[ljones11]

I've been trying to teach character analysis to my 4th graders this week, and they don't seem to get it. I want them to be able to read a story and identify a trait for each character (brave, wise, caring, etc.) I wish I had some more examples from actual novels, passages they could read that describe a character without "telling" the trait---for example, students would have to infer that a character was brave based on his actions or what other character says about him.

Can anyone think of some good books that might have descriptions like this? I just want to pull the descriptions out, so we won't read the whole book.

[SnackNapRead]

I like to use sensory figures ~ it's a sheet that has an outline of a person and then blocks for the kids to fill in for what the character said, thought, did, heard, etc... After we fill it in, we talk about what we can infer about the character traits of the character from the story. It seems to make it more concrete for the students and helps them to 'see' the traits.

I tried to upload it to PT but it's a .jpeg and too big. I can email it to you if you like.

[ljones11]

Thank you, but I already do have several graphic organizers similar to the one you described. I'm mostly just looking for some examples from literature that I could share with the class that might have an "obvious" answer as to what trait the character is displaying. I've used up all the ones I can think of, and they still need more practice.

[3rdgradequeen]

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters. They can pretty easily see the differences in the girls, but maybe this is a bit too obvious, and not enough inferring.

[jorgefuriouso]

##########.com. They have some terrific picture book based lessons, complete with lesson plans and print-outs, and a couple of them focus on character.

[thruachild'sI]

the website again only spelling it out since it won't take it as a website. Thanks