In Unit 1, you created a culture of enthusiastic readers and helped scholars select books they are passionate about! Now it is time to push your scholars to develop as readers and thinkers, beginning with truly understanding their characters.
To deepen scholars’ thinking you MUST make sure scholars are reading their entire books, so that they can fully understand patterns in their characters’ behavior and changes over time. If you are struggling to invest scholars in their books, it is likely because they are not interested in what they are reading. It is your job as the teacher to make sure every child in your classroom has a book they are excited to read!
In this unit, your job is to give scholars the ticket to understanding fiction texts— pay attention to the characters!
Please know that if your scholars were with us last year in Grade 2, characters are not new to them. Not only did they read fiction books and texts, they also did two units devoted to characters. For your new-to-SA scholars, characters could be unfamiliar.
You will be successful if at the end of this unit, ALL of your scholars understand that characters are the backbone to any story, and that by noticing what characters do and say, they will understand the big idea of any piece of fiction.
Give scholars constant opportunities to express their ideas about characters! Oral language development, or talking, is of the utmost importance.
The development of this capacity to interpret characters and story meaning should be applied at home and at school. It is imperative that ALL your scholars are reading at home and at school. Meet with the parents of any students who are not reading at home. If you cannot succeed in convincing the parents to ensure that their children are doing their homework, you need to manage up to leadership.
It is your responsibility to ensure that ALL of your scholars are reading 6 days a week at home!
Spend two days on each lesson to give scholars practice.
Lesson 1: Great readers pay attention to the things that the main character says, does, and thinks.
Lesson 2: Great readers pay attention to the way the main character treats others and what this tells them about this character.
Lesson 3: Great readers pay attention to what characters say, do, and think over time to develop ideas about characters.
Lesson 4: Great readers notice when characters change and can articulate the reason for the change.
Lesson 5: Great readers explain what they have learned about life from the character by using key details to prove their thinking.
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers pay attention to the things that the main character says, does, and thinks. Success is when scholars have mastered identifying the characteristics of the main character.
Lesson 1
Engage — 1 minute
Understanding the main character is key to understanding the story— the character is our ticket!
Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 5-7 minutes
Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 25 minutes
Partner Share — 3-5 minutes
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers pay attention to the way the main character treats others and what this tells them about this character.
Success is scholars being able to explain what the character’s treatment of others tells you about the character.
Lesson 2
Engage — 1 minute
Paying attention to the character’s actions also means paying attention to how he or she interacts with other characters. This helps us get to know our characters better!
Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 1-3 minutes
Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 25 minutes
Partner Share — 3-5 minutes
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers pay attention to what characters say, do, and think over time to develop ideas about characters.
Success is scholars recognizing character development over time and using patterns in the main character’s behavior to identify traits of this character.
Lesson 3
Engage — 1 minute
By paying close attention to our characters throughout the story, we come to know them so well that we begin to anticipate what they might do next.
Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 5-7 minutes
Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 25 minutes
Partner Share — 3-5 minutes
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers notice when characters change and can articulate the reason for the change. Success is when scholars can use evidence from the text to explain why a character changed.
Lesson 4
Engage — 1 minute
As readers, it is important to notice when a character changes and think deeply about why this happened.
Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 5-7 minutes
Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 25 minutes
Partner Share — 3-5 minutes
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers explain what they have learned about life from the character by using key details to prove their thinking.
Success is when scholars can use evidence from the text to articulate a lesson they’ve learned.
Lesson 5
Engage — 1 minute
As a reader, it’s important to determine what lessons we can learn about life from our characters’ experiences.
Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 5-7 minutes
Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 25 minutes
Partner Share — 3-5 minutes
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
Use the next 5 days to work with scholars and increase their capacity to read.
The most important thing you can do is give kids independent reading time. The best way to improve reading is by having kids read.
Listen to scholars as they read independently. Talk with scholars one-on-one about their reading and coach them through the key obstacles to being great readers.
Depending on their needs, work with scholars whole group, in small groups, or one-on-one to support them with the:
Congratulations! You’ve reached the end of Unit 2: Characters Are Just Like Us.
As a result of teaching this unit, you, as the teacher, have:
Your scholars can:
Celebrate your scholars’ successes by acknowledging what they can now do as readers as a result of their work over the last several weeks. For example, scholars now recognize that if they can determine who a character is as a person and what makes him or her change, this will help them understand the big ideas in their books.
Reflect on your successes and stretches, as well as those of your scholars. Look at your F&P results. Have your scholars grown as readers over the last month?
Scholars must read at home, as well as in school. Are 100% of your kids reading 6 days a week at home? Make sure at-home reading is happening, and meet with families who are falling short to recommit them to this team effort.
Are 100% of your kids reading fluently? Are they using all of the tools at their disposal to figure out the meaning of what they are reading?
Are 100% of your kids doing their literacy homework?
Going into the next unit, make specific reading goals for yourself. Set a percentage goal for how many children you will move in the next 15 days. Set a goal for children who are not reading at home. Who will you get to consistently read at home? Do they understand what they’re reading? What is their struggle with decoding? How will you partner with parents to support their growth?
If you are having trouble meeting your goals, do not wait until you have NOT succeeded. Consult your colleagues. Consult your leaders. ASK FOR HELP so you can meet your goals!
resources
Access a wide array of articles, webinars, and more, designed to help you help children reach their potential.
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