I decided to begin the year focusing on teaching character traits. Not only is this concept necessary when analyzing character's in a story, but it is also one that students can use for self reflection. I chose to implement a little bit of inquiry and not discuss the focus with my students from the get go. Instead, I chose to read two read aloud books that focused on the character trait courage. The first one was a classic first day read, Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. It is an autobiographical story and in it Patricia shares with her readers the struggle she had with reading. This a touching story that sheds light on a concept many students struggle with. This read aloud also provided an opportunity to touch base with my very own students to learn what they wanted in a teacher.
What awesome qualities the students chose. |
"If your life were a book and you were the author, how would you want your story to go?"
What a great writing prompt! This was one of the two extension activities that followed. In the second one, I asked my courage to complete a chart that showed how the characters Tricia (Thank You, Mr. Falker), Amy Purdy (Ted Talk), Clara and Cornelius (Clara Caterpillar) were courageous and more specifically how they demonstrated the character trait courage by identifying specific text examples. Then they were to write what they thought courage was and how they could become more courageous.
At this point, I felt like the students were ready to learn exactly what character traits are. These are the two anchor charts I made to teach this concept. The students then created their own in the mini-lessons tab in their own reader's notebook.
Here are some other picture books I used to focus on the character trait courage.
This story is so up-lifting. It allows readers to see how important it is to encourage others and be courageous ourselves. EXTENSION: Create an "ish" drawing |