Purpose

The purpose of this minilesson is to help students understand the importance of character development in popular writing and in their own writing.

Objectives

National Standards for English Language Arts

Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

Competency Goal 5: The learner will respond to various literary genres using interpretive and evaluative processes.

Objective 5.01: Increase fluency, comprehension, and insight through a meaningful and comprehensive reading program by reading literature and other materials selected by the teacher…analyzing the effects of elements such as… characterization…

Time

Approximately 20-25 minutes

Materials

· Copy of Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

· Paper and pencil

Lesson

“Today, I’d like you to take the first ten minutes of class to describe a moment in time with one of your favorite people. This could be your best friend, grandmother, father, or someone else. Describe that person as best you can. Write as much as you can in the time limitations.”

(Read aloud excerpt from Stargirl or some other novel that illustrates strong character development.)

“In your journal, write in the margins three things that you thought made this character unique. Now, highlight or circle a few places in your own piece that you think need some reworking in terms of character development.”

“In your table groups, I’d like for you to take two minutes to talk about one of the questions that I assign your group.” (How did the author help the reader get to know the character? How did your picture or understanding of the character change from the first sentence to the last? What techniques did the writer use to develop this character? How could you use some of these same techniques in your own writing?) “Now, let’s hear what your groups came up with as answers.”

“These questions will be on a poster on the wall for the rest of the year. I’d like for you to use these when you’re working on character development in writing workshop, whether it’s a fiction or non-fiction piece. You can get into your writing workshop mode and begin reworking the piece you started at the beginning of class.”

Follow-up

To follow this mini-lesson, the questions about character development should be posted in the classroom for students to refer to throughout the year in reading and writing workshop. Other novels could be assessed using these questions, and could help students decide whether or not a book is for them depending on how strong the character development might be. Students should use their knowledge of character development gained from this mini-lesson to create more vivid characters in their own writing.

Stargirl excerpt:

“She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew.”

~ Jerry Spinelli