Focus Lesson Planning Sheet
Focus Lesson Giving Characters Struggles and Motivations
(adapted from Calkins and Cruz, 2006)
Topic
Materials
Connection
Explicit
Instruction
Advice for Developing
a Character anchor
chart:
ADD:
-Know your character’s
motivations (wants,
desires, wishes) and
struggles.
Teacher’s ongoing story/character idea to use as model (from
previous lessons)
Any lists or ideas you’ve begun to track for the story you are
modeling and building throughout unit
We Can Develop Characters By Thinking About Their: (chart
created prior to this lesson, to be referred to in this lesson---see
below)
Advice for Developing Character chart (from previous lessons, to be
added to in this lesson)
A recent read aloud book (a shorter text would be more manageable
than a longer text, though either could work) through which the
students can discuss what the character wanted (motivations) and
how they worked to get it (struggles) as shown throughout the
scenes of the story (for example Verdi by Janell Cannon)
You have been working so hard at developing your characters and
really getting to know them. You have thought about ways to make
them believable. You have thought about their internal and external
features. You have considered how they view themselves and how
others view them. As you have worked, you have thought about many
things related to your characters. Here is a list of some of the
things you have thought about as you get to know your characters
so, so well. Refer to We Can Develop Characters By Thinking About
Their… chart (made prior to lesson). Today we are going to continue
talking about how to deepen our understanding of our characters
and what they will eventually do in the stories we write about them.
One of the most important ways to get to know someone, fictional
characters included, is to know what they want. All of those ways
we could think about our characters from the list we just shared
helped us. But to think about what they want, what they really
desire and wish for and what gets in the way of them getting to
their goal, are things we really MUST think about when developing a
character. Writers don’t just tell a reader these things all at once
either. That is not how we get to know real people and it isn’t the
way that writers let us get to know their characters. Instead,
writers show readers what their character wants or wishes for (we
call this their motivation) and how he or she struggles to get to
that goal by putting him or her into little small moments of life.
These are called “scenes” of a story.
You remember in the story we read, refer to story, the character,
_____ really wanted ________. But refer to obstacles character
faced in fulfilling his/her wish. (For example, in Verdi, Verdi wants
to stay young and energetic and not get old and tired like the older
snakes around him. But several things happen to him as he tries to
reach this goal. Elicit list of a few scenes from book demonstrating
the obstacles character faces in pursuing desire.)
The story _____ is built around these small scenes, these small
moments of the character’s life when the author shows us what
he/she wants and wishes, and how he/she has to go through some
struggles to get to that goal. So as we continue to develop our
characters, we need to think about their wants, wishes and desires,
as well as build little scenes or moments of their lives when they
are working at and struggling toward getting to their goal.
Guided
Practice
Let’s try this together. Remember the story we had started, about
the girl who has only brothers. (substitute the story idea your class
is working on together) Her wish might be to fit in and feel as sure
of herself as her brothers. Now we need to imagine some scenes,
or small life moments this character might go through as she works
and struggles toward getting to her wish or goal. Maybe she will
take part in some sort of competition from which she hopes to make
herself seem she is as good as her brothers. Substitute with your
own story idea. Turn and talk to a partner about some ideas we
could write into this scene.. Elicit some discussion and list some of
the ideas.
This is how fiction writers go about building the scenes of their
story around what they are thinking about their character,
especially that character’s motivations, wishes and desires, and the
obstacles that he/she must struggle through.
Send Off [for
Independent
Practice]
So today, as you go to continue working on your characters,
remember that there are so many things we can think about when
creating characters, and something we really MUST think about.
We MUST think about what the character wants, or wishes for,
his/her motivations, and imagine the obstacles and struggles that
get in the way of reaching that goal. We imagine these through the
small scenes, small moments of life, that a character goes through
on the way of reaching the goal.
Group Share
Students could share the thoughts they’ve formulated on their
characters’ motivations and struggles, and some scene ideas related
to those motivations and struggles.
We Can Develop A Character By Thinking About Their…
Collections
Favorite clothes
Treasures
Worries and fears
Special places
Quirks
Secrets
Relatives and family
Way of walking and talking
Gestures
Rituals for doing things
Habits
Meals and mealtimes
Best friends
(add to or delete from this list as you have observed your students using
various ways of considering characters)