READ 3226 Direct Instruction Lesson Plan

Grade Level/Subject: 3rd Grade,

Literacy

Central Focus: Character Traits

Essential Standard/Common Core Objective: 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.

Date submitted: 11/1/15

Date taught: 11/3/15

Daily Lesson Objective: Students will be able to define character traits of main character in
a text(Horrible Harry) using a graphic organizer and using evidence from the text to support
their answers. They will list at least 2 traits with supporting evidence from the text(Horrible
Harry and the Dungeon) to receive full credit(100%).
21st Century Skills:
-Communicate Clearly
-Think Creatively
Students will demonstrate these
skills through the guided practice
and their independent practice
where they will have the clearly
show their thoughts/ideas which
they will come up with on their
own.

Academic Language Demand (Language Function and

Vocabulary): Analyze: Students will analyze the text to
define the traits of characters from Horrible Harry and
the Dungeon.

Prior Knowledge: Students will need prior knowledge of what feelings are to differentiate
between feelings and traits.

Activity

Description of Activities and Setting

Say: Hi friends! So I know yesterday you all talked about

feelings/emotions with Ms. Johnson and started reading
Horrible Harry and the Dungeon right?
Ask students: Can anybody tell me what emotions are?
1. Focus and Review
Call on a student to answer.
Review the definition of emotions: Fleeting feelings a
character may be having, often due to an outside force.
Characters emotions show through what they say and do.
2. Statement of
Objective
for Student

3. Teacher Input

Well today we are going to be learning about character

traits and we will use Horrible Harry again to do this!
Define traits: Its who a character is on the inside-their
personality. Character traits are shown through what a
character says or does.
So we can see that both character emotions and traits can
be shown through what the character says and does. But a
characters traits are part of their personality, who they
are deep down inside, not just how they act or feel based
on whats happening to them at the time. These are
different from a feeling because they describe the person
rather than how the person is feeling at the time.
Say: Raise your hand if you can name any character traits
for me. Call on students until you have about 10-20 traits
listed on chart paper(you will be writing them down as
they call out traits). Example traits are: adventurous,
ambitious, argumentative, bosy, brave, calm, charming,
childish, clever, competitive, confident, considerate,
dangerous, dependable, determined, dishonest,
disrespectful, energetic, friendly, funny, generous, greedy,
immature, impatient, impolite, imaginative, etc.

Time

4. Guided Practice

I will use common text characters the students have

already read about to help define traits for these
characters(Little Bill, etc.) On a separate sheet of chart
paper we will name characters and then list the traits they
exhibited. Say Last week you finished reading Little Bill
and the Worst Day Ever. Who can tell me a character trait
of Little Bill? Call on 1-2 students to give a character trait
of Little Bill. Great! Those are perfect examples of traits!
Next we need to add proof from the text. Who can tell me
what they read in the story that told us that Little Bill was
helpful? Call on a student to answer. Have them include
specific dialogue and actions taken directly from the book.
I will jot down page numbers to emphasize that evidence
must come directly from the text. I will use the Character
Traits Graphic Organizer Template(See below) to display
this information on chart paper. Talk about 2 different
character and 2 different character traits for each of
them.

5. Independent
Practice

Now that we have defined what a trait is and how they

are different than feelings we can practice finding traits in
other character we read about! I want you all to read to
chapter 3 of Horrible Harry and the Dungeon(They should
have already read to the end of chapter 1) and fill out our
Character Traits Organizer afterwards. You need to choose
2 characters and list 2 different traits about them. I would
also like for you to include evidence from the text to
support why you chose that trait for them. Students will
then read Chapters 2-3 of Horrible Harry and the Dungeon.
They will fill out their Character Traits Graphic Organizer
which has them say which character they are referring to,
what trait they exemplify, and what evidence from the
text tells us they possess this trait. I will have the students
do this independently during their silent reading time and
either fill out the chart as they go or at the end of their
reading. I expect students to have at least 2 characters and
2 traits listed with evidence from the text.

Formative Assessment: Questions throughout the lesson to check for

understanding.
6. Assessment
Methods of
all objectives/
skills:

7. Closure

8. Assessment
Results of
all objectives/
skills:

Summative Assessment: I will check their Character Traits Organizer

to make sure they have at least 2 traits listed and include evidence
from the text. Students are expected to earn at least a 90%. If they
have at least 2 traits with evidence from the text to support both
then they will earn 100%. If they have at least 2 traits but only 1 with
support from the text, they will earn 90%. If they have at least 2
traits but no evidence from the text, they will earn 80%.
Awesome job friends! We will continue to add to this
chart throughout reading Horrible Harry! Tomorrow we will
begin learning about how characters change over time and
how this effects our story!
8 out of 8 students scored 100% on their Character Traits graphic
organizer.

Targeted Students Modifications/

Accommodations:

Student/Small Group Modifications/

Accommodations:

I would have students spread out among

the room(they can sit at their desk,
carpet, bean bag chairs, anywhere else on
the floor) to complete the independent
practice, this would help ADD/ADHD
learners so they can get up and move a
little and also have a change of scenery if
they want/need it. I will be walking
around the room to help any
students(especially ELL students) who
need it.

I ended up teaching this as a small group lesson.

If I were to teach it as a whole class I would
have students on various reading levels so I
would still reference a book weve read as a
whole class for teaching the guided practice
portion of the lesson. And instead of reading
Horrible Harry at the end I would have them
chose their own books from their reading level
to read. I would probably urge them to read a
shorter book or chose one theyve already read
to refer to to complete the independent
practice assignment.

Materials/Technology:
Character Traits Graphic Organizer, White Board, Horrible Harry and the Dungeon(one for
each student), Pencils
References:

Reflection on lesson: I thought this lesson went well! It took a bit of time to grasp the
difference between a feeling and a character trait but in the end they got it and it showed
through their independent practice when they filled out their graphic organizers. The
teacher who observed me suggested that next time I fill out an anchor chart to contrast
traits and feelings and I think thats something I would definitely like to do! It would be
better I think for the students to have a more clear visual representation so they can better
understand the difference between to the two a little bit faster. But otherwise the lesson
went great! i enjoyed teaching and since it was small group(because Ms.Johnson teaches
only in small group with the students divided by reading level) it went smoother than it
might have if I had taught whole class simply because their were less students so less
questions of confusion and more ability for me to go around and help each and every
student fully understand.