use to describe people? Today, we're going to become character detectives!"
* Teacher: Introduce the learning objective for the lesson. Use the first slide of the Character Clues Slide Deck.

Step 2

Model the Skill

5 minutes

Teacher: Using the Character Clues Slide Deck and an example from the Short Story Reading, model how to infer a character trait based on their actions, words, and thoughts.
* Teacher: "Let's look at [Character Name]. When [Character Name] [action], what does that tell us about them? That clue helps me infer that [Character Name] is [trait]."

Step 3

Guided Practice

4 minutes

Teacher: Distribute the Character Detective Worksheet.
* Teacher: "Now, let's try one together! Look at another part of our Short Story Reading. What do you notice about [another character's] actions or words? What trait can we infer?"
* Students: Work in pairs or small groups to identify a character trait and supporting evidence, filling in the worksheet with guidance from the teacher.

Step 4

Independent Application

3 minutes

Teacher: "Time to be independent character detectives! On your worksheet, choose a character from the Short Story Reading and infer one of their traits, providing evidence to support your inference."
* Students: Individually complete the independent practice section of the Character Detective Worksheet.

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Slide Deck

Who's Who? Character Deep Dive

Today, we become Character Detectives!

Greet students and introduce the concept of characters in stories. Ask them to think about how they describe people they know.

What are Character Traits?

Words that describe a character's personality or what they are like inside.

Kind
Brave
Curious
Shy

Explain that character traits are like personality words. Give examples and ask students for more.

How Do We Find Clues?

We look at what characters:

Say (their dialogue)
Do (their actions)
Think (their thoughts/feelings)
Feel (their emotions)

Explain that we can't always ask characters what they're like, but we can look for clues.

Let's Practice! (Model)

Listen to this part of the story:

"[Character Name] saw their friend struggling with a heavy backpack. Without a word, [Character Name] rushed over and helped carry it."

What clue do you see? What trait can we infer?

Read a short passage from the Short Story Reading aloud. Model how to identify a clue and infer a trait. For example, if a character shares their lunch, infer they are kind.

Guided Practice: Your Turn!

Independent Work: Detective Time!

Now, you will be a character detective on your own!

Choose a character from the story and infer one of their traits. Don't forget to include the text evidence that helped you!

Transition to independent work. Remind students to use their Character Detective Worksheet.

Great Job, Detectives!

You are now experts at finding character clues!

Keep practicing your inference skills as you read more stories.

Briefly recap the lesson and encourage students to keep looking for character clues in their reading.

Worksheet

Character Detective Worksheet

Name: ____________________________

Date: ____________________________

Part 1: Guided Practice

Read the following passage from the story. What does it tell you about the character?

Passage:

Character Name: ____________________________

What did the character say or do? (Clues!):

What character trait can you infer?

Why do you think that? (Evidence!):

Part 2: Independent Application

Choose another character from the story or a different part of the Short Story Reading. Become a detective on your own!

Character Name: ____________________________

What did the character say, do, think, or feel? (Clues!):

What character trait can you infer?

Why do you think that? (Evidence!):

Reading

The Curious Case of Barnaby Bear

Barnaby Bear loved to explore. Every morning, before the sun was fully awake, he would tiptoe out of his cozy cave, a small, worn backpack slung over his shoulder. He wasn't looking for honey (though he loved honey!). He was looking for questions.

One Tuesday, Barnaby spotted a strange, sparkly rock by the Whispering Waterfall. It wasn't like any rock he'd ever seen. Most bears would just sniff it and move on, or maybe even try to eat it. But not Barnaby. He pulled out his magnifying glass and leaned in close. He spent a long time observing it, turning it over and over. He even drew a picture of it in his small notebook.

Later that day, his friend Fiona Fox scampered by. "What are you doing, Barnaby?" she asked, barely glancing at the rock. "It's almost lunchtime! Let's go chase butterflies!" Fiona was always ready for a new game, quick to laugh, and rarely stopped to think about small details. Barnaby, however, patiently explained what he had found, his eyes sparkling with wonder. He carefully placed the rock into his backpack, already planning to visit the wise old Owl to ask about it.