AchieveReading
Levels
K-5
Instructional Intervention
Teaching
Reading Skills
to Achieve Common
Core Outcomes
SAMPLE
This document is for demonstration purposes only
Level 5 – Character Analysis Reading Skills
Objectives
Pre-Requisite
Current
Growth
Describe in depth a character,
setting, or event in a story or
drama, drawing on specific details
in the text (e.g., a character’s
thoughts, words, or actions).
Compare and contrast two
or more characters, settings,
or events in a story or drama,
drawing on specific details in the
text (e.g., how characters interact).
Describe how a particular story’s
or drama’s plot unfolds in a series
of episodes as well as how the
characters respond or change as
the plot moves toward a resolution.
CCSS R.L. 4.3
CCSS R.L. 5.3
CCSS R.L. 6.3
Achieve Reading Level 4
Lessons: 8, 19, 44
Achieve Reading Level 5
Lessons: 5, 18, 25, 45, 59
Achieve Reading Level 6
Lessons: 6, 23, 27, 36, 43
Review & Pre-Assessment
Use the following questions to help students activate prior knowledge
• What is a character in a story and why are characters important?
• How do you describe what a “character” is in a story?
• When you read a story, how does the author’s language and description of a character help you
understand the story?
• What other information in a story may help you to understand the character?
• What human attributes help you to understand story characters?
• How can one character in a story help you to understand another character?
• Can you tell what you think “character motivation” means?
• How can the plot of a story affect a character or a character affect the plot? Give an example.
Instruction
• Start a dialogue on characterization by discussing with students a familiar film character and/or list
character attributes (shy, silly, clever, tall and lanky, etc.) and ask them what descriptive word best fits
the character. Follow this activity by leading a discussion of a character from a recently read selection.
Have students describe the character and tell how they drew their conclusions; what information in the
story helped them.
> An alternative to the film may be to read aloud a text selection that provides a strong characterization
such as that of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series
• Provide direct instruction in both identifying direct and indirect characterization
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Reading Skills
Level 5 – Character Analysis
Direct Characterization
To teach direct characterization, explain to students that in direct characterization the author/narrator tells
the audience directly about the character, his personality, and/or physical traits during the narration part of
a story, not through character dialogue. The author will write things such “He was a boy who while small
in stature (physical description), was smart (intelligence) and wily (personality).”
Encourage comprehension of direct characterization by asking students to find textual evidence to answer
questions such as:
> How does the character change physically in the story?
> What does the character learn as the story unfolds?
> How does the character get along with the other characters in the story?
> What does the character believe about the way his life is?
> How does the author use adjectives to describe the character?
Indirect Characterization
To teach indirect characterization, explain to students that in indirect characterization the student will
often need to read between the lines. With indirect characterization, the author can use both dialogue and
narration. As opposed to the example given in direct characterization, the author might provide the same
information using dialogue. For example, the author may write: “Dylan whispered to Jose, ‘Be careful,
Michael may be small, but he’s sly and very smart. Don’t let him fool you.’”
Teach students to identify indirect characterizations by using the STEAL acronym which stands for Speech,
Thoughts, Effects on Others, Actions, Looks. Encourage comprehension of indirect characterization by asking
students to find textual evidence to answer questions that support the STEAL acronym such as:
> How does the character speak? What does that tell you about him?
> What is revealed through the character’s private thoughts and feelings?
> What effect does the character have on the other characters in the story?
> How does the character act, and how do his actions affect the events in the story? How do
the other characters react as a result?
> How does the character look?
• Provide students with multiple opportunities to ask questions as well as discuss and write about characters
and apply newly learned character analysis skills to activities such as evaluating/ judging characters’
behaviors, comparing and contrasting characters found in the same and different stories, and analyzing
how two characters feel about each other based on indirect evidence from the text. Encourage students
to identify how the author uses language through both direct and indirect characterization to provide the
reader with information about the character. Compare and contrast the information found in both.
• Encourage students to work with precision and monitor their progress.
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©2013 Catapult Learning
Level 5 – Character Analysis Reading Skills
Scaffolding
Additional support
Additional challenge or rigor
• Use a text from 3rd or 4th grade containing less
complicated or more obvious characterizations
such as Tacky The Penguin
• Using a grade level appropriate book,
have student(s) find textual evidence that
demonstrates that a character’s point of view
changes over the course of the text.
• Ask student to identify the individual traits of
just one character at a time, providing as much
information as possible, until the student is able to
provide details about each individual character.
• Have student(s) compare/contrast the direct and
indirect characterizations for two characters, and
identify what the author most wanted the reader
to know about the characters (e.g., Personality?
Inner thoughts? Physical attributes?)
Evidence of Learning
• Students are able to generate a detailed set of notes identifying character traits and personality clues,
as well as the text that supports these observations.
• Students are able to make connections, by comparing and contrasting the traits of two or more
characters within a story, either verbally, or using a Venn diagram.
• Students are able to participate in and contribute to discussions about a character’s motivations and
contributions to the story/plot.
• Students are able to monitor their own progress and they welcome feedback from other students as
well as the teacher.
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©2013 Catapult Learning