Reading: Growing Ideas About Characters

Readers know that they should be developing ideas about their characters as they read. They can look at what their characters do and say, what choices they make, and the objects they hold near and dear to them and use those as a window into who they are as people.

Readers also know that it is so important to make inferences about characters. They know that there are levels of inference and they try to increase the number of stars on their post-it by making their ideas more sophisticated.

 Here are some ways we revised our post-its to make our ideas even stronger:

Don't forget that as you are reading, you need to grow ideas about your characters. See how many stars you earn on each one of your post-its!

Post-its Help Us Grow Ideas!

Readers in 4-411 know that it is so important to stop and grow ideas while reading. One of the ways readers are working towards their reading goals is by stopping to jot post-its about the characters in their books. Here are some types of post-its they are writing:


*Thinking about a specific trait word they can use to describe their character and evidence to support their ideas.

*Thinking about how characters are complicated-- Sometimes they way they act on the outside is different than what they are thinking or feeling on the inside.

*Thinking about how characters are more than one way-- Sometimes they act one way, and sometimes they act another way. Readers think about why characters are acting that way.

Book Lover's Book Pages

Readers can grow ideas about the characters they encounter and the books that they read in their Book Lover's Books! Readers can use the strategies above, or other strategies they have learned, to think more deeply about their books. Below are some examples  of Book Lover's Book Pages from our own classmates!

Writing About Reading Strategies & Prompts

Writing About Reading

 

Readers react to what they read! One way they do this is by writing about their reading. Here are some strategies you can use to think more deeply about the books you read.

NOPQ	RST	U and Above…
1) Make a character web based on one character in your book and write long about how your character is more than just one way 2) Sketch a character in your book based on how you picture him/her and write long using evidence from the text 3) Write long about what you envision your character or the setting of your book to look like using evidence from the text 4) Make a prediction about what is going to happen next in your book and why you think so. Then, write whether or not your prediction came true. 5) Make a T-Chart to compare two characters and write long about their similarities and differences 6) Take one of your post-its and write long off of it to continue growing your ideas	Choose any number from the previous column OR… 7) Write long about one of your favorite post-its using evidence from the text to support your idea 8) Write a summary blurb that could go on the back of your book 9) Make a big idea about your book and write long about it using evidence from the text 10) Make a chart of the internal and external characteristics of your character and write long about how those characteristics affect the way your character acts	Choose any number from the previous 2 columns OR… Grow a theory about your character using one of these strategies: 11) Why is my character behaving this way? What does it tell me about his/her personality or feelings?  12) Pay attention to the type of people your character spends time with. What does the choice in his/her friends tell you about him/her? 13) Pay attention to the objects your character holds near and dear. What might his/her relationship with the object reveal about him/her?
End of Book Writing About Reading: (for all levels) 14) Write long about what you think your story was really about and why 15) Write long about what you think the characters in your story learned during a certain situation 16) Write long about what the author’s message was in the story 17) Write long about a character change that occurred throughout your book 18) Write long about the life lessons your character learned and what lessons you can learn

PROMPTS/GOALS FOR WRITING ABOUT READING
K/L/M Theories about Characters	N/O/P/Q Theories about Characters	R/S/T Theories about Characters
·      (Character)_____ is _______ (traits)______ because ______(evidence)_____. ·      She/he is doing or say _____________. This shows me she’s/he’s ____________. ·      In the book, the main character’s feelings change. First, she’s/he’s ____________ because ____________. Then later, she’s/he’s _____________ because _________________. ·      She/he could have done this ___(action)_______ but instead he/she did this ______(action)_____. This makes me think that he/she is_________.	·      Sometimes my character is _________. For example, ________________.  But other times, he/she is ________________.  This makes me think ____________. ·      In the beginning of the story, my character was ____________, but as the story continues, I think my character is changing. By the end, she/he is __________. ·      Sometimes the book comes right out and tells readers about the character’s personality/feelings. For example, it says _______________. Then there are places in the story where it doesn’t say this, but it shows this ________________. For example, ________________.	·      Even though the book doesn’t come right out and say this, I think ___(character)___ is ___(traits)___. There are hints that show this. For example, __________. Another example is ___________. ·      At first I thought ___(character)___ was ___(traits)__, but as I got to know him/her more, I’m coming to think that deep down, she/he is really __(traits)__. ·      Sometimes the main character acts and talks one way but really is feeling a whole other way. For example, one time he/she ______(action)_______ and said ________, but actually he/she was feeling ___________. ·      One way the author helps us know a character is the author gives the character objects or ways of acting and talking that are meant to represent something about the character. I think it’s significant that the author gave this character ___(object/way of talking or acting)___. To me, this might show __________.
R/S/T Predicting Text	U/V/W Predicting Text
·      Before in books, there was often a main problem and a main solution. Now, the problem has many parts. For example, in this book, it’s not just that ______ but about ______ and on top of that, ________. ·      Often the solution doesn’t really solve things, but it does help characters understand or see things. For example, _________. ·      When reading a story, many experienced readers have a feeling of, “I’ve read stories like this one before,” and this helps the reader speculate how the story will unfold. What other stories have you read that are a bit like this one, and how do those stories help you predict?	·      Often in stories, the reader is given one piece of the whole, then another, and another… and when the stories ends, the pieces come together. What pieces of the story am I holding, and when I think about how the story might end, which pieces do I think fit together? How might they fit? ·      When reading, we often have a sense that the author is trying to convey an idea or to teach a lesson. The author has some big meaning that is unfolding across the story. What big meaning do I sense is being conveyed in this story, and how does that sense of meaning help me predict what will happen in the upcoming sections of the book?

 Adapted from Units of Study by Lucy Calkins

Reading and Writing Connect!

In class 4-411, we know that reading and writing connect with each other. We can use skills and strategies from one subject to help us in the other! Below are some ways that we are using the reading-writing connection in the classroom: