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Caricature character tour

Students create a caricature of a literary character using magazine cutouts to practice reading for details and characterization.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

By Janice Ianniello.

The Great Gilly Hopkins: Characterization and prediction

In the final chapters of the novel, Gilly's grandmother learns she has a granddaughter and decides to take Gilly out of foster care. Many of my classroom readers are often dismayed by this unexpected conflict and its outcome. In this lesson, the classroom becomes a courtroom where students predict the outcome of this conflict.

This activity can be used at the end of the novel, but I like to use it after reading chapters 10 and 11 so students can compare the courtroom decision to the end of the novel.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 English Language Arts)

By Emily Vann.

The scarlet “A”: Role-play in writing

This lesson was created to follow a close reading and examination of Nathanial Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. The plan uses a small group format and rotation schedule. The activities created strengthen students' understanding of an author's use of characterization, while reinforcing reading and creative writing skills.

Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)

By Tonya White.

Oedipus the King reader's theatre

Students will rewrite the Greek tragedy in a modern context in order to review and analyze the plot. This assignment is designed as a final project in a Greek Theatre unit. It is expected that the literature has already been read and analyzed as a class. I have found that this project is an innovative way to review for a unit test on the play and Greek Theatre.

Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)

Oedipus the King: Personal letter-writing assignment

Students will work in groups to evaluate the personality of various characters from Oedipus the King. Each student will write two personal letters in the role of one character from the play responding to the events of the play and the various relationships within it.

Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)

By Greg Townsend.

Introduction to Animal Farm

This lesson introduces students to Orwell's Animal Farm. They will summarize and reflect on reading and connect the novel to life in a meaningful way.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

By Mary Lou Faircloth.

Dialect Awareness in Literature and Life

Dovey Coe, a young adolescent novel by Frances O'Roark Dowell of Boone, North Carolina, takes place in the 1930s in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The use of mountain dialect continues to remind the reader of the importance of setting in this novel. The study of a selection from this novel will help students realize the impact of dialect in literature as well as their own speaking and writing.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts)

By Barbara Groome and Jo Peterson Gibbs.

Futuristic airplane and the blind landing

A lesson plan, divided into two exercises, that teaches students techniques for communicating and observing both detail and directions using written, oral, and visual sources.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

By Elaine Cox.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Students study the symbolism, setting, and characterization in Kafka's work.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)

By Laura Rose.

The life and works of Edgar Allan Poe

Students will evaluate a sampling of literary selections by Edgar Allan Poe and assess the influence of Poe's life on his works.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts)

By Peggy Stanley.

"The Cask of Amontillado"

The short story "The Cask of Amontillado," by Edgar Allan Poe is an effective venue for teaching English I literary terms. The following lesson plan is designed to engage the reader in a deeper than superficial reading of the text. It is also designed to elicit discussion and written critical-thinking responses. This lesson assumes that the literary terms have already been introduced. However, if they have not, the teacher may use this lesson to introduce these terms in the context of the literature.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and English Language Development)

By Guy Hill and Crystal Brown.

The big, bad, red wolf: Fact and fantasy

This lesson will explore the myths and legends surrounding wolves. We will also investigate factual information about the endangered red wolf.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts and Science)

By steven sather.

Heaven or Groundhog Day?

This unit is designed to appeal to adolescents with its non-print text base, the movie Groundhog Day. The pre-viewing activities prepare students for the allusions in the movie and include cultural literacy. The teacher can pick and choose from the activities to apply the concept of personal growth. The teacher may select from activities for science, workplace ethics, music, computer competency, and English language arts. The teacher may modify any of the attachments to suit the students' needs and interests.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By David Melton and Julia Millush.

Reading for relevance in literature

A unit-length instructional plan for using graphic organizers to promote active reading of novels, using The Count of Monte Cristo as an example.

By Suzanne Micallef.

Resources on the web

Word maps: Developing critical and analytical thinking about literary characters

In this lesson, students read the short story “After Twenty Years” by O. Henry and focus on the author's use of characterization. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Id, ego, and superego in Dr. Seuss's “Cat in the Hat”

In this lesson, students explore plot, theme, characterization, and psychoanalytical criticism using The Cat in the Hat. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Using picture books to teach characterization in writing workshop

The teacher introduces this activity with a mini-lesson on how to revise a piece of writing. Through the careful analysis of character portrayal and the use of online tools such as the ReadWriteThink Story Map, students work in collaborative groups to identify... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Characters in Because of Winn–Dixie: Making lists of ten

In this alternative lesson to a book report, students explore how authors use certain techniques to develop characters. This lesson employs a strategy used in the children's book, Because of Winn–Dixie, where the characters... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Analyzing symbolism, plot, and theme in Death and the Miser

In this lesson, students apply analytical skills to an exploration of the early Renaissance painting Death and the Miser by Hieronymous Bosch. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Writing a flashback and flash-forward story using movies and texts as models

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students are introduced to examples of flashbacks and flash-forwards through the film The Sandlot and/or illustrated books. Students learn to incorporate details, description, characterization,... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink