Character Traits

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. 

The second read aloud I chose was one that was illustrated by a fantastic author and illustrator, Henry Cole. It is called Clara Caterpillar. In it, the main character overcomes obstacles and ends up being courageous when an bully is in need of help.

The two read alouds shed light on the trait courage. I wanted my students to know that this is a character trait found in real people. Enter Amy Purdy's Ted Talk. What a courageous individual she is. The students really enjoyed listening to her talk and shed light on the obstacles she overcame.

"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. 

For our first classroom novel, we are going to read Island of the Blue Dolphins,
by Scott O'dell. It is a great fifth grade novel that will allow the students to apply their
knowledge on character traits and analyze Karana, while finding evidence on how
she is courageous.

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

In this book, Bernard Waber puts a spotlight
on the fact that courage is different for everyone.
EXTENSION: I had each student write down what courage was to him/her,
then create an illustration that depicts their courage.
Classroom book, here we go!

This is by far one of my favorite books! It is one that I have used to
bring up bullying in the past with my students. However this year, I felt like I'd use it to
show that courage is needed to stand up for what is right.