Literary Elements

• Analyze the techniques authors use to describe characters, including narrator or other characters’ point of view; character’s own thoughts, words or actions

• Explain first, third and omniscient points of view, and explain how voice affects the text

• Identify the features of setting and explain their importance in literary text

• Explain the defining characteristics of literary forms and genres, including poetry, drama, myths, biographies, autobiographies, fiction and non-fiction

• Identify recurring themes, patterns and symbols found in literature from different eras and cultures

6th Grade

What Students Need to Know: • techniques to describe char-

acters

• narrator

• other characters’ point of view

• character’s own thoughts, words, actions

• point of view

• first

• third

• omniscient

• voice

• features of setting

• literary forms and genres

• poetry

• drama

• myths

• biographies

• autobiographies

• fiction

• non-fiction

• themes

• patterns

• symbols

What Students Need to be Able to Do: • analyze (techniques authors use to

describe characters)

• explain (points of view, how voice af-fects text, characteristics of literary forms and genres; important of fea-tures of setting)

• identify (features of setting; recurring themes, patterns, symbols)

Important Vocabulary First person point of view—Narration in which the point of view is that of the main character. Omniscient point of view– The vantage point in which a narrator is removed from the story and knows

everything that needs to be known. Point of view—The perspective or attitude of a narrator of a piece of literature. Setting—The time and place of the action of a literary work. Symbol—A concrete thing used to suggest something larger and more abstract. Theme—A topic of discussion or writing; a major idea or proposition broad enough to cover the en-tire scope of a literary work or work of art. Note: A theme may be stated or implied, but clues to it may be found in the ideas that are given special prominence or tend to recur in a work. Third person point of view—Narration in which the point of view is that of someone outside the

story who refers to all characters by name or as “he,” “she” and “they.” Voice—In many languages, a syntactic pattern that indicates the verb-subject relationship; the

principal voices in English and many other languages are active and passive.

Literary Elements in Fiction The literary elements power standard includes several concepts. First of all, through-out the year, students should be exposed to a variety of genres — fairy tales, folk tales, poetry, fiction and non-fiction. As each is presented to students, discussion about the general characteristics of that genre should be discussed. Perhaps, charts might be made listing the characteristics along with titles of books or selections read which fit into the genre. One of the characteristics of fiction is the presence of both characters and setting. Spe-cial attention should be paid to the characters and setting as pieces of fiction are read. The author’s choice of words greatly influences the reader’s conception of the characters and setting. Take time to call attention to author word choices as you are discussing character traits. Talk about what words the author used to help the reader understand that the character was excited, angry, lonely, etc. Analyzing the literary elements helps readers see so much more in a text, especially as they reflect and discuss their analyses with others. We want our students to read beyond the words and literal meaning, to be swept up in inferences that shape and drive their thinking. We want them to become aware of how the writer uses language, symbolism, or other literary devices to foreshadow events and outcomes. High-quality texts offer many levels of meaning. Peeling away the layers helps students think more deeply about issues and relationships. In this way, literary experience adds qualitatively to their life experiences. In their book Guiding Readers and Writers 3-6, Fountas and Pinnell discuss the follow-ing elements of fiction. Although all of these are not mentioned in the grade level indi-cators, many are implied or appear at later grades. Therefore, knowledge of them may be beneficial to the teacher. • characters — people, animals or inanimate objects in a story (WHO) • plot—the interplay of action and tension in the story (WHAT HAPPENS) • setting—time and place in which the story takes place (WHERE and WHEN) • theme—the story message or messages. The big idea — what the story is primarily

about (NOTE: This literary element is included in the summarizing power stan-dard)

• perspective—the point of view taken by the narrator of the story (NOTE: point of view if first mentioned at 4th grade indicators)

• style and language—how the author uses language to convey meaning • illustrations—how meaning is communicated by the art that accompanies the text • design—the entire visual presentation of the text Two of the indicators (explain how an author’s choice of words appeals to the senses and describe methods authors use to influence readers’ feelings and attitudes) address the issue of style. Style refers to how the author uses language to convey meaning. Style is

Precious Object

Before reading a text that contains symbolism, students are introduced to the concept of symbolic meanings, how these accrue to an object through association and experience, and how to notice and interpret such a symbol. A powerful way to do this is to have your students bring in or imagine ob-jects that are precious to them. Then ask them to describe the object and why it is precious. What kind of functional or sentimental value does it have? As a variation, you could have students choose a precious object from the point of view of an historical figure or a story character.

now what is not what is said, but how it is said. The author chooses words and ar-ranges them in phrases, sentences, and paragraphs to tell the story. Authors may in-corporate • figurative language

• simile—a comparison using the words like or as • metaphor—a direct comparison • personification—giving animals or inanimate objects human characteristics

• imagery—writers use language to appeal to the senses—to help the reader imagine how something looks, smells, sounds or feels

• symbolism—writers use symbolism to bring layers of meaning into play. A symbol has significance beyond itself; it has both a literal and a figurative meaning

• mood—this is the emotional atmosphere that the writing evokes • illustrations—art or photography may extend the meaning far beyond the words; il-

lustration also helps set the mood.

books to use in teaching literary elements

Theme Dakota Dugout, Ann Turner Richard Wright and the Library Card, William Miller Setting When I Was Young in the Mountains, Cynthia Rylant Moss Gown, William Hooks, illustrated by Donald Carrick Tone A Visit to William Blakes’s Inn, Nancy Willard (Compare Willard’s version to

Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience The Tyger, William Blake, illustrated by Neil Waldman Point of View Encounter, Jane Yolen, illustrated by David Shannon Frog Prince Continued, Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Steve Johnson Foreshadowing Piggybook, Anthony Browne Golem, David Wisniewski Irony The Necklace, Guy de Maupassant, illustrated by Gary Kelley Symbolism The Wall and Smoky Night, Eve Bunting, illustrated by Ronald HImler and

David Diaz respectively Tikvah Means Hope and The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco

Suggested Strategies for

Teaching Literary Elements

Teaching about Theme Start with an introductory activity that is not based on literature. This activity should help students acti-vate background knowledge and can be a survey, opinionnaire or role-play. Move then to a simple text through which you direct students. Picture books are great for discussing theme, and they can be read in a short amount of time. The theme of picture books is often clearly stated, and the characters and situations are less complex than they are in most stories or novels written for older readers. Move then to more complex text, perhaps poetry. As you guide students through this reading, ask some of the following questions: Theme and Plot: What happens? What is it about? What seem to be the most important events? How are those events tied together? What do they have in common? Theme and Character: Who is the main character? What does that character say and do? What does the character’s behavior sug-gest about people in general? Theme (author’s generalization): What does this text mean? What does it seem to be saying about life or about people? What does the author seem to think, or want us to think about, by telling us this story? Finally move to a complex text and have students work individually on determining theme before coming together to discuss it with classmates. At this point they may want to think about these questions in addition to the ones listed above: Theme and Language: What are the connotations of the words that the author uses? Is there a pattern in the language? Do the images have similarities and differences — what do those similarities and differences mean?

Questions to Discover Theme

A writer’s message, or main idea, is the theme of the work. To figure out the theme, ask these questions:

1. What “big idea” is the story about?

2. What do characters do or say that relates to that topic?

3. What important lessons about life do readers learn?

Problems with Theme

When working with students on understanding theme, there are some common problems that may occur. Be on the look-out for the following:

• Confusing subject for theme. The subject is what happens on the surface of the story, and only in the story. The theme is more about the purpose of the story, the reason the author had for writing it. Theme should state generalizations that go beyond the world of the story.

• Leaving out important details. The theme must not disagree with or fail to consider any important details of character or plot.

• Looking for the moral of the story. Although some texts do have a moral as a theme, many, especially more modern and more complex texts, have themes that are more subtle than morals about how we should live or behave.

Common Topics for Themes

Childhood Courage Death Faith Family

Freedom Friendship Growing up

Hate Hope

Identity Independence

Justice Love

Loyalty Nature Patience Patriotism Prejudice

Race relations Self-improvement

Self-reliance Success Trust Truth

Unhappiness Violence

War

Theme Center

“Theme is one of the more difficult literary elements for students to recognize. . . .Talk about theme as being the big idea or issue that the author crafts the book around.” Use the attached “Theme Sheet” to help students learn to identify theme by following these steps: 1. Read a short selection. 2. Identify the theme. 3. Provide three supports from the text that helped identify the theme. 4. Connect the theme in this text to other selections that have been read. Students do best in identifying theme when the selections can be related to their personal lives. A sheet with information for students on identifying theme is also included.

Retelling a story can help students synthesize to get to the significant issues. As they compare retellings, they can begin to notice the weight each teller places on different aspects of the story as they personalize their versions. We can list common themes found in the retellings on a chart, showing how we all struggle to move to the universal truths as we share narratives. It may help to have the students write a synthesis of the story. Have them find supportive information from their story that supports their choices. Students can read these passages aloud.

Identifying Theme

The theme is the big idea that stretches across a story. Some examples of themes are:

Love Death

Prejudice Guilt

People versus nature Growing up

The same themes can be found in many texts and genres. In order to iden-tify the theme, we should: • Examine the beginning and end of the

text • Think about the dialogue • Look for evidence of internal monologue • Think about how the title relates to the

story • Consider the author’s message

Theme

Title ______________________________________ Author _________________________________ Theme (the big idea or issue that is important to the author)

What helped me to identify the theme? Reason One

What helped me to identify the theme? Reason Three

What helped me to identify the theme? Reason Two

Other texts I’ve read with the same theme

From Cassetta, 2001

Helping Students Understand Theme “Using specific details in a book about character, time, conflict, or relationships and creating gen-eral statements that express a theme is difficult . . . Start with experiences from their lives, and together . . . create themes from these. Share these with students as well as others you collect from your experiences. . .” Detail: Several students consistently arrive at school out of dress code. Though parents have come to school with a change of clothing and many students have repeatedly been sent home, a group persists in dressing inappropriately. Theme: One way to protest rules is to repeatedly break them. Detail: At a party, Sue, an outstanding citizen and student, is urged to drink. She refuses, saying that she has a headache and doesn’t want any. Her peers insist she’s a wus and afraid of what her parents will say. Sue gives in. Theme: Peer pressure can make people do things they don’t want to do. “First, I explain how I generalize the theme from the detail, pointing out that I don’t use names or specific situations, but try to arrive at a statement that could apply to similar situations. Once students understand, through discussion, the differences between the theme and details, I invite them to use this thinking with the books they are reading. “Next, I encourage students to use details to discover themes from a read-aloud I’ve completed. I invite pairs of students to select details from Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, then generalize to the theme, for I want students to see that a book contains many themes. What follows is the thinking of two pairs of sixth graders: Detail: Brend and Ellie whine about going to Millsburg for school shopping. When Mama says there’s no money, they insist they want to just look around. They end up getting $5.00 by insisting their daddy prom-ised it to them. Theme: Some children can easily manipulate parents and get their way. Detail: Jess denies Leslie drowned when his father tells him. He gets angry and insists it’s a lie. Then he thinks about things Leslie said and things they did together. Theme: When you love someone, accepting an unexpected death is tough. First there’s denial, then anger.

Questions about Theme

Use the following questions to help students learn about the theme of a selec-tion: • How does the title relate to the story? • Discuss some points that the author is making about family, friends, feelings,

nature, life experiences, or an historical period. Use details from the story that back up a point you’re making

• Discuss what the author might have been saying about family relationships and offer support from the story to back up your position.

Theme is the aspect of literary writing that makes it more than entertainment. It is also, of-ten, the most difficult aspect of literary analysis for students in the middle grades to grasp. Some students cannot move beyond looking for the “moral of the story” to conceive of theme as the “idea that holds the story together such as a comment about society, human na-ture, or the human condition.” One way to help students grasp theme is to raise the issue before they read. As a pre-reading activity you might use a web to help students see the issues related to a certain topic they will be reading about. You might also try using a Three-Level Guide. This guide requires students to think about what’s in the selection, what they can infer from the selection, and possible themes. The Three-Level Guide is created using three tiers of statements. The first tier asks students to mark items found directly in the story. The second tier asks students to identify items they think are probably true based on what happens in the story. The third tier calls for marking statements that they think the author might make based on what happens in the story. A sample for “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” follows. A blank template for creating your own Three-Level Guide is on the next page. I. Mark each item below that is directly in the story. (Be prepared to show where.) Leave the line blank if the item is false or unstated. _____ 1. Ichabod Crane is a poor schoolteacher. _____ 2. Ichabod is better educated than practically everyone else in the village. _____ 3. People in the village, including Ichabod, believe in ghosts and other superstitions. _____ 4. Icabod decides to avoid Brom because he has challenged him to fight. II. Mark each item below that you think is probably true, based on what happens in the story. _____ 1. Ichabod wants to marry Katrina for her money. _____ 2. Ichabod sees himself as superior to other people in the village. _____ 3. Brom is a bully who enjoys humiliating Ichabod. _____ 4. Katrina uses Ichabod to make Brom jealous. III. Mark those statements below that you think the author might make, based on what happens in this story. _____ 1. People who are “social climbers,” trying to be better than others, deserve to be punished. _____ 2. People should marry for love, not for money. _____ 3. It is easy to take advantage of the fears of superstitious people. _____ 4. Some people are just “born losers” who don’t seem able to make others like or respect them. Discussion of this Three-Level Guide should focus on section III where several possible themes have been presented. Students then select the ones that they think fit and support them with information from the text. Other ways to introduce theme prior to reading a selection might be through having one or more statements in an anticipation guide focus on the theme of the selection.

Considering Themes

Three-Level guide

Name ___________________________ Date _________ Title of Selection _________________________________ I. Mark each item below that is directly in the story. (Be prepared to show where.) Leave the line blank if the item is false or unstated. _____ 1. _____ 2. _____ 3. _____ 4. II. Mark each item below that you think is probably true, based on what happens in the story. _____ 1. _____ 2. _____ 3. _____ 4. III. Mark those statements below that you think the author might make, based on what happens in this story. _____ 1. _____ 2. _____ 3. _____ 4.

Reading Fiction

“Novels are long and often complex. There’s a lot going on and a lot to sort out. Knowing the basic elements of any story can help you keep focused.” Think about the following questions while reading a novel: • Who is telling the story? (point of view) • Who are the main characters, and what are they like? (characters) • Where and when does the story take place? What is this place, culture, or historical

period like? (setting) • What happens? (plot) • What is the author’s central idea or message? (theme) “One good strategy for reading a novel is synthesizing. Synthesizing means to look at all of the parts or elements and pull them together. A graphic organizer calling for the elements of a story can help in synthesizing. Several samples are attached.

Get to Know the Characters There are a variety of activities to use with students to help them get to know the characters in a selection. Students can complete one of the attached worksheets on characters: • Wanted • Police Report Form • Character Self-Portrait • Character Map (2 versions) Two different character analysis charts can also be helpful in teaching students to find information from the text to support their ideas, a skill critical for success on the proficiency test. The headings are shown below: 1. What the character says/thinks, what the character does, what others say/think about the character 2. Character trait/evidence/how trait is revealed

• Character Analysis Form • Characterization House • Character Relationship Web • Get Real

Learning about Characters Teach students there are four ways we learn about characters — by what they say, what they are

thinking, how they feel, and what they do. Use the illustrated visual clues to help them remember to think about all four of these:

What they

say What they feel What they do

What they think

WANTED

NAME:

LAST KNOWN ADDRESS:

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:

SPECIAL FEATURES:

OTHER INFORMATION:

POLICE REPORT FORM

Suspect’s Name Crime Description of Suspect Distinguishing Features Description of Crime Past Crimes

CHARACTER SELF-PORTRAIT

I am: I live: I eat: I have: I like: I hate: I wish:

Character Map

Directions 1. Write or draw in the central square a character you wish to study. 2. In the rectangles, list adjectives or qualities that describe that character. 3. In the ovals, write examples that support the adjectives or qualities.

Character Map Name: __________________________ Title: ___________________________ Author: _________________________

Description

Character’s Name

PROVE IT! PROVE IT!

Personality

Character Analysis Form

Title ________________________________ Author ______________________________________ Character being analyzed _____________________________________________________________ List five words that best describe the character. Write evidence from the text. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Choose two descriptive words from your list. Using the evidence that you found in the text, explain why you think the character acts the way he or she does. Is this character believable or cartoonish? Refer to your descriptive words and evidence from the text to jus-tify your opinion. What is your opinion about the character? Refer to your descriptive words and evidence from the text to jus-tify your opinion.

Characterization House

Pick a character and one event involving that character from a book you are reading. Write the book title and author’s name in the space provided. Then fill in each section with infor-mation about the character and event.

TITLE: AUTHOR:

WHO?

DID WHAT?

WHY? WHERE?

WHEN?

HOW?

From Coleman, 2001

From Bromley et. al., 1999

Character Relationships Map

Pick a main character from a book you are reading and put that character’s name in the center circle. Put names of other characters from the book in the other four circles. Then tell how the main character feels about each of these other characters. Write the information along with support from the text on the arrow that goes from the main character to the other character. Finally, decide how the other char-acters feel about the main character, and record this information along with support from the text on the arrow going from each character to the main character.

Get Real

Good story writers often want their characters to have traits that resemble people in the real world. Your job is to select a character from your story and consider how realistic that character may be. Review your story and select quotes that show whether or not the character is realistic. Book___________________________________________ Character_______________________________

Quote #1

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

I selected this quote because __________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Quote #2

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

I selected this quote because __________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Quote #3

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

I selected this quote because __________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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Character Development Talk about the main character from a story you’re reading. Have students describe the character, encouraging them to use colorful descriptive words and not the usual mad, glad, happy, and sad. Ask for information from the text that backs up why they would describe the character in that way. Information

Identify Character Traits Work to move students past the stage in which they describe characters as mad, glad, happy and sad. Provide them with lists of possible character traits and spend time discussing the traits. Then ask them to pick words from these lists to describe characters in books they are reading. They can use these words in sentences and paragraphs written to discuss the charac-ters. A list of traits is included in this handbook.

How Are They Feeling?

Using the worksheet included, have students identifying feelings characters might be having as a story progresses

Character Trait Analysis

When students need to analyze the attributes of something or someone, such as a character in a novel or an historical figure, an organizer like the one attached can be helpful. Students write the name of the character or historical figure in the center rectangle. They then identify charac-ter traits and record those in the spaces between the center rectangle and the evidence boxes. For each character trait identified, students then provide two pieces of evidence from the text that support these character traits.

CHARACTER WEB

Character Traits

eager easy-going efficient energetic

enthusiastic fair firm flexible

forgiving frank friendly generous

gentle good-natured healthy helpful

honest hopeful humble humorous

imaginative independent individualistic industrious

intelligent inventive kind likable

logical loyal methodical modest

motivated open-minded optimistic practical

precise prudent purposeful realistic

reliable resourceful responsible self-confident

sensible serious sincere sociable

spontaneous strong-willed tenacious thorough

trustworthy versatile wary witty

What Are They Feeling?

The adjectives listed below describe how someone feels. Write the name of the main character in the book you are reading next to at least 10 of these adjectives when he or she demonstrates that feeling. Use the dictionary to confirm your understanding of the word before you assign the adjective. Title of Book____________________________ Character___________________ addled agitated afraid ambivalent

annoyed antagonistic anxious apprehensive

baffled belligerent bewildered bored

calm cautious confident confused

connected curious dejected despondent

detached determined discouraged disgusted

ecstatic elated embarrassed enthusiastic

euphoric exasperated excited exuberant

foolish fortunate frantic frustrated

furious grateful hopeful hostile

humiliated hurried hungry introspective

helpless inadequate insecure interested

intrigued intuitive involved irate

irritated jittery jolly jubilant

lightheaded lucky mischievous mixed-up

mystified nervous objective open-minded

optimistic overwhelmed perplexed preoccupied

puzzled resentful scared surprised

sympathetic tense terrific thrilled

tranquil troubled uncomfortable undecided

uneasy uninterested vexed wonderful

From Finney, 2000

A Month in the Life of . . .

After reading a story, have students develop a calendar for one month in the life of one of the characters. Have them include a variety of things that might possibly happen to the character. Decisions about what to put on the calendar should be based on information from the text.

Stickman

Use a Stickman cartoon to help students understand character traits. On this organizer they re-cord ideas, visions/hopes, strengths, weaknesses, what s/he did, feelings, and ideas. A blank stickman is included in this handbook.

What Do They Want Most? “Don Graves’s book Bring Life into Learning (1999) is grounded on the premise that every-thing — people, organisms, groups — can be understood by asking what they want most. This is a highly useful question to ask when it comes to reading in any subject area. . .” Try asking the following questions or engaging with the following activities when dis-cussing character: • What does _____ want more than anything else? • Why does he or she want that? • What factors directly and indirectly influence the behavior of _____ in this situation? • How does the subject’s behavior reveal its character? • What choices are available to the subject? • Which factors most directly influence the subject’s decision? • What decision did he/she make — and why? • Have students generate a list of adjectives that describe a character. Ask them to pro-

vide explanations about how these words relate to the character. • Compare a character with someone from a different situation, text, or era, and examine

how each responded to the same event, idea or situation. • Look for inconsistencies in behavior and consider whether these might reveal informa-

tion about his or her character. • Have students create their own character, then manipulate their character’s circum-

stances to see how they might react. For example, would they act differently in this situation if they were a different gender? Race? Age? In a different era or place?

• Look at the relationship between name and character, looking at the name/word’s ori-gins.

character trait analysis

Character Name

Evidence

1. 2.

Evidence

1. 2.

Evidence

1. 2.

Evidence

1. 2.

A Month in the Life of _______________________

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30

Stickman Character Traits

Weaknesses

Strengths

Visions/Hopes

Ideas

Feelings

What s/he did

Character Study

Character Study Part I 1. Pick a character from a story you are reading. 2. Write down five adjectives that describe that character. 3. Include the definition for each adjective. 4. Write an antonym and synonym for each of the adjectives. 5. Include an example of each character trait from your own life. 6. Identify the origins, causes, or consequences of each trait. Character Study Part II Think of the character you have picked and answer the following questions as they relate to that charac-ter: 1. What does this person want very badly? 2. Why do they want this? 3. What are they willing to do to get it? 4. How will they get it? 5. What problems does this desire create for them and how will they solve them? 6. What is the consequence of this desire? 7. What does this desire tell us about them?

Missing Character Report Divide students into groups and have each group read a story that has strong character development. Tell them to think of themselves as witnesses to the events in the story. Ask them to pretend that the main characters in each story have been reported to the police as missing persons. Each group will act as witnesses for the story they read, but they will become detectives using information they receive from another group of witnesses. The procedure is as follows: 1. After the students finish reading independently, they work with others in their group to make a list of characteristics of

each main character and the most likely place where each could be found. Encourage students to focus on significant aspects of each selected character rather than trivial details. They should not share their story with any other group.

2. Decide which group will be the detectives for which story. Provide the detectives with the list of characteristics made up by the witnesses. The detectives then interview the witnesses about the characters. Ask students to concentrate on sig-nificant aspects of the characters’ personality and relationships with time and place. Discuss the kinds of questions that would be good to ask in this situation.

3. Ask the detectives to write a report for the Bureau of Missing Persons that describes the characters and settings. They are then to read the original story and compare it with their report.

Say It Like the Character “Often students can misinterpret or miss the author’s intended meaning because they read si-lently the same way they read orally — in monotone. . . What these students need to learn is that some-times the author provides explicit help by using dialogue and words that describe feelings. Other times, however, the reader has to make inferences about how the character is speaking and feeling. Say It Like the Character helps students learn to make these inferences. . . Students are expected to read passages the way they think a character might actually speak to convey a specific, meaningful message. 1. Invite students to silently read a given text. 2. Identify a passage and ask students to silently reread it just the way they think the character might

make it sound. 3. Ask a student to read the passage aloud, paying attention to how the character might actually say it

— how the character might really feel about it. Ask questions such as these: “What emotion were you trying to convey when you were reading?” “What made you think that you should have read it the way you did?” Both of these questions invite students to tell how they connect their own experiences with the character’s. Students may also point out that surface-level features, such as enlarged or italic print, also provide a visual reminder of how to use their voices.”

Character Quotes Before reading a story, gather a list of quotes from one of the characters in the story. Divide students into groups, and give each group one of the

quotes. Students should examine the quote, then make a list of character traits they think would be associated with a person who would say what’s included in the quote.

Have them list as many traits as possible, being sure they can provide support for the traits on their list. Have groups share by reading their quote then the list of character traits they have cre-ated. List these traits on a chart. Then tell students that each of these quotes was from the same character. Help students make some generalizations about the character whose quotes they’ve been analyzing. Groups should work together to write a character sketch of this person. Finally, have students read the selection. After reading, discuss how their opinions about the character may have changed or been confirmed from the text.

I know exactly what words I am want-

ing to say, but somehow or other they

is always getting squiff-squiddled

around.

I is never having a chance to go to school. I is full of mistake. They is not my fault. I do my best.

Every human bean is diddly and different. Some is scrumdiddlyumptious and some is uckyslush.

Extendi-Character Strategy Have students take information about a character from a selection and project the character into an-other situation. Their responses should rely heavily on information about the character they have obtained from the selection. Possible scenarios might include: • Your character’s older sister is leaving to go to college. What will your character do to adjust to this

situation? • Your character has been involved in a minor traffic accident for which he or she received a traffic

ticket. What kinds of statements will he or she make to the police? • Your character has met a person who said that he or she will lend the character some much-needed

money for a high rate of interest. What will your character do? • A blizzard has spoiled your character’s plan for an important business trip out of town. How will your

character cope with this change of plans? • Your character has received a letter saying that a cousin he or she does not like will be spending the

summer. How will your character react to this news? • Your character’s father has died suddenly. How will your character adjust to this change in his or her

life?

Relate Setting to Their Lives

Students who have difficulty determining the setting of a story might benefit from relating the idea of setting to something with which they are more familiar. Talk about another story, TV show or movie and where and when they take place. Have them describe the setting of one of their favorite movies or television shows. Talking about movies and TV shows that take place at a different time (Little House on the Prairie) will help them understand that setting applies to not only the physical location but also the time period in which the story takes place. Extend the concept of setting by asking students to think about what would happen if a story had a dif-ferent setting. Would it change the story? If so, what parts would be affected? Why?

Questions to Discuss for Setting ● When does the story take place? ● Does it happen in modern times, in the future, in the near past, or in ancient times? How do you know? ● What language does the author use to help readers know when and where the story takes place? ● In what ways is this story similar to today’s times? How is it different? ● Is it important to the story whether it takes place now or at another time? Why? ● Where does the story take place? Does it take place near here? Does it take place in another country? How do you

know? ● In what ways is the place similar to where you live? In what ways is it different?

Focus on Setting Try some of these ideas when working on setting with your students: • Draw a map following the action of the story. Label each place on the map, relating it

to information in the story. • Draw a time line of events in the story. Focus on important parts of the story rather

than insignificant details. • List aspects of the story related to time and setting that differ from their equivalents

in the students’ own lives and the aspects that are most similar to students’ lives. List only the most important. Making a chart might facilitate thinking. (See “Time and Place Comparison” chart.)

Settings Change Draw students’ attention to the fact that the setting of a story often changes several times — the action moves from one place to another and time usually passes from the beginning to the end of a story. Use the “Setting the Scene” organizer (included in this handbook) to help students understand these changes in time and place.

Point of View Talk about the differences between stories written in the first and third person . Brainstorm with students the signals that tell this book is written in the third person. Have students take turns reading excerpts from the books they are reading. Decide whether they are written in the first or third person. Then talk about how it would be different if it were told from an alternative point of view.

For information on plot, see the Summary section. Many graphic organizers and ideas for teaching plot sequence are found in that section.

Time and Place Comparison

Time and Place Same Different

Setting the Scene

Stories have to begin somewhere. The author decides where the story will take place, but because stories have to have things happen, the author often changes the place or the time of day. Changing the place or time in a story sets the scene for new action to occur. Select a book you are reading. Identify at least four scene changes. Write the title of the book and the author, where the story began, where it moved to, and what action occurred when the author change the scene. Title: __________________________________________________________________________ Author: ________________________________________________________________________

Scene Action

Six Thinking Hats “Six Thinking Hats is an approach that promotes critical and creative thinking through discussion. The thinking hats represent six different ways of viewing a topic”: • White — objective point of view • Red — emotional perspective • Black — critical point of view • Yellow—positive point of view • Green — creative perspective • Blue — monitors and summarizes what the other hats have done. Students put on the different colored hats and discuss the selection read from that point of view. “. . . Putting on a particular color of hat focuses the students’ thinking, and switching hats allows students to view the situation from alternative perspectives.” Note: For those concerned about passing hats around a classroom and getting lice as a bonus, cut out cardboard hats that students can hold while assuming the different view-points.

What Is Point of View? Point of view is the perspective, or vantage point, from which an author presents a story.

Stories with a first-person point of view are told by one of the characters in the story. The reader knows only what this character knows, thinks, and feels.

Stories with a third-person point of view are told by a narrator who is not a character in the story. This narrator may share the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters. This is called an all-knowing or omniscient narrator. Other times the narrator will relate the thoughts and feelings of just one character. This is called limited omnis-cient narration.

Who Told the Story? Provide students with three accounts of an event along with a description of the different characters involved in the event. Have students read each account and determine which character gave that account. (A sample is included in this handbook.) After completing the assignment, discuss why the three accounts were different and which one is the correct version.

Who Told This Story?

Characters: Jimmy, small for his age, is riding his bike fast, calling and waving to his friends. Bob, the same age as Jimmy, is tall and skinny. He is walking to school by himself.

He looks at everyone and everything he passes very carefully. Ms. Cool is a teacher at Bob and Jimmy’s school. She rides a motorcycle to school so

that she can find a place to park. She has never had a motorcycle accident. Scene: A rainy Monday morning. Jimmy is just about to bike across the driveway leading to the teachers’ parking lot as Ms. Cool turns into the driveway on her motorcycle. Bob runs into the driveway shouting. Jimmy swerves and runs off the curb, hits a tree, and falls off his bike. When Jimmy gets up, his pants are torn and the wheel on his bike is bent. Read each of the versions of the event below and decide who is telling each. VERSION #1 My new bike is busted. It’s really totaled. That kid. I’ll kill him if I get my hands on him. He yelled to scare me and then got in my way. If I hadn’t gone off the sidewalk, I would have hit him. He’s going to pay for my bike. It’s new and my mom just bought it for me. The light on my bike is broken and my wheel is bent. He’s going to have to pay. He got in my way. Ask her, I bet she saw it. VERSION #2 I just — I just — I just prevented a terrible accident. I saved his life. I was walking into the school yard when I saw him riding his new bike. He was so proud of it and was showing off and everything. Then I saw her turning left into the driveway. She didn’t see him because he was behind the tree. But he was coming so fast I knew I had to stop him or he was going to get hit. I jumped out and yelled, “Look out.” I hope he didn’t get hurt when he fell. I bet he will thank me for saving his life. Ask her, she’ll tell you all about it. VERSION #3 I’m still shaking. If he hadn’t run out and tried to save that kid, I would have hit him. He did a brave thing. I was just turning into the driveway. It looked clear to me. I saw him running and then saw that kid on his bike swerve away from my motorcycle. I guess we are really lucky. I can’t help thinking about what might have happened if he hadn’t done some fast thinking. It looks as if that kid just has a bent fender and I don’t think there is a scratch on my motorcycle. I’m going to recommend to the safety patrol that he get an award for bravery. I’m sure that kid will be grateful to him, too.

Character Quotations Preview a text and pull out important quotations that reveal a character’s prob-lem, personality and nature, and values, or that reveal important information about the main issue at hand. Students are given different quotations and work together as detectives in small groups to figure out: • Who is this person? • What is his problem? • How is this person like me? • What might happen to him? Through this work, students practice making inferences, predictions and personal connections.

Character Walks

Seat a number of students in a circle facing outward and an equal number of students walk outside the circle. Those walking are assigned roles. At certain junctures or dilemmas, ask them to stop in front of a seated partner and report their feelings about a specific issue. (Example: You are Cassie, and your broth-ers are harassing you about becoming Lillian Jean’s slave. Stop and tell the per-son in front of you what you are feeling and thinking.) Those seated take on such roles as friend or confidante and attempt to find something out or help the character. Students begin to enter into the perspectives and problems of a char-acter. This can be done to review a text or to prepare students for issues they will read about. Variations include having the seated students represent a timeline, with each chair representing an event — either an actual one from a story, or possible one. For this activity, give the seated students a note card with an event, or allow them to write out their own. When the walkers stop in front of a particular chair, they have to respond to the provided event or dilemma in a kind of “What would you do or feel now?” enactment. Alternately, seated students can be reporters interviewing the walking characters about the cited dilemma, and so forth.

Step by Step

If students cannot understand particular perspectives or they blame characters for being in certain situations, the Step by Step enactment can be useful. In this technique, students imagine “step by step” how their life situation could change into that of the character they don’t understand. Tell students to close their eyes and imagine something related to the text you’re trying to understand. Then have them take a step and imagine something else, then take another step and continue. Here’s an example that was used to help students understand how someone might decide to trade convicted criminals and welfare recipients to a space trader. Close your eyes and imagine helping a friend in desperate circumstances. Take a step. Imagine that you told a lie or stole something to help their friend. Take a step. Continue with similar situations until you get to Imagine being convicted of a crime. By going through a Step by Step exercise, students can physically and imagina-tively end up in totally different places through this kind of guided imagination. Students can imagine a sequence of events parallel to those experienced by char-acters or those in a historical situation.

“Wish You Were Here” Postcards

After reading, ask students to pretend that they are characters in the book and write “Wish You Were Here” postcards to their friends. This strategy is par-ticularly useful during lessons on historical events.

Hotseating Hotseating: • Brings text, characters, and authors, ideas, forces, or topics to life. Students

can become, see, and relate to characters; they can hear their words, feel their presence, sense their emotions, become part of the text.

• Supports student exploration of subtexts — of a character’s unspoken experi-ences in the past, present and future. It also helps students understand the human dimension of various issues and dilemmas.

• Helps students get to know characters deeply or understand differing perspec-tives on issues.

• Aids inferential, elaborative and analytical thinking as students fill in the gaps and consider how characters might respond to situations outside of the text.

• Allows students to explore real issues and experiment with views from the safety of being in role.

• Gets at main ideas/authorial generalizations/thematic meanings. • Provides a safe opportunity to play around with and change textual details or

events — for example asking “what if?” or trying out different interpretations and comparing them, linking interpretations to textual evidence, and so forth.

• Offers opportunities to work on public speaking, interviewing, questioning, and other discussion skills.

Before starting this activity, make sure each student knows what is expected and the group is ready and able to help the person in the hotseat by acting as his life-line, or brain, which the hotseated student can go to for advice on how to re-spond. Students need to feel emotionally and intellectually “safe” enough to improvise. Emphasize the importance of thinking outside of the box. From time to time, you may stop the hotseating to reflect on whether certain responses fit what you have learned from your reading. When this happens be sure it’s done in the spirit of reflecting, not correcting. Procedure: 1. Students fill out their planning guide. (See attached) 2. Tell students that you really want them to understand the characters in the

book. There are lots of characters and they represent different social classes, ways of being, attitudes, and perspectives. Tell them that they can’t under-stand a book fully unless they understand the characters, their conflicts, and their development. Hotseating is a way of working through and using text — and of going beyond text — to understand characters and get to know them se we can use their experience to think with.

3. Model for students by sitting in the hotseat yourself assuming the role of a

Hotseating (con’t.)

4. Start with a prepared monologue, talking about your apprehensions, things you don’t know, feelings about other characters, dislikes, etc., whatever is pertinent to this particular character.

5. Ask students to write question they’d like to ask the character on note cards. Encourage them to ask questions that will require you to think — inferential, evaluative, etc. questions, not literal ones. The goal is to explore the character’s experience and what it might mean.

6. Students ask their questions while the teacher responds. If you have trouble, ask a group of students to play your brain and advise you on what you might say. If you make a response you can’t justify from the text, “rewind” and replay your answer. This provides a safety net for you and the students.

7. Tell students that you have just modeled Hotseating because you will now Hot-seat several characters from the book you are reading.

8. Brainstorm questions for each of the characters. 9. Rehearse possible answers and justify these with the evidence from the text and

your own experience. 10.Write more questions and Hotseat some of the characters.

Get Ready for the Hotseat: A Planning Guide

Title of Assigned Reading: _______________________________________ In a group of 3 or 4 students, choose a character from this text/unit that one of you will become in the hotseat. (Your teacher may also assign you a specific character.) It is important that all members of the group agree on the following information about the character, so that any one of you could go to the hotseat and answer questions from the class. If the required information is not in the story, you will have to “infer” or make an educated guess about it. Name of character: ______________________________________________ 1. Your age and physical appearance: ________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

2. Your house, city/area, favorite place: ______________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 3. Your passions, “soap box topics,” deepest desires (which may not be men-

tioned in the text) _____________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 4. Your main goal: _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 5. Your biggest obstacles and problems: ______________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 6. Your biggest influences: ________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 7. Your greatest strengths: ________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

8. Your greatest weaknesses: ________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ 9. What one or two words best describe you? Give examples of details or events from the text that demonstrate these traits: _____________________________ _________________________________________________________________ 10. List quotations from the text that reveal most clearly who you are and what you are about: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ 11. Optional: Prepare an opening monologue to introduce yourself to the audi-ence: ___________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ The Actual Hotseating: Members of your group not being Hotseated will get to ask the first two ques-tions. What will these questions be? And how will your character respond? How do you know that these responses are good ones? 1. Question: ______________________________________________________ Answer: ____________________________________________________ 2. Question: _____________________________________________________ Answer: ____________________________________________________ What other questions might the other people in the audience ask? What will they want to know? How will your character respond and why will s/he respond that way? Rehearse a few with your group.

Questions to Ask about Literary Elements

Setting • Where does the story take place? Discuss the important settings and explain

why you believe each is important to the story. • When does the story take place? Was it long ago, in the future, or the pre-

sent? What did you learn about this time period? • How much time passes in the story? Skim through your book and find places

that show how the author makes time pass, and share these. Characters • Who is the main character? Why is this character important to the story? • Are there words a character spoke and/or actions a character took that helped

you learn what kind of a person he or she was? Find and discuss two impor-tant sections.

• Did any of the characters change? Pick one and discuss how an event, person and decision changed that character.

• Discuss what you think the main character learned about himself, his family or his friends.

• Describe a conflict between two characters. How was it resolved? What did you learn about these characters?

• Name one to two minor characters. Show how each affected the main char-acter.

• Were there problems characters couldn’t solve? Identify one or two and ex-plain why you think they weren’t resolved.

Style • Is the story told in order or by using flashbacks? • Are all the major events told, or does the story “skip ahead” in time? • Does the author use foreshadowing or other “hints” regarding what will come? • Does the author deliberately mislead the reader to create a surprise? • Does the author “tell” the ending or leave the reader to figure it out? • How does the author use comparisons to create pictures in a reader’s mind

(such as, “big as a mountain” or “like a scarecrow”)? • Are the swords the author uses like the ones we use, or are they “old-

fashioned”?

Teaching Point of View

Point of view is one of the narrative strategies a writer intentionally considers when writing a piece of text. Identifying which point of view (first person, third person limited, omniscient, etc.) is not nearly as important as being able to un-derstand the effect of the point of view choice has on the reader. To understand this more deeply, consider changing the point of view in a selec-tion with which students are familiar. Have students discuss how a story might have been different if it had been told from a different point of view. Consider the following: • How does changing the point of view affect the mood of the story? • Is it still funny, serious, thoughtful, etc.?

Character Analysis Chart

When trying to learn about characters, students need to consider what the char-acter says, what he does, what he thinks and what others say about him. To help students organize their thinking in regard to this, the attached Character Analysis Chart might be helpful

character analysis chart

Type of infor-mation

What character says

about self

What other characters say

What the narrator says

What the character’s

actions show Looks

Likes and dislikes

Traits

Inferring a Character’s Personality from Events, Conflicts, Dialogue, and Decisions

Name _____________________________________ Date ____________________ Title and Author ______________________________________________________________________ Character’s Name _____________________________________________________________________ Directions: Select a character from your book and think about how you describe that character’s per-sonality traits by studying an event, a conflict, dialogue and decisions. Include implied ideas.

Event Personality Trait

Conflict Personality Trait

Summary of Dialogue Personality Trait

Decision Personality Trait