9th Grade Creating A Character Lesson Plan

Topic:Creating a Character

Objectives & Outcomes

• By the end of this lesson, students will be able to create a well-developed character for use in a short story.

Materials

• Handout with guidelines for creating a character
• Writing prompt (optional)

Warm-up

• Ask students to think about their favorite fictional character. Who is it and what makes them interesting or memorable?
• Have students share their favorite characters with the class and discuss what makes them memorable.
• Encourage students to think about the different aspects of a character, such as personality, appearance, and backstory, and how each of these aspects contributes to their overall impression of the character.

Direct Instruction

• Introduce the concept of a character to the class and give examples of different types of characters (such as a protagonist, antagonist, sidekick, etc.).
• Discuss the importance of creating well developed characters in writing. Well developed characters help to create a more realistic and engaging story for the reader.
• Discuss the different aspects of a character, such as personality, appearance, and backstory, and how each of these aspects contributes to their overall impression of the character.
• Provide students with the handout with character development questions and have them work in pairs to answer the questions about their chosen character.
• As a class, discuss the character development questions and how they help to create a more well developed character.

Guided Practice:

• Provide students with a short story template and have them choose a character to create for the story.
• Have students work in pairs to create a short story using their character and the template.
• As a class, discuss the stories created by the students and how they can be improved by further developing the character.

Independent Practice:

• Have students choose a character to create for a short story of their own.
• Have students create a detailed character profile for their chosen character, including background information, personality traits, and motivations.
• Have students write a short story using their character, incorporating their character profile into the story.

Closure:

• Review the steps for creating a character for a short story.
• Have students share their character profiles and short stories with the class.

Assessment:

• Observation of student participation in class discussions and activities.
• Evaluation of student character profiles and short stories for adherence to the five basic traits of a character and their development over the course of the story.