Scholars at SA have been falling in love with characters for a few years now. Previously most of our scholars encountered characters that were one-dimensional and changed less over the course of the book.
Now scholars are encountering complex characters, with real depth, and as readers they must understand character transformation.
In this unit, you will teach your scholars to be close character watchers (think bird watching!) and learn to interpret even subtle clues that will teach readers big ideas about characters and meaning.
In this unit, your job is to ensure that all of your scholars know how to read the clues and interpret characters.
Your scholars have been doing this since Kindergarten, but as the books or texts get more complex, we need to ensure that our scholars remain good detectives, and that their powers of observation about characters remain keen.
If you do your job well, your scholars will understand that characters are the backbone to any story, and that by noticing what characters do and say, they will understand the big idea.
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 main characters say, do, and think.
Lesson 2: Great readers pay attention to the main character’s relationships with other characters.
Lesson 3: Great readers pay attention to what characters say, do, and think over time, and use those observations to develop ideas about characters.
Lesson 4: Great readers notice when characters change, and they think about the reason for the change.
Lesson 5: Great readers explain what they’ve learned about life from a character and use key details to prove their thinking.
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers pay attention to the things main characters say, do, and think.
Success is when scholars can describe the character traits of the main characters and explain how their actions show those traits. For example, a scholar may prove that a character is dishonest by showing instances where he lies and steals.
Lesson 1
Engage — 1 minute
Understanding the main characters is like being a detective! Pay attention to even the tiniest of clues!
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 main character’s relationships with other characters.
Success is scholars describing a character and giving evidence based on the character’s interactions with other characters. For example, a scholar may describe a character as trusting, based on the character’s decision to be friends with Sistine.
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 the main character like a friend!
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, and use those observations to develop ideas about characters.
Success is when scholars have mastered the art of noticing and interpreting character development.
Lesson 3
Engage — 1 minute
Often we know our characters so well, we can predict how they’ll act. Then again, characters, like people, change and can often surprise us! We have to be constantly paying attention and ready to change, confirm, or enhance our ideas about them.
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 they think about the reason for the change. Success is when scholars master noticing character changes and are able to correctly interpret the
meaning of those changes.
Lesson 4
Engage — 1 minute
In the previous lesson, we built up our ideas about characters like snowballs, adding to and confirming them. Sometimes, though, we realize that we were all wrong about a character, or that the character has changed during the course of the story! We must constantly reevaluate our ideas to make sure they’re correct.
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’ve learned about life from a character and use key details to prove their thinking.
Success is when scholars state a clear, specific lesson taught by the story and explain how a character contributed to teaching that lesson.
Lesson 5
Engage — 1 minute
One of the most powerful parts of reading is learning lessons that we can use in our own lives! Often, characters are the key to teaching those lessons.
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: What A Character!
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. Scholars now know their characters on a much deeper level than ever before!
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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