A Deep, Complex Extension Menu For Character Analysis
When planning differentiated lessons, I often get too clever for my own good and cook up a new character analysis activity every week. This results in extra work for me and unnecessary confusion for my students.
As a result, I’ve put this extension menu together. This way, students have a variety of familiar choices to use when analyzing a character. Here’s a sample that includes elements of depth and complexity, content imperatives, and technology.
| Using a graphic organizer, show how a character’s actions, thoughts, and speech converge to show a character trait. | Build a playlist of three songs showing a character’s growth during a story. Explain how these songs show the character’s change over time. | Design the character’s room. Each item you place in the room should reveal something about the character. Consider their change over time. Design this room on paper, create a diorama, or build the room in Google Sketchup. |
| Use images from Flickr.com to create a montage that demonstrates a main trait of your character. | Scholar’s Choice: Design a product (get teacher approval first!) | Create a Twitter feed from your character that shows her/her inner thoughts throughout the story. Be sure to limit each tweet to 140 characters! |
| Analyze how a character has a convergence of traits from two other characters in the theme. | Develop a diary or blog for your character. Each entry should clearly show the character’s change over time. | Write a Shakespearean Sonnet from your character’s point of view (iambic pentameter optional  ). |