Reading Workshop Unit of Study
Third – Fifth Grade Unit 2
Character Study
Written by
Sally Kahlo
Fifth Grade Teacher
McLaughlin Elementary
Muskegon Public Schools
Muskegon, Michigan
Based on
“Reading With Minds on Fire:
Readers Infer and Grow Ideas About Characters”
by the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Staff
Sponsored by
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Grades 3-5, Unit 2
Content Area: Reading Workshop
Grade Level: 3-5
Unit Title: Character Study
Duration: 5-6 Weeks
Concepts:
1. Readers envision the characters in texts and expect to develop relationships with these characters.
2. Readers get to know their characters in deep and meaningful ways.
3. Readers recognize the patterns in characters and books and track the evolving nature of the characters changes in books across all texts.
4. Readers interpret life lessons experienced by characters in books and ponder the applications of these lessons to their own lives.
Structures
Conferring
Guided/strategy reading groups
Interactive Read Aloud
References
“Reading With Minds on Fire:
Readers Infer and Grow Ideas
About Characters” by the
Teachers College Reading and
Writing Project Staff
Unit 4 Writing Fiction and Unit
6 Literary Essays: Writing About
Reading from Units of Study for
Teaching Writing Grades 3-5 by
Lucy Calkins and Colleagues
The Art of Teaching Reading by
Lucy Calkins
Teaching Reading: A
Differentiated Approach by
Laura Robb
Mini lessons
Independent reading time
Partner work
Share time
Resources and Materials
Materials
Classroom leveled library rich in texts with strong characters.
Individual student book bins/book bags.
Anchor charts.
Anecdotal records.
Sticky notes/writing utensils.
Reader’s notebooks.
Note: Prepare in advance! Have students become very familiar with
accountable talk and partner work. (See The Art of Teaching Reading,
Chapter 12) beginning in interactive read alouds
Some prompts that students should be familiar with are as follows:
What kind of person is this character?
What does this character long for? Fear?
What is the character struggling against? What gets in the character’s
way?
What relationships does the character have and how do these
relationships play a significant role in the story?
How does the character change over the course of the story?
Does the character learn lessons or come to realizations?
Literary Essay, p. 41
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Grade 3-5 Unit 2
1
Suggested Read Alouds
Chrysanthemum, Chester’s Way by Kevin Henkes
Any Text by Patricia Polacco
Every Living Thing by Cynthia Rylant
The Yellow Star by Carmen Agra-Deedy
Tiger Rising and Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate
DiCamillo
Matilda by Roald Dahl
The Most Beautiful Place in the World by Ann
Cameron
Becoming Naomi Leon, by Pam Munoz Ryan
“Eleven” from Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra
Cisneros
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn
Fitzmaurice
Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
Note: Prepare in advance! Immerse students in a
variety of texts with strong characters through read
alouds prior to this unit. Gather many texts into the
classroom leveled library that also have strong
characters.
Content Area: Reading Workshop
Grade Level: 3-5
Unit Title: Character Study
Duration: 5-6 weeks
Concepts
Readers envision the
characters in texts and expect
to develop relationships with
these characters as we read.
Assessment
See readers…
 Jotting sticky notes about the movie in their head.
 Acting and speaking like a character in their book.
 Creating a timeline of main events from their texts.
 Creating graphic organizers depicting their characters.
 Jotting sticky notes referencing secondary characters.
Hear readers…
 Talking about the movie in their head with their partner.
 Adding in inferential details.
 Making personal connections to the text with their partner.
 Describing the character’s personality.
 Having conversations about options the character did not choose.
 Having conversations regarding the relationships between
characters.
 Rereading text and pointing to text that supports their thinking.
2
Instruction
Readers make mental movies and soundtracks of our
books---using the words on the page, but also prior
knowledge to fill in details about the scenes unfolding
on the page.
Readers see the story as it unfolds in their mind,
entering the story and becoming a silent observer in the
scene with the characters or becoming actual characters
in the story, acting and speaking as they do in the story.
Readers create a mental map of the setting and watch
the characters move across the map as the story
unfolds.
Readers begin to know the main characters externally,
their physical traits, actions and dialogue.
Readers begin to know the main characters internally,
their wants, struggles and motivations.
Readers approach characters expecting to develop an
understanding of who this character is, asking “What
does this character’s action reveal about him/her?” and
“What choices did he/she NOT make?”
Readers notice characters actions, especially repeated
actions, asking “what is he/she doing?”, “How do they
act?”, “What are their reactions to problems/struggles?”
Readers consider all the characters in books—not just
the main characters.
Readers formulate theories about the relationships
between characters asking if these relationships
contribute to the problem(s) or to their solutions.
Concepts
Assessment
Instruction
Readers get to know their
characters in deep and
meaningful ways.
See readers…
 Push their thinking about and grow theories about their character.
 Collect sticky notes about a character.
 Add to those sticky notes.
 Marking pages where characters exchanged dialogue, showed
emotions, actions, struggles and motivations.
 Jotting sticky notes about the internal struggles of a character.
 Faces showing conflict during reading.
 Gathering and sorting sticky notes/writing entries in their notebooks
about their big ideas and theories.
Hear readers…
 Acting out scenes with a partner.
 Having conversations including predictions for how a character
might overcome their struggles.
 Supporting their theories about their character.
 Gasp “Oh, NO!” “This can’t be happening!”
 Giving advice to their character.
 Discussing their theories about their characters referencing
supportive examples from the text.
Readers pay close attention to the specific words used
to describe character’s actions and the actual words
characters say. This information gives us hints about
the kind of person the character is in the world of story.
Readers crawl inside of their character’s skins,
noticing, experiencing, and understanding the strong
emotions that the character is experiencing.
Readers notice when a character surprises us by doing
or saying something that doesn’t fit with the character’s
earlier behavior.
Readers can think harder about a character by thinking
about what challenge or obstacle a character faces, and
asking themselves, “What does this character have
inside that will help him/her meet this challenge?”
Readers can also think harder about a character by
looking for what’s inside him/her that actually is
holding him/her back from solving a problem.
Readers have ideas and form theories about characters
but also about the whole story. They continue reading
asking themselves “Do I still think this? Does my
theory still hold?”
Readers elaborate upon and revise their ideas and
theories by taking a completed sticky note and writing a
sentence or two about it, including page numbers from
parts of the books where there are examples to support
their thinking.
Readers elaborate upon and revise their ideas and
theories by having conversations with a reading
partner, using the writing they have done to support
their theories about why characters are the way they
are.
3
Concepts
Assessment
4
Instruction
Readers recognize patterns
in characters and books and
track the evolving nature of
the character’s changes in
books across all texts.
See readers…
 Reactions on their faces as they read. (raised eyebrows, shaking
head)
 Creating dual timelines.
 Writing about the changes in their characters.
 Marking texts where changes in characters occur.
 Comparing several texts that they have read and writing in reference
to those texts.
Hear readers…
 Talking back to the text and giving advice to their character. “Don’t
you remember? You’re going to make this worse!”
 Gasping at events in the text.
 Having discussions with their partner about how and why the
character changed.
 Reading aloud portions of the text where turning points occur.
 Say “I thought. . . but now I think. . .”
 Comparing several texts with their partner.
Concepts
Assessments
5
Readers watch the characters in the book, expecting
problems to emerge in the story, looking for ways the
character’s actions contribute to the main problem in
the story.
Readers think about the changes in the characters
across the text; about a character’s evolution across a
storyline.
Readers reflect on how characters are changing;
perhaps by getting advice from an elder or by asking
tough questions of him/herself/elder or by traveling
down memory lane.
Readers think about how events are consequential—
choices made by one character affect others—a single
event has significant impact on other events.
Readers revise their theories about the characters in the
books, trying to make the idea more complex by
looking at various perspectives within a single text or
by looking across several texts.
Readers continue to think about secondary characters,
because while we expect main characters to change,
sometimes the main character overcomes a difficulty by
changes that occur within the secondary character.
Readers learn that, in most stories, characters change in
some way. Sometimes they finally get what they most
wanted; or they do not get what they wanted but learned
an important life-lesson in the process of their struggle.
Readers often look back across books that they have
read to consider the way books tend to go. Just as we
think about archetypal characters in books, we also
consider typical story structures and expect that the
main character will overcome a difficulty. (universal
themes across texts)
Instruction
Readers interpret life lessons
experienced by characters in
books and ponder the
application of such lessons to
their own lives.
See readers…
 Deep in thought at the conclusion of a book.
 Jotting sticky notes and writing entries about life lessons.
 Creating entries in their notebooks about their own lives in
relationship to the characters and lessons learned from their texts.
Hear readers…
 Saying “Oh, so that’s what it’s all about!”
 Having conversations regarding life lessons.
 Having conversations regarding their own lives.
6
Readers ask “How do we learn by watching a character
in a text? How does my character make me think, feel
and act differently than I used to? What might the
author have wanted me to see or learn”
Readers remember that one reason we read stories is to
think about how we want to be in the world—what kind
of person we want to be, what we have inside of us that
helps us meet challenges, and what changes do we think
we may need to make inside ourselves to better
overcome or prevent obstacles.
Readers learn to think about our characters and bring
this thinking into our hearts so that thinking about
characters becomes a way to think about ourselves and
our world.
Reading Unit of Study Instructional Learning Plan – Character Unit, Grades 3-5
Bend
Bend 1
Readers envision the characters in
texts and expect to develop
relationships with these characters.
Assessments:
See readers…
 Jotting sticky notes about the
movie in their head.
 Acting and speaking like a
character in their book.
 Creating a timeline of main
events from their texts.
 Creating graphic organizers
depicting their characters.
 Jotting sticky notes referencing
secondary characters.
Hear readers…
 Talking about the movie in their
head with their partner.
 Adding in inferential details.
 Making personal connections to
the text with their partner.
 Describing the characters’
personality.
 Having conversations about
options the character did not
choose.
 Having conversations regarding
the relationships between
characters.
 Rereading text and pointing to
text that supports their thinking.
Day 1
Readers make
mental movies
and soundtracks
of our books--using the words
on the page, but
also prior
knowledge to fill
in details about
the scenes
unfolding on the
page.
Active
Engagement
Refer to sample
mini-lesson
attachment. You
will probably
want to use the
same text in each
of the Lessons in
Bend 1.
Share Time
Be looking
during the
students’
independent
reading time/your
conferring time
for a student or
two who are or
almost are doing
the work from
this lesson.
Invite those
students to share.
Day 2
Readers see the story
as it unfolds in their
mind, entering the story
and becoming a silent
observer in the scene
with the characters or
becoming actual
characters in the story,
acting and speaking as
they do in the story.
Active Engagement
You will want to find a
portion of text from one
of your read alouds for
the students to actively
practice with. You may
choose to have them
turn and talk with each
other describing the
scene they “see” or they
may turn and act out a
scene using dialogue
that they think may
occur.
Share Time
Again, be looking
during your conferring
work for someone to
share today’s work.
Even if they almost are
doing this work, you
will want to encourage
all of your students to
almost be doing this
work. “Suzy was just
about to . . . . “
7
Day 3
Readers create a
mental map of the
setting and watch
the characters move
across the map as
the story unfolds.
Day 4
Readers begin to know the
main characters externally,
their physical traits, actions
and dialogue.
Active Engagement
Start another graphic
Active Engagement organizer for a main
Start a graphic
character from a previously
organizer time line
shared text. Share your
during your teach
thinking out loud about how
portion of this
you would complete the
lesson. Have the
external characteristics such
students continue on as name, age, hair color,
and complete your
distinguishing features, etc.
work. You will be
You could have students
using a text that your bring their own text that they
students have
are currently reading and
already heard so that have them begin a graphic
they know the story. organizer for their main
A
character. A second way
picture book may
would be to distribute picture
work well or some
books that your students
other short text.
have already heard and have
them work in partners to
complete a graphic organizer
Share Time
Today’s share may
about the main character.
be about this lesson
Share Time
or about the first two
The share time for each day
lessons that you
is hopefully about that day’s
have done. You will
lesson but remember that
want to look for
students are to be using all
where most students
of the skills and strategies
are having difficulty
taught to date so don’t be
and choose that topic
concerned that the share
to reinforce your
doesn’t match today’s
lessons.
lesson. It will eventually!
Day 5
Readers begin to
know the main
characters internally,
their wants,
struggles and
motivations.
Active
Engagement
Work with the same
graphic organizer
and character from
Day 4’s lesson.
Internal
characteristics may
be a little bit more
difficult for your
students so scaffold
your thinking out
loud a little bit more
carefully. I would
really encourage
students to work
with a partner to
continue on with the
graphic organizer
they began the day
before.
Share Time
See “Some
Possibilities for
Purposeful Use of
the Teaching Share
Time” page at end
of this document.
Day 6
Readers approach characters expecting to develop an
understanding of who this character is, asking “What
does this character’s action reveal about him/her?”
Active Engagement: During your teaching, you
will need to go back to one of the characters
from a read aloud. I’m thinking about the King
of Denmark in The Yellow Star by Carmen AgraDeedy. The King made choices about flying the
Danish flag in spite of the Nazis telling him not
to. I might want to include a quick reference to
the vocabulary used to describe personalities if
my students seem to need that. (I may want to
do that in a separate word study time.) You may
then choose to have your students/partners look
at some other books that you have already read
together and do this same work or you could
have them look at their own text that they are
reading during independent reading time.
Mid Point Lesson: What choices did the
character NOT make? In this case, what other
choices did the King of Denmark have that he
did not choose in the face of the Nazis?
Day 7
Readers notice characters
actions, especially repeated
actions, asking “What is he/she
doing?”, “How are they acting?”
“What are their reactions to
problems/struggles?”
Active Engagement: Again,
during your teaching, you will
need to go back to one of the
characters from a read aloud.
I’m thinking about
Chrysanthemum by Kevin
Henkes and how she loves her
name and all the ways her
actions (skipping, smiling,
laughing) show how she is
feeling. Then, I would have my
students (with partners) discuss
Chrysanthemum’s reactions to
the other characters in the book.
Share:
8
Day 8
Readers consider all the
characters in books—not just
the main ones.
Active Engagement: I might
go back to Sistine in Tiger
Rising by Kate DiCamillo,
creating a graphic organizer
about her internal and external
characteristics. I might then
have the students complete a
graphic organizer with a
partner about another character
from Tiger Rising like Willie
May. You will want to choose
characters that are pretty
memorable or perhaps from a
current read aloud.
Day 9
Readers formulate
theories about the
relationships between
characters asking if
these relationships are
positive or negative.
Active Engagement: I
would go back to Tiger
Rising again and talk
about the relationship
between Rob and
Sistine. I would then
have my students give
it a go (with partners)
with the relationships
between Rob and his
father or Rob and
Willie May or Rob and
Beauchamp.
Reading Unit of Study Instructional Learning Plan – Character Unit, Grades 3-5
Bend
Bend 2
Readers get to know their characters in deep
and meaningful ways.
Assessments:
See readers…

Push their thinking about and grow
theories about their character.

Marking pages where characters
exchanged dialogue, showed emotions,
actions, struggles and motivations.

Jotting sticky notes about the internal
struggles of a character.

Faces showing conflict during
reading.

Gathering and sorting sticky
notes/writing entries in their notebooks
about their big ideas and theories.
Hear readers…

Acting out scenes with a partner.

Having conversations including
predictions for how a character might
overcome his/her struggles.

Supporting their theories about their
character.

Gasp “Oh, NO!” “This can’t be
happening!”

Giving advice to their character.

Discussing their theories about their
characters referencing supportive
examples from the text.
Day 1
Readers pay close
attention to the specific
words used to describe
characters’ actions and
the actual words
characters’ say. This
information gives us
hints about the kind of
person the character is
in the world of story.
Day 2
Readers crawl inside
of their characters’
skins, noticing,
experiencing, and
understanding the
strong emotions that
the character is
experiencing.
Day 3
Readers notice
when a character
surprises us by
doing or saying
something that
doesn’t fit with the
character’s earlier
behavior.
Day 4
Readers can think
harder about a
character by thinking
about what challenge
or obstacle a
character faces, and
asking themselves
“What does this
character have inside
that will help him/her
meet this challenge?”
Day 5
Readers can
also think harder
about a character
by looking for
what’s inside
him/her that
actually is
holding him/her
back from
solving a
problem.
Active Engagement
Active
You will need to
Engagement
return to a character
A text that I might
Active Engagement
Refer to attached mini- from a shared read
use is Every Living Active Engagement
Midpoint: look
lesson. You may still
aloud. I am thinking
Thing by Cynthia
You will want to find for what’s
want to use a single text about Thank you, Mr.
Rylant. When Leo a text that you have
outside the
for String 2 or you may Falker by Patricia
stands up to give
shared to model your character that
use multiple texts as I
Polacco and would
his presentation to thinking. I might try
may be holding
have.
model my thinking by the class in the
Butterfly, The
him/her back
using Mr. Falker and
story entitled
Lemonade Club or
from solving a
the reading teacher
Slower Than The
Pink and Say by
problem.
Share Time
crying when Tricia
Rest, he acted out Patricia Polacco. You
read a whole page for
of his character of will then need either
Active
the first time. I would being slow and
another text for
Engagement
have my students in
dimwitted. I
students to have a try I might try
partnerships turn and
would then ask my or have them try from Eleven by
talk about Tricia
students/partners
their own texts.
Sandra Cisneros
feeling dumb—what
to have a go with
for my
did she look like,
another selection
modeling.
Share Time
sound like, act like,
from this same
.
Again, you will
what would she be
text.
need another
thinking to herself,
text or have
how would she be
them try from
Share Time
feeling.
their own texts.
Share Time
.
9
Share Time
Day 6
Readers have ideas
and form theories
about characters but
also about the whole
story. They continue
reading asking
themselves “Do I still
think this? Does my
theory still hold?”
Active Engagement:
I would model this
work from my current
read aloud. I would
have my students have
a go with the text they
are currently reading
during independent
reading time.
Share:
Day 7
Day 8
Readers elaborate
upon and revise their
ideas and theories by
taking a completed
sticky note and writing
a sentence or two
about it, including
page numbers from
parts of our books
where there are
examples to support
our thinking.
Readers elaborate upon
and revise their ideas
and theories by having
conversations with a
reading partner, using
the writing they have
done to support their
theories about why
characters are the way
they are.
Active Engagement:
Again, the same as
Day 6, I would do this
work from my current
read aloud and have
the students try from
their current
independent reading
work.
Active Engagement: If
possible, I might have
another adult come in so
that I could model this
work and the students
could observe it in
action as it was
happening. I would then
have them have a go
with their reading
partner.
Share:
Share:
10
Reading Unit of Study Instructional Learning Plan – Character Unit, Grades 3-5
Bend
Bend 3
Readers recognize patterns in characters
and books and track the evolving nature of
the characters’ changes in books across all
texts.
Assessments:
See readers…

Reactions on their faces as they
read. (raised eyebrows, shaking head)

Creating dual timelines.

Writing about the changes in their
characters.

Marking texts where changes in
characters occur.

Comparing several texts that they
have read and writing in reference to
those texts.
Hear readers…
 Talking back to the text and giving
advice to their character. “Don’t you
remember? You’re going to make this
worse!”
 Gasping at events in the text.
 Having discussions with their partner
about how and why the character
changed.
 Reading aloud portions of the text
where turning points occur.
 Say “I thought. . . but now I think. . . “
 Comparing several texts with their
partner.
Day 1
Readers watch the
characters in the book,
expecting problems to
emerge in the story,
looking for ways the
characters’ actions
contribute to the main
problem in the story.
Active Engagement
Refer to the completed
mini-lesson attached to
this unit. You will
definitely want to use
many different mentor
texts for String 3.
Share.
Day 2
Readers think
about the changes
in the characters
across the text,
about a characters’
evolution across a
storyline.
Active
Engagement
I would model for
my students a dual
timeline—one
horizontal line of
events with another
horizontal time line
of emotions,
actions, changes.
The two timelines
would be attached
vertically to line up
the event with the
emotion/action. I
could use our
current read aloud
or a previously read
text. I would then
give my students a
chance to try with
their own texts or a
shared text that we
had all previously
read.
Share
11
Day 3
Readers reflect on how
characters are changing,
perhaps by getting
advice from an elder or
by asking tough
questions of
him/herself/elder or by
traveling down memory
lane.
Day 4
Readers think
about how events
are consequential—
choices made by
one character affect
others—a single
event has
significant impact
on other events.
Active Engagement
The example that
comes to my mind is
Willie May in Tiger
Rising by Kate
DiCamillo. Rob gets
advice from her as an
elder, he asks tough
questions of himself
and he also travels in
his memory to find a
solution to his
problem.
Another text to use
could be The Year the
Swallows Came Early.
Then give students an
opportunity to try the
same thing in another
text.
Active
Engagement
A great text to use
would be The Year
The Swallows Came
Early, citing the
mother leaving
because she needed
a Green Card with
the son being left
behind, etc. and
how each event
hinged on another.
You may want to
add this information
onto the dual
timeline that you
created on Day 2 of
this bend. Give
students an
opportunity to try
with another text.
Share
Share
Day 5
Readers revise our
theories about the
characters in their
books, trying to
make the idea
more complex by
looking at various
perspectives within
a single text or by
looking across
several texts.
Active
Engagement
A teaching text
could be Tiger
Rising in that the
tiger needed to rise
above his cage,
Rob needed to rise
above his sorrow,
and Sistine needed
to rise above her
anger. You could
have students look
at The Year the
Swallows Came
Early and how
those characters
needed to rise
above something
also.
Share
Day 6
Readers continue to
think about secondary
characters because while
we expect main
characters to change,
sometimes the main
character overcomes a
difficulty by changes
that occur within the
secondary character.
Day 7
Readers learn that in
most stories, characters
change in some way.
Sometimes they finally
get what they most
wanted; or they do not
get what they wanted but
learned an important
life-lesson in the process
of their struggle.
Active Engagement:
Again, I would work
with Tiger Rising and
The Year the Swallows
Came Early. Both texts
have secondary
characters experiencing
significant changes. I
would use one text for
my modeling and the
other text for the
students’ active
engagement.
Active Engagement:
Using these same two
texts, I would use one to
model from and one for
active engagement.
Share:
Share:
Day 8
Readers often look back
across books that they
have read to consider the
way books tend to go.
Just as we think about
archetypal characters in
books, we also consider
typical story structures
and expect that the main
character will overcome
a difficulty. (universal
themes across texts)
Active Engagement: I
would have on display
many of the texts that we
have worked with during
this unit. I would look
across several texts,
paraphrasing the story
line. Then invite my
students to each choose
a text and see if the story
line fits with our theory
of how story goes.
Midpoint: I would talk
about how a archetypal
character usually goes
(hero, villain, rescuer,
great mother, the wise
one, etc.)
Share:
12
Reading Unit of Study Instructional Learning Plan – Character Unit, Grades 3-5
Bend
Bend 4
Readers interpret life lessons
experienced by characters in books
and ponder the application of such
lessons to their own lives.
Day 1
Readers ask “How do we learn by
watching a character in a text?
How does my character make me
think, feel and act differently than I
used to?” (author’s purpose)
Assessments:
See readers…

Deep in thought at the
conclusion of a book.

Jotting sticky notes and
writing entries about life lessons.

Creating entries in their
notebooks about their own lives
in relationship to the characters
and lessons learned from their
texts.
Active Engagement
Refer to completed mini-lesson
attached to this unit. You will
definitely need to use multiple
mentor texts for String 4.
Day 2
Readers remember that one reason
we read stories is to think about
how we want to be in the world—
what kind of person we want to be,
what we have inside of us that helps
us meet challenges, and what
changes do we think we may need
to make inside ourselves to better
overcome or prevent obstacles. (my
purpose)
Active Engagement
For modeling this lesson, I would
use Thank you, Mr. Falker. I
would talk about how Mr. Falker
helps me to be a better teacher, to
be more understanding of my
students with special challenges, to
look for ways outside the box to
help them. Then I would invite my
students to quietly think about a
book that helped them to think
about how they are and could be. I
would invite them to quietly write
about their thinking. I would
collect these writings as part of my
assessment.
Share Time
Hear readers…
 Saying “Oh, so that’s what it’s
all about!”
 Having conversations regarding
life lessons.
 Having conversations regarding
their own lives.
Share Time
13
Day 3
Readers learn to think about our
characters and bring this thinking
into our hearts so that thinking
about characters becomes a way to
think about ourselves and our
world.
Active Engagement
This is a continuation of
yesterday’s lesson if the time is
needed. You may want students to
review their piece of writing and
complete any revision/editing
before turning it in.
Share Time
Sample Mini-lesson-Character Unit-Bend 1, Lesson 1
Connection:
“Readers, let me tell you—I am so proud of the work that you all have been doing in
Reading Workshop! You’ve grown so much already! I have been blown away by the
things that you have been doing that good readers do—(give a few examples)—and
I know that Mrs. Fortenberry and Mr. Smith are all really proud of you, too.
We are about to begin a new unit in reading—a unit about learning more about our
characters and how we “see” them or envision them in our minds and how we
develop a relationship with our characters. We notice how they change and how
they learn lessons, and I am so excited about this work! I know that you will be,
too, and that you are going to learn to go deeper into your reading and become even
more fantastic than you already are.
So, let’s get started with our character unit!”
Teaching Point:
“Readers, today I’m going to teach you that readers make mental movies and
soundtracks of our books using the words on the page, but also prior knowledge to
fill in the details about the scenes unfolding on the page. The author gives us basic
information through words but we, as readers, fill in all the missing information and
details that would take the writer a long time to say. It’s like the author gives us
half of the information and expects us, as readers, to fill in the gaps with what we
know in our heads—our prior knowledge!”
Teach:
“So, we have been reading from The Year the Swallows Came Early, and I’m going
to use a bit of the text to show you how I fill in the gaps of the writing with
details from my prior knowledge. Listen and watch as I read and tell you my
thinking.
We lived in a perfect stucco house, just off the sparkly Pacific, with a lime
tree in the backyard and pink and yellow roses gone wild around a picket fence.
14
Wow! I’m thinking and adding to the text already. Pacific Ocean—that means the
air smells like salt water, and I would hear and see lots of sea gulls flying in the air.
I would be hearing boats blowing their whistles. I’m not sure about stucco house
but I can see in my mind the wild roses around a picket fence. I would add in a
yard that had other plants and flowers in it, and I’m feeling like maybe the yard is
a little bit wild and overgrown like maybe the bushes need trimmed and the fence
might need some new paint on it. Do you see how I added all those details based on
the author’s words and my prior knowledge?”
But that wasn’t enough to keep my daddy from going to jail the year I turned
eleven. I told my best friend, Frankie, that it was hard to tell what something was
like on the inside just by looking at the outside. And that our house was like one of
those See’s candies with beautiful swirled chocolate on the outside, but sometimes
hiding coconut flakes on the inside, all gritty and hard, like undercooked white rice.
Now, I’m beginning to experience some feelings—uncomfortable feelings. Bad
things must have happened inside this house. I’m not sure what they are but I can
use my prior knowledge to know that something happened that was against the law.
I’m thinking that people in this house are not really happy about everything and
while the outside of the house looks all neat and nice and happy, it’s not that way
inside. Maybe there are fights or arguments or money problems happening to this
family. Maybe this family is just like my Uncle Al who had to go to jail for
something he did and their house looked all neat and tidy and happy on the outside
but it wasn’t on the inside. Do you see how I added feelings and some nuances
about the story already by using my prior knowledge to add to the author’s words?”
Active Engagement:
“So readers, I’m going to read a bit more and I want you to give it a try. Listen
carefully to the words the author uses and add bits of your prior knowledge to
complete the scene:
Officer Miquel surprised Daddy and me, stopping us as we were walking out
of the Swallow Shop & Ferry on our way into town. I walked with Daddy on his way
to work every Saturday because I had no school bus to catch then.
“Mitch?” the officer asked my daddy. “There’s a problem.” He stood on the
main corner of town, like he’d been waiting for us. Like he knew we’d be there at
this time on this day.
15
“Readers, think carefully about the words the author has used to describe the
scene. What parts or details can you add in based on your prior knowledge? Turn
and talk, please.” (Leave time for discussion, listen in, bring the class back
together and share out a few things you heard.) Let’s read a bit more.”
“I can’t be late for work. I just started a new job at the hardware store,”
Daddy told the officer. “I’m sure this can wait.” He took my hand quickly like he
suddenly remembered he needed to get to an appointment, and we started across
the street.
“But—“ I turned to look back at Officer Miguel.
“Let’s go,” Daddy told me, pulling my arm just a little.
“You’d better take a look at this.” Officer Miguel ran up to us fast, waving
some papers, leaving his patrol car parked on the street.
“What problem?” I asked. I looked up at Daddy, thinking he must’ve forgotten to
pay another parking ticket.
“What have you added to the picture in your head? What do you hear, see and feel
based on your prior knowledge? Turn and talk with your partner. (Again, leave
time for discussion, listen in, bring the class back together and share out a few
things you heard.) Students, I am pleased with your work today.”
Link:
“So readers, one thing for you to remember while you are reading is that you can
add to what the author writes on the page. The things you add to your reading
come from your prior knowledge. I’m going to start a new anchor chart for our
beginning work in our character unit and I’m going to title it “Readers ‘see’ or
envision the characters in their books and expect to develop a relationship with
them” and I’m going to list the first bullet as “Readers make movies and
soundtracks of our books using the words on the page as well as our prior
knowledge.”
Our books and reading logs are waiting! Off to do great work today!
16
Sample Mini-lesson-Bend 1, Session 3
3-8 Summer Institute Reading Packet
Copyright 2009, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project
Connection:
"Readers, we know that when we read we create mental movies of the story as it
unfolds. We fill in details on these mental movies from what we know from our own
experiences. We actually enter into the movie, either by becoming one of the
characters or by being a silent observer in the room - peeking in on the characters.
We will always do this when we read – we will create a mental movie of the story.
Today, though, I want to introduce a new way for you to think about this mental
movie making.
In addition to entering into the story, as readers, we can hover over the story and
watch the characters moving about from above. This is sort of like you are looking
down on the characters, watching them move around in their world. In some books,
the author sets you up for this kind of thinking by putting a map in the book so
that you can picture what the setting of the story is like- you'll often find this in
mystery books or fantasy books. But, even when the author doesn't set us up with
an actual map of the setting, we can create our own mental maps. These maps can
help us make our mental movies more powerful because we can zoom in and out on
the story and also hold onto the setting across the story."
Teaching Point:
"Today, I'm going to teach you that readers create a mental map of the setting
and watch the characters move across the map as the story unfolds. And one way
to do this is to pay attention to the places that your character goes and add these
places to your mental map."
Teaching:
"So, we've been reading Becoming Naomi Leon and I'm going to use the book right
now to show you how I create this mental map of the story. I'm going to reread a
little bit, and then, so that you can see what I picture in my mind, I'm going to do a
little sketch of how I see things."
Let me reread a little from yesterday.
17
A few weeks earlier the sun had switched to its winter bedtime, so even though it
was early evening, the sky was dark as pine pitch. That meant that Gram, Owen, and
I couldn't sit outside on the white rock patio. Instead we had to crowd around the
dropdown table in the living room/kitchen ofBaby Beluga. That's what Gram called
our Airstream trailer. (A trailer is a home that you can live in, but that you can also
attach to a car or truck and drive around.) She was the absolute expert at calling
things what they resembled and thought it looked like a miniature whale next to all
the double-wides at Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho ... We had already put away the
dinner dishes from Wednesday chicken bake and Owen started racing through his
second-grade homework like a horse on a tear.
Okay, so how do I picture the setting so far? Let me see ... I can see their trailer
in the trailer park.
- I'm just going to outline that on my chart paper, and I'm going to put rectangles
here to show the other trailers at Avocado Acres. Let me label this one for Naomi
and her family. Hmm... I can also zoom in on their trailer a little bit because it said
that they were sitting in the living room/kitchen, so that means the living room and
kitchen were all part of the same room, sort of like my apartment - that helps me
picture the inside of the trailer. Also, even though it doesn't say it, I'm thinking
that their bedrooms and a bathroom must have been toward the back of the
trailer. I haven't been in a trailer recently, but I have seen them on television, so I
think this is sort of the way they are set-up inside. Creating this map can help me
see the characters within the world of the story; it helped me to see the places of
the story. Are you ready to give this a try?"
Active Involvement:
"I'm going to reread the next section of our read aloud and ask you to do a quick
sketch of how you imagine the setting growing - in this way, we'll create a map of
the world of this story."
3-8 Summer Institute Reading Packet
Copyright 2009, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project
18
Company's comin ' twice, " said Gram, matter-of-fact. It was another of her
Oklahoma notions, and she had a million of them that she believed whole heart.
This one being that if a body sneezed, someone would pay a visit ...Fabiola Morales
lived with her husband Bernardo, just a stone's throwaway in the middle of the
avocado grove. Bernardo took care of the three hundred trees, and in return he
didn't have to pay rent on their tiny house.
Okay, so sketch the setting of the story, so that you can add in the information
about Fabiola and Bernardo's House...
Let's read a little more and think about what we could add to our maps.
Maybe Mrs. Maloney?" said Owen
Mrs. Maloney was eighty-eight and lived in the double-wide next door.
Yes, I see some of you adding to your maps - we need to put Mrs. Maloney's trailer
on the map so that we can begin to picture the world of the story in greater detail.
Everyone, go ahead and add this part to your maps.
Now, I'm going to skip ahead a bit because we get a little more information about
the setting that we could use to develop our maps.
Mr. Marble, the librarian and the absolute best person at Buena Vista Elementary,
gave me the book yesterday when I walked into the library at lunch time...
Yes, again, I see that you are adding the school- Naomi's elementary school to your
maps and even the library where she has lunch everyday...The school is probably
near, but not right next door to Avocado Acres, so let's add the school to your
maps.
Yes, it makes sense to use our school and our library as a model for what her school
looks like ...OR Remember, Naomi doesn't live in a city like we do, so her school
might be a little bit different from ours - maybe it's only two or three stories
high, or maybe it's all on one level.
3-8 Summer Institute Reading Packet
Copyright 2009, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project
19
Great, now remember, we use these maps as we read to really see the characters in
the world of the story. We can see the characters move about inside the maps and
this can help us to see not just the characters, but also the setting of the story.
When you read you don't need to sketch the map of your stories, you can do this
work in your head. If you decide to do your own sketch of the story world in your
own books, please remember to keep your sketches quick so that it helps your
reading, but doesn't take away from too much of your time."
Link:
"Let's look back over what we have learned about stepping into the story. Look
over our chart from the last several days. Think about what we did today with
these maps. Turn to your partner and tell what you think we should write on our
chart that would represent what we have done here.
Okay, I hear people saying that readers can add to mental movies by creating maps
of the story world. These can be actual sketches or they can just be inside a
reader's head. So, I'll add that to our chart.
Now, it's time for your independent reading. Your logs and books are ready, let's
make every minute count!"
3-8 Summer Institute Reading Packet
Copyright 2009, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project
20
Sample Mini-lesson—Bend 2, Lesson 1
Connection:
“Readers, we have been really focusing on stepping into our stories and envisioning
our characters as we read. We have been developing a relationship with these
characters, getting to know them as friends, and they have almost become real
people to us.
Today, I would like us to start digging deeper into our characters’ lives, getting to
know them as friends, classmates and members of our own families. If we pay
close attention to what and how the author writes, we will have a window of sorts
through which we can see our character more clearly.”
Teaching Point:
“Today, I’m going to teach you that readers pay close attention to the specific
words used to describe a character’s actions and the actual words that characters’
say. This information gives us hints about the kind of person the character is in
the world of story.”
Teach:
“So, we’ve been reading Every Living Thing, and I’m going to use one of the stories
that we’ve shared before to show you how I can peek through a window and know
more about Leo. Remember, this is the story called Slower Than the Rest about
Leo and his turtle, Charlie. Let me read a little bit:
. . .Leo was grateful for a pet of his own. He settled Charlie in a cardboard
box, threw in some lettuce and radishes, and declared himself a happy boy.
Leo adored Charlie, and the turtle was hugged and kissed as if he were a
baby. Leo liked to fit Charlie’s shell on his shoulder under his left ear, just as one
might carry a cat, and Charlie would poke his head into Leo’s neck now and then to
keep them both entertained.
Okay, so let me think…..he was grateful, gave him a box and some food….sounds like
Leo is responsible and thinks about what a pet might need physically.
Hmmm….hugged and kissed like a baby……adored him……sounds like Leo was very
21
gentle and loving with his pet. Hmmm…..carried him on his shoulder under his left
ear…..sounds like he took Charlie with him a lot, kept him company, and liked his
company. I’m thinking Leo would make a very good big brother and a very good
friend because these are the things that a good big brother and best friend would
do.
Are you ready to try?”
Active Engagement:
“I’m going to read some more from our story, and I would like you to pay close
attention to the words Cynthia Rylant uses to describe Leo and Charlie. See if you
can peek through a window and know Leo as a classmate or friend.
Leo was ten years old the year he found Charlie. He hadn’t many friends
because he was slower than the rest. That was the way his father said it: “Slower
than the rest.” Leo was slow in reading, slow in numbers, slow in understanding
nearly everything that passed before him in a classroom. As a result, in the fourth
grade Leo had been separated from the rest of his classmates and placed in a room
with other children who were as slow as he was. Leo thought he would never get
over that. He saw no way to be happy after that.
Hmmm…..slower than the rest……a separate classroom……no way to be happy…..turn
to your partner and talk about how these words help you to know Leo in a deeper
way.
I’ll continue reading a bit more:
Every day, Leo came home from school, took Charlie to the backyard to let
him explore and told him about the things that had happened in fifth grade. Leo
wasn’t sure how old Charlie was, and, though he guessed Charlie was probably a
young turtle, the lines around Charlie’s forehead and eyes and the clamp of his
mouth made Leo think Charlie was wise the way old people are wise. So Leo talked
to him privately every day.
Turn to your partner and talk—how do you know Leo in a deeper way now?
22
Link:
So, readers, as we are reading along in our stories, we realize that we need to pay
close attention to the words that the author uses to describe the characters; that
those descriptions give us little windows to peek through and discover more about
our character than we first realized. I’m going to start a new anchor chart today
with these words:
Readers pay close attention to the specific words used to describe
characters’ actions.
Our books and logs are waiting! Off to work without wasting any precious reading
time!
Mid-workshop teaching point:
“Readers, if I can have your eyes and your ears for one quick moment. As I
continue to read just a bit more from Slower Than The Rest, I make another great
discovery. Sometimes I can know my character more deeply by paying attention to
his dialogue. Listen to this….
“When somebody throws a match into a forest,” Leo began, “he is a
murderer. He kills trees and birds and animals. Some animals, like deer, are fast
runners and they might escape. But other animals”—he lifted the cover off the
box—“have no hope. They are too slow. They will die.”…..”It isn’t fair”……”It isn’t
fair for the slow ones.”
I don’t know about you, but it sure doesn’t sound like Leo is slow now! He has a lot
to say about protecting innocent animals, and he says it in a very powerful way.
Hmmmm….characters (just like people) are not always just one way. Characters
and people can be very complex.
23
Sample Mini-lesson—Bend 3, Lesson 1
Connection:
“Readers, we have been working diligently on getting to know our characters in
deep and meaningful ways. I am so proud of the work that you are doing and your
growth as readers.
Today, I want to teach you about recognizing patterns in characters and in books
just like patterns in math and numbers. Typically, a character in any book has some
event/s happen and that character changes in some manner. We can track these
changes across many different texts.”
Teaching Point:
“Today, I’m going to teach you that readers watch the characters in a book,
expecting problems to emerge in the story. We watch for the ways the
characters’ actions contribute to the main problem in the story.”
Teach:
“We have been reading Tiger Rising, and I’m going to read you just a bit to show
you how I notice that a character does something that is going to contribute to the
main problem in the story. I’m reading from Chapter 19 at the time when Rob finds
out about the tiger that Beauchamp has in a cage.
“….He’s a lot of work, I’ll tell you that. He needs meat twice a day. That’s
where you come in. I need you to come out here and feed him. Two bucks every
time you do it. How’s that sound?”
Rob swallowed hard. “How do I get the meat in the cage?” he asked.
Beauchamp dug in his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “With these,” he
said. He shook the keys, and they gave a sad jingle. “Don’t pay no attention to the
big keys. They’re for the locks on the door. Open them up and that tiger will get
out and eat you for sure. You understand? I ought not to give you this whole set,
but I know you won’t open up that door. Right? You ain’t no fool, right?”
Rob, terrified that the keys to the cage existed and that they were about to
be handed to him, nodded.
24
Hmm……I’m thinking about Rob being terrified about having the keys to the cage.
Beauchamp gave them to him! He could have just given him the food key. He even
says that he ought not to give him all the keys but he does anyway! Beauchamp’s
action contributes to the problem of the tigers’ release from the cage.
I also looked back and reread Ann Cameron’s The Most Beautiful Place in the World
and thought as I read, “Is there anything that Juan did that contributed to his
feeling (the ones we discussed when we read this book together as a read aloud) of
being unloved and not having a place where he belonged? I found this part near the
beginning when Juan’s mother moved out and left him at his Grandmother’s house.
When Grandmother told him he could stay she reminded him of the rule about the
gate being locked. Listen to this part…
One night a few days after my mother left, I went for a really long walk, all
the way to the lake. By the time I got back to my grandmother’s house, it had
been dark a long time, and the gate was locked.
I didn’t know what to do. And I was cold, besides.
I think that decision to stay out too late, even when he knew the gate would be
locked and no one was allowed in after dark just made him feel cold, more than
temperature cold, and unloved.
So readers, do you see how I thought about both of these books and found parts
where I thought the character was contributing to the problem in the book.
Active Engagement:
I’m going to read a bit more of Tiger Rising. I’m reading from Chapter 20 when
Rob and Sistine go to visit the tiger, and I want you to think about how a
character’s action in the story contributes to the main problem:
“Watch out he don’t attack you,” Rob said.
“He won’t. Tigers only attack people if they’re desperately hungry.”
“Well, this one ain’t hungry.”
“How do you know?” Sistine asked, turning around and looking at him.
“Well,” said Rob, “he ain’t skinny, is he? He don’t look starved.”
Sistine stared at him hard.
And Rob opened his mouth and let the word fall out. “Keys,” he said. Every
secret, magic word he had ever known—tiger and cancer and Caroline—every word
25
in his suitcase seemed to fall right out of his mouth when he stood before Sistine.
“What?” she said.
“Keys,” he said again. He cleared his throat. “I got the keys to the cage.”
Turn to your partner, please, and talk about what action just happened that
contributes to the main problem in the story.
Let’s look back at The Most Beautiful Place in the World again and see if we can
find other choices that Juan made that may have contributed to his problem.
And after a while I started wondering why my grandmother didn’t send me
to school. I started thinking, if she really loved me; she’d send me to school and
not just have me shine shoes.
I wanted to ask her to let me go, but I was scared to. I was scared she’d
say no. Then I would find out she liked me only because I was earning money for
her. [(Should this quote continue on to the part?) I’d find out she was like my
father and mother and stepfather, who never cared about me. I’d find out she was
just acting like she loved me.]
Turn to your partner, please, and talk about what Juan just decided that
contributes to his main problem in the story.
Link:
So, readers, when you are reading, be looking for character’s actions that
contribute to the main problem. I’ll start a new anchor chart for our new work
entitled “Readers watch for changes in a character in many different texts” and
add our first bullet of “Readers watch for ways a character’s action contribute to
the main problem in the story.”
Our books and reading logs are waiting! Off to work quickly, please.
26
Sample Mini-lesson-Bend 4, Lesson 1
Connection:
“Readers, we have been working so diligently on recognizing patterns in characters
and books. We are getting very good at knowing how characters evolve and change
across many different texts.
Today, I want to teach you that, while authors have a purpose for writing their
texts, we have a purpose, too. While we think about the life lesson learned by a
character, we can also think about how that might apply to us in our lives in our real
world.”
Teaching Point:
“Today, I’m going to teach you that readers ask “What do we learn by watching a
character? How does my character make me think, feel and act differently than I
used to?”
Teach:
“When I first read the book, Mr. Lincoln’s Way, by Patricia Polacco, I really had a
lot to think about! Mr. Lincoln believed that mean Gene was not really mean, just
troubled. He took the time to find out about Eugene Esterhause and to get to
know him. Mr. Lincoln helped Gene find a way out of his behaviors that weren’t
helping him just as Gene helped the mallard ducklings find a way out of the atrium.
This made me think about my students when I first became a teacher. Those
students who everyone thinks are bad or mean, aren’t really that way—just
troubled. I, too, need to act differently toward those students and help them find
a way out.”
27
Active Engagement:
“Today, students, I would like you to think very carefully about a recent book that
you have read or that we have read together as a class. Did that character make
you feel or think differently about something? How about acting differently?
Very quietly, do some thinking and reflecting. When you have an idea, please give
me a thumbs-up.
Please turn to your neighbor and share your thinking.
(Listen in and share a few ideas with the class as a whole; be looking for those
students who may be struggling a bit and perhaps offer some suggestions.)
Link:
Students, whenever we are reading, we can be thinking about our characters in a
way that reflects ourselves. Remember that characters, just like real people, have
the power to affect who we are, how we think and feel and act. I’m going to start
a new anchor chart and title it “What do we learn by watching characters?” and I’m
going to list the first bullet as “How does my character make me think, feel and act
differently than I used to?”
Our books and reading logs are waiting! Off to work!
28
Possible Celebration of the Unit
Readers can demonstrate, share, and celebrate their learning about characters in a
variety of ways. Some options include:
 Discussion off of charts
o Timelines
o Grids
o Boxes and bullets
 Body biographies
o Enlarged figure of the character with key symbols, quotes, etc to
represent the character and key aspects of the text
 Tableaux of pivotal moments in the characters’ lives
3-8 Summer Institute Reading Packet
Copyright 2009, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project
You may think of other celebrations. Please share your ideas on the blog. You
could add pictures, podcasts or vodcasts!
29
Resource List of Adjectives
That Describe Characters’ Personalities
Adventurous
Aggressive
Aloof
Anxious
Assertive
Bashful
Bitter
Bloodthirsty
Boisterous
Bossy
Brave
Brutal
Capable
Careful
Careless
Cheerful
Clever
Confident
Confused
Courageous
Cowardly
Cruel
Daring
Determined
Dignified
Dishonest
Distrustful
Energetic
Evil
Fierce
Foolish
Friendly
Fussy
Gentle
Grouchy
Gullible
Harsh
Haughty
Helpful
Heroic
Hopeful
Humane
Humble
Imaginative
Impatient
Impish
Impulsive
Incompetent
Innocent
Insincere
Inventive
Joyful
Kind
Knowledgeable
Lazy
Lively
Loving
Loyal
Modest
Moody
Morbid
Mysterious
Naughty
Nervous
Nosy
Obnoxious
Optimistic
Overbearing
Peaceful
Pessimistic
Popular
Practical
Rash
Rational
Realistic
Reasonable
Rebellious
Reckless
Risk-taking
Rowdy
Sarcastic
Secretive
Shy
Silly
Sincere
Sneaky
Snobby
Sociable
Spiteful
Stubborn
Supportive
Suspicious
Thoughtful
Timid
Treacherous
Trustworthy
Tyrannical
Unfaithful
Ungrateful
Unhappy
Unique
Unpopular
Unruly
Unwise
Vain
Villainous
Weak
Wise
Witty
Teaching Reading: A Differentiated Approach by Laura Robb from Scholastic Teaching Resources
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