Stephanie Wynschenk
READ 3226
IMB Lesson Plan
Grade Level/Subject: 2nd/ Reading
Topic: Character response
Rationale:
In previous grades, students have learned to describe characters, settings, and major events in a
story using key details. Now students need to learn how to describe how the characters in a story
respond to major events and challenges.
ELA CCSS:
RL.2.3. Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
Behavioral Objective:
After reading a short fiction text, students will describe how characters in the story respond to
major events in the story with both physical and emotional reactions. To be successful, students
must describe major events and challenges in the story and how the characters react to this event
by recording this information on a T chart.
Prerequisite Knowledge & Skills:
Knowledge: character traits, how to describe a character and major events, feelings and
emotions, T chart
Skills: pulling key details from story to describe characters or major events
Materials/Resources:
-
Day Books
Williams, Vera B. (1982). A Chair for my Mother New York, NY. Scholastic. (copies for
each student)
A Chair for My Mother (Spanish Edition): Un Sillon Para Mi Mama (Reading Rainbow
Book) (for each ELL student)
T-Chart
Focus/ Review:
When we read a story that is new to us, what are some things we want to focus on while we are
reading? (characters, major events, settings) When we want to describe these things what do we
want to pull from the story to make sure our information is correct? (key details) When we are
telling events in a story do we want to include all events we know happened? (no, just major
events that are important to the story)
Objective (as stated for students):
Stephanie Wynschenk
READ 3226
IMB Lesson Plan
Today we are going to be learning how to describe how characters respond to major or key
events and challenges that happen in a story. After we practice, you will be able to describe a
characters response to key events on your own as well as record this information in a T chart.
Knowing how a character responds to a stories key events, describing actions or emotions, helps
us to understand the story better. Good readers are able to look into stories key details to find out
how a character responds to important events and challenges.
Teacher Input:
“As good readers we need to be able to describe how a character in a story responds to important
events and challenges in a story. Being able to understand how a character might feel (emotion)
or physically react to these major events will help us to understand the story better. When we are
looking for these details in a story we first want to find out the main or key events or challenges
in the story. While we are looking for these major events/challenges, we want to make sure we
are also pulling on key details in the story. Once we find the major events, we then want to look
at how a character may react physically or emotionally. For example, if there is a tragic event in
a story then a character may feel sad or mad. These emotions can cause the character to react
physically, by maybe writing their feelings in their day books or talking to a close friend.
Sometimes we think about a characters reaction while reading by stopping at key events in the
story as they happen, while other times we look back at key events in the story and recall how a
character responds.”
Explain that the students will be able to describe how a character reacts to major events and
challenges, when they look at specific details in the text. Ask the students what some details in
the story are that could help us see how a character reacts to these events. (emotions, actions,
thoughts) Describe to students that before we start reading we are going to create a T chart. On
one side of the T chart we are going to write “major events”, on the other side of the chart we are
going to write “characters reaction”. Explain to the students that as we are reading we are going
to write down major events on the left side of the chart. We can then fill in the right side of the
chart with a characters reaction, using reactions that can be both emotion and physical.
Major Events / Challenges
Character’s Reaction
Stephanie Wynschenk
READ 3226
IMB Lesson Plan
Introduce the book A Chair for my Mother. Explain to the students that as you read you will
show them how to record major events or challenges in the story, and then how we can look for
descriptions as to how our characters react to these events.
Begin reading the story. Once you read the page about the family wanting to purchase a chair
stop and think aloud: “I see that the girl and her family really want to purchase a new chair. I
think this is important to the main character in the story and this is a key challenge that they face,
so I will write “the girl and her family want to purchase a nice new chair for their home” on the
left side of my T chart. I also read that since they do not have the money to purchase the chair,
they are working to save up for this new chair. That I can see is a reaction to a key challenge in
the story since they cannot afford to purchase a chair right away. On the right side of my chart,
next to the challenge I will write “the main character and her family save up their change to
purchase a new chair”. Now I will continue reading.”
Major Events / Challenges
Character’s Reaction
The girl in the story and her They save up their change to
family want to purchase a
purchase a new chair.
new chair for their home.
Continue reading, and once you read the page about the fire that happened at their house, stop
and think aloud: “When I read this page about how the girl’s house catches on fire, I know that
this is a very important event in the story so I want to record this on my T chart. On the left side
of my chart I will write “the girl and her mother are walking home and find that their home is
caught on fire”. Now when I think about what I have read, I see that the once the girl and her
mother see the flames and smoke, they begin running to the home yelling for the grandmother. I
think that the characters in the story must have felt scared, sad, and worried when this event
happened in the story. I will write “the girl felt sad and scared when they saw the flames and she
was worried about her grandmother” on the right side of my chart.”
Stephanie Wynschenk
READ 3226
IMB Lesson Plan
Major Events / Challenges
Characters Reaction
-The girl in the story and her -They save up their change to
family want to purchase a
purchase a new chair.
new chair for their home.
-The girl and her mother are -The girl felt sad and scared when
walking home and find that
they saw the flames and she was
their home is caught on fire worried about her grandmother
Guided Practice:
Have the students work together in groups of 3-4. The groups will continue to read the rest of the
story and work together as a group to discuss other important events or challenges in a story and
how the characters react to these events. In their own Day Books, students will record 2
events/challenges and character reactions as they read along. Students must include a main event
and key details of a characters response. While students are discussing the major
events/challenges and character reactions in small groups, teacher will evaluate group
discussions for students understanding.
Independent Practice:
Each individual student, on their own, will write one final event and character reaction from A
Chair for my Mother as an exit slip. Students must continue to include one event and key details
of a characters reaction in their response. Students can record this in the T chart in their Day
Book.
Closure:
When we come across major events and challenges in a text, what kind of details do we want to
look for to help us understand the story better? What types of character reactions can we look for
to better help us understand these events/challenges? Why do good readers need to know how to
look for a characters reaction towards important events and challenges?
Evaluation:
Stephanie Wynschenk
READ 3226
IMB Lesson Plan
Teacher will check off students Day Books for recordings of these major events and the
characters corresponding reactions from A Chair for my Mother. The student must have one final
event and character reaction.
Full Mastery
Partial Mastery
No Mastery
Student provides a T Chart with a descriptive
main event or challenges from the story. The
main event or challenge has a corresponding
description of a character’s reaction from the
story with key details.
Student provides a T Chart with a descriptive
main event or challenge from the story.
Student provides a corresponding description
of a character’s reaction from the story, with
no key detail.
Student does not provide a T Chart with a
descriptive events or challenge from the story,
along with no corresponding description of a
characters reaction in the story.
Answer key of acceptable answers:
-Friends and neighbors helped out the girl, her mother, and grandmother after the fire. They felt
very thankful and happy for all of the help they were receiving.
-The family finally saved up enough money to purchase a chair. The little girl was very excited,
and could not wait to go get a chair from the store.
-They brought the chair home and it fit perfectly in their living room. The family was proud that
they saved up for the chair, and very happy that they had a nice chair to sit in together.
Plans for Individual Differences:
ELL’s: For Spanish speaking students I can provide the book in SpanishA Chair for My Mother (Spanish Edition): Un Sillon Para Mi Mama (Reading Rainbow Book)
http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=9780688132002
These students can work on writing descriptions of key events from the story. Provide the
students with instruction in Spanish:
Escritura descripción de la historia.
References:
Cooperating Teacher’s resources- Libby Christian