Stephanie Witherspoon

CDP 2
ENG 400
Character Mapping with Thank you, Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco
Subject Area:
Grade Level(s):
Duration:
Content Area:

English Language Arts

3rd Grade
60 minutes
Character Descriptions

Context of Classroom:

My third grade classroom is made up of twenty students.

Five of the students are English Language Learners whose
first language is Spanish. There are also two students who
have mild cognitive impairments. Five percent of the
students are African American students and the remainder of
the students are Caucasian. There is one classroom
paraprofessional who knows some Spanish. The diversity in
the classroom allows students to be aware and appreciate the
cultural and linguistic differences of their classmates.
Strategies used in the classroom to foster learning in all
students include differentiation depending on ability and the
utilizing parent volunteers whenever possible.

Purposes/Goals

This lesson plan is part of a unit that encourages students to

consider the perspectives of others who may be different then
them. For this particular lesson students will focus on the
traits and characteristics that make up a character in a whole
class read aloud. Students will reflect on their own traits and
feelings in this lesson before moving on to the traits and
feelings of others. In this particular lesson students learn how
to describe characters appearances, traits, and feelings in a
text in a character map. Understanding the characters in a
text leads to comprehension of how the characters actions
may cause other events to occur and the ability for students
to take into account another point of view. This lesson
provides students with a strategy that they will be able to
apply to readings in the future.

Objectives:
The students will be able to
complete a character map
graphic organizer

The students will be placed into pre-determined small groups

based on skill level. Within these small groups students will
discuss with each other about the traits, feelings, and
motivations that the character of their choosing from the read
aloud possess. Students will then work on filling in their own
character map. The character maps will differ based on the

groups the students are in. Students who are in the advanced
groups will also incorporate evidence for the statements they
make about the character, while the more basic group will
have a character map that looks at more basic character traits.
Standards:
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.3.3
Describe characters in a story
(e.g., their traits, motivations,
or feelings) and explain how
their actions contribute to the
sequence of events
NCTE: 10. Students whose
first language is not English
make use of their first langue
to develop competency in the
English language arts and to
develop understanding of
content across the curriculum.

Community Knowledge:

Students will satisfy this Common Core Standard by

completing a character map. Although the students will be
assigned to different groups based on ability level, after the
read aloud, they will be able to determine the traits,
motivations, or feelings of a character and then discuss in
their groups events that happened based on the characters
actions.
Students will satisfy this NCTE Standard while in their small
groups. As students are grouped by ability level, this allows
the English Language Learners to speak in their first
language while discussing the character traits. This helps
these students comprehend the content at grade level. They
will have the opportunity to listen to other groups (and their
own) present their character maps at the end of the lesson so
they are still acquiring the English vocabulary needed for
describing characters.
The students in my classroom will draw upon their funds of
knowledge by sharing in small groups about traits they
believe describe themselves. Small groups will also discuss
times that they experienced strong emotions and how their
actions led to different events. After this small group
discussion, students will then report back to the whole class.
To reciprocally exchange information, I will also share
different traits about myself and how acting out my emotions
can lead to different examples. Students will then work in
small groups based on ability and use a character map to
describe the character of their choosing in the read aloud.
after students discuss their ideas, they will each individually
complete a character map. English Language Learners are
able to use their first language to assist them in the
completion of the character map. While working on the
character maps, students may refer back to the brainstorming
list created during the anticipatory set. Students may feel
more engaged with the lesson when they realize that the
character they are describing possesses some of the same
traits that their peers or even themselves have. To end the
lesson students will present their findings with the whole
class. This allows students to learn what their classmates
discovered when examining the character and also allows

students to see where others might have different opinions as

their own and that is part of what makes up the classroom
community.

Procedure:
Materials/Reso Three versions of character maps: A character map will be
urces
given to each student based on the group that they are in.
Using premade organizers help guide students to focus on
their ideas rather than worry about the organization of the
content. (See below in the small group lesson for the
organizers)
Thank you, Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco (several copies
for students to reference)
Flip chart or white board: The chart or white board will be
utilized at the beginning of the lesson. During the
anticipatory set, students will discuss at their table groups
traits that describe themselves and any stories about the
effects their actions have had. When we come back as a
whole class the students will share their ideas with the class
and I will record their ideas on the board/chart. This
information will be left up during the entire lesson for
students to refer back to if they are struggling to think of
traits and feelings of the characters in the story. This also
allows students to make connections from the text to their
own lives, when they see the character has a similar trait to
themselves.
Writing Utensils: Markers/Dry Erase markers are needed for
completing the whole class discussion at the beginning of the
lesson. Pencils (20) are needed for each student to fill out the
character map that is assigned to them.
Anticipatory
The introduction to this lesson begins with students in their
Set
desks, which are arranged in groups of four, participating in a
(15 minutes)
whole class discussion. (The English Language Learners are
intermingled among the other students) I will begin with asking
students to consider what words they would use to describe
themselves. I would also ask students to reflect back to a time
where they experienced strong emotions (positive or negative)
and how their actions caused certain events to occur. In order to
get the students thinking I will share my own examples (traits:
organized, understanding, and forgiving, situation: a time that I
felt really happy and could not stop smiling, others around me

Transition:
(2 minutes)

Whole Group
Activity:
(10 minutes)

Transition:
(2 minutes)

Small Group
Activity:
(20 minutes)

started to smile too because they felt positive being around me).
After the students have a moment to think quietly, they will be
asked to share with either a partner or at their small groups the
thoughts that they had. After each student has had a chance to
share some of their thoughts (about 5 minutes) I will ask the
class to come back together for a whole class discussion. I will
then ask the whole class to share their traits that describes
themselves. I will record their ideas on the board/chart (and
leave in view of all groups during the entire lesson)
After the whole class discussion, I will ask the students to
gather on the carpet for a read aloud of Thank you, Mr. Falker,
by Patricia Polacco. I will assist students that may struggle
during transition time to move quietly and with out distraction
to the carpet.
Once students are settled onto the carpet I will introduce the
story. I will begin by reading the inside back cover that gives a
little bit of background about the author, Patricia Polacco. I will
then do a walk through of the book and ask the students to
discuss the what they see in the pictures, this helps give all
students regardless of ability or language to begin to think
about the story. After the picture walk through I will then read
the book aloud.
Once the read aloud is complete I will explain to the students
that they will be broken up into small groups to complete a
character map. I will show a variety of character maps
including the three that will be used by the class. After
checking for comprehension (asking students to repeat
directions back to me) I will assign them to their small groups.
Small Group 1: This group will be for the students who
need the most assistance in completing the character
map assigned to them. This group also contains the
English Language Learners together so that the
paraprofessional can work with them in their first
language to ensure comprehension of the content. The
character map that is show below will be used by this
group. Students will draw a picture of the character they
chose and then discuss different traits and things that
they noticed about the character and fill their
discussions in the different bubbles surrounding the
character. This is helpful to these students, especially
the English language leaners because they will be able
to record a word in their first language and then write
the word in English underneath it.

(pdf found at:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/199847302189262885/)
Small Group 2: This group of students are at grade level
in terms of ability. The assigned character map asks
students to draw a picture of the character and then list
four traits of the chosen character. In the box with lines
in it, students will be asked to explain why they
recorded the trait in the bubble. These students do not
need to show page number evidence but they need to
explain their reasoning for choosing the trait.

(pdf found at:

http://www.lauracandler.com/filecabinet/literacy/PDFRead/Cha

racterMap.pdf)
Small Group 3: This group is for the more advanced
students. These students will complete the character
map shown below. While this group is only describing
three traits of their chosen character they have to defend
the traits that they chose. The group needs to use a copy
of the story to find the page number that shows
evidence of why they chose the trait that they did.

(pdf found at:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/45950858671262741/)

Transition:
(2 minutes)
Ending:
(10 minutes)

During this small group activity, I will be monitoring all three

groups by walking around and fielding any questions that the
students might have.
Students will be asked to gather back on the carpet at the end of
the lesson and to bring their character maps with them. I again
will help students who experience difficulties with transitions.
Once students are gathered back on the carpet, I will begin a
whole class discussion, inviting the students to share their
description and analysis of the character that they chose to
discuss. After students share their character maps we will
discuss things that we learned and things we were surprised
about. Finally, I will wrap up the lesson by explaining that

different people have different traits that give them different

perspectives, and refer back to examples of groups that used the
same character but came up with different traits. Students will
then turn in their character maps so I can have the opportunity
to go over them more thoroughly and provide comments if
necessary.
Assessment:

Students will be formatively assessed on their completed

character maps that they turn in. As this is the first time
students are being introduced to character maps, it is
important to make sure that they understand the strategy of
using the character map. I will provide feedback to students
who may need extra practice with the strategy as well as
providing positive feedback for their ability to come up with
traits to describe a character from the read aloud.

Applications, Connections,
Extensions:

This lesson incorporates a strategy that can be applied to

more than just this lesson. The ability to pull out traits,
motivations, feelings, and actions of the characters in stories
is something that can be applied to all literature that contains
characters. The ability to identify these traits also goes
beyond literature, students will be able to extend this
knowledge into their real lives. When they meet new people
or think about the people already in their lives, they will be
able to recognize traits within those people, which is an
important life skill to have.

Inclusive Instruction:

This lesson has been developed to be inclusive of all students

in the classroom regardless of ability or language. Breaking
the students into groups provides the opportunity for students
to participate in the lesson at their own level. Students who
are English Language Learners have the ability to use their
first language to participate and comprehend the activity.