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Make it Personal
Kids always learn better when they’re able to make connections to, and within, their learning, right? So why not have students begin by examining their *own* character traits! If students are able to identify their internal and external traits, they will have a better idea about what they’re looking for in texts. They’ll also better understand how to develop characters in their own writing. Take a look at some great inspiration for how to implement personal character trait exploration below:
Track Traits
Promote critical and practical thinking by discussing how characters can change and develop throughout a story. This has all sorts of important implications for our students. It shows them progress, development and allows them to engage in a more critical reading and writing process. Here are some wonderful ideas to try:
Create Character Biographies
If students are prompted before reading, they can uncover many details about a character’s life that would otherwise go undetected. Equip students with the power of inference to fill in missing information and have them create character biographies. It’s a great way to gain insight into a character’s traits and development.
Become Detectives
Send your students on a secret mission to uncover the culprit in a mystery novel! This could be such a fun way to discover character traits, use inference and gather textual evidence. Find a mystery novel that interests your class, and allow students to develop their predictions about which character is involved in the mystery.
