Alex Funt

7th and 8th Grade English

First Period

June 20th, 2008

Objectives:

1. TSW define character as a story element.  (DOK 1, MSF 2d)

2. TSW distinguish between direct and indirect characterization.  (DOK 2, MSF 2d).

3. TSW apply descriptive language--especially figures of speech--to a character sketch. (DOK 3, MSF 1e, 2d)

Materials: whiteboard, markers, worksheet

Do-now: Ten years ago, I went to Walmart and lost all my money. (4 minutes)

What is the setting in the above narrative?

Set:  

Rewrite my story from yesterday's class:  The other day, a man came onto the street by the house and kidnapped a guy around the corner by the store.  We already have talked about the vagueness of setting in this story and how we might use descriptive language to make the setting more vivid.  What about "the man" and the "guy"?  Who are they?  If you heard about this story on the news, what more would you want to know about them?  What kind of details would make the story more interesting?  Write suggestions on the board and tie them into the definition of character.  Define character as a person or creature in a story and characterization as the techniques a writer uses to reveal character.  Suggest that applying descriptive language to "the man" and "the guy," especially the figures of speech that we have been discussing (simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole), will create more interesting characters in writing than the ones I created in my story.  The goal of this class period is not only to be able to define character and to distinguish between two basic types of characterization--direct and indirect--but also to apply what we have learned about descriptive writing and figures of speech to create interesting characters in our writing.  (6 minutes)

Procedures:

1.  Collect homework from last night. (1 minute)

2.  Hand-out worksheet with quasi-interrelated pairs on it (e.g. teacher-student, cat-mouse, doctor-patient, etc.).  Number each role one and two.  Add a few descriptive starters to each role to point students toward descriptive writing in thinking about character (e.g. strict teacher-combative student). (1 minute)

3.  Ask students to pretend that role number one, for each question, is the subject of their own short story or novel.  The students will write two sentences which describe role number one.  One of the two sentences must contain a literary device specified for each question on the worksheet (i.e. simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole).  The students will then write about role one, for each question, through the perspective of role two (e.g. the students will describe a cat's perspective of a mouse).  Again, they will be asked to use a figure of speech in one of the two sentences. (15 minutes)

4.  Ask for a few volunteers to share their responses to the first question.  Link direct characterization to the first exercise, and define it as description of a character and a character's own words and actions.  Link indirect characterization to the second exercise, and define it as what other characters think and say about a character.  Use subsequent questions on the worksheet to informally assess whether students can identify the difference between direct and indirect characterization.  (7 minutes)

5.  The students will choose one character set from the worksheets and insert them into the setting that they wrote about at the end of class yesterday.  They will have a prescribed number of figures of speech, as specified on the worksheet.  Stop with three minutes remaining in the period for the closure and allow them to keep writing if there is time remaining after it.  Contingency plan:  if time is short, the students will finish their compositions for homework.  (12 minutes)

Closure: Ask students to review the definitions of character and characterization, both direct and indirect.  Remind students that they have seen one application for figures of speech: to generate vivid descriptions of setting.  Now they have another: to create interesting characters.  They should begin to see how setting and character are interrelated.  (3 minutes)

Assessment:

1. TSW define character as a story element.  (DOK 1, MSF 2d)

Informal:  The teacher will move around the room and ask students individually while they are writing (M) to remind him of the definition of character (C).

Formal: The student will be presented with short bits of text on a unit exam (M) and will be asked to identify the traits of a character (C), with grades recorded (D).

2.  The student will distinguish between direct and indirect characterization.  (DOK 2, MSF 2d)

Informal:  The teacher will check the students' abilities to correlate direct and indirect characterization  with the exercises on the worksheet (C) by asking moving around the room and asking them to differentiate between the two (M).

Formal:  The student will distinguish between direct and indirect characterization (C) on a unit exam (M), with grades recorded (D).

3. TSW apply descriptive language--especially figures of speech--to a character sketch. (DOK 3, MSF 1e, 2d)

Informal:  The teacher will move around the room and check (M) to see whether the students are successfully using descriptive language, including figures of speech, to develop characters (C).

Formal:  The student will describe characters (C) in an essay prompt on Friday's test (M), with grades recorded (D).