Posts Tagged ‘character development’
Building literacy, for me, involves doing something with the materials that are read or written.
I am a fan of students completing projects to go along with book they have read or are currently reading. On ReadWriteThink, I found a project for creating Character Trading Cards. Although this type of project could be done not using technology, I think the interactivity of the project on ReadWriteThink makes it much more engaging for students.
The directions are clearly outlined on the site to create Character Trading Cards. This may seem to students like just a fun activity, but the pieces of information the student has to enter for the creation of the card will give the teacher key insights to the ability of the student to comprehend, synthesize, and pay attention to detail. One starts a card simply by typing their name, the name of the main character, and the title of the story.
After submitting that information, the students gets to see the creation of the trading card. Each time questions are answered providing new information, the card being created changes (immediate feedback?).
There are 5 sections (or types of information) used to create this card: description, insights, development, statements/actions, and impressions. The questions for each of these sections require students to think about what they have read and not just copy an answer straight for the book. Part of reading and understanding and story is being about to think about it and not just be able to recall basic facts.
Depending on the amount of guided practice, group work, and ability level, I think this is a project that could be adjusted to use with students from a wide variety of age and reading levels.
Here are some books on Big Universe Learning with interesting main characters that might work well with a Character Trading Card project:
Posted on August 16, 2009 by Other in Big Universe News, Technology, Uncategorized.
Tags: Big Universe, character development, children and anxiety, children and stress, children and worry, children's books online, Education, Is a Worry Worrying You?, online learning, picture books, Tanglewood Press, worry
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Some topics are universal and worry is one of them. There is a beautiful picture book available online at Big Universe that covers the topic of worry beautifully. When I was a child I worried about everything! When I shared my difficulty with worries with my fourth grade students I got an overwhelming response from the children telling me that they had the same feelings and they sure were glad they weren’t alone. We spent quite a while discussing some of the worries they had.
The worries children have to deal with are numerous. For some it’s whether they’ll get the tennis shoes they want or the part in the play. Others worry about a grandparent who is sick or a brother or sister who is away at college. For some there’s the worry of losing a home to foreclosure, having the electricity turned off, or what kind of mood dad’s going to be in when they get home. Others worry that someone’s going to find out they don’t have a home, that when they leave school everyday, they go to the homeless shelter; That those clothes they wear everyday once belonged to someone else. That woman that comes to see them during the day at school, she’s a social worker, she might be taking her and her brother away from their parents.
Children worry about so many things. Is There A Worry Worrying You? written by Frieda Wolff and Harriet May Savitz, beautifully illustrated by Marie Le Torneau and published by Tanglewood Press, addresses the problems of a child’s worries in a very child friendly way. The book is written at a first grade reading level but the interest level is much wider. As a read aloud the book’s reach stretches all the way from preschool through the elementary school years and beyond. Even as an adult I enjoyed the bitter sweet memories it helped me recall from my childhood.
People in the United States, as well as in many other parts of our globe, are facing a financial crisis. People are finding themselves out of jobs, out of money, and forced to make life-style changes that they never imagined they would need to make. This surprising state of affairs is a gift while it is a tragedy. In a culture in which people have been defined by the size of their homes, the price of their cars and the designer name of their handbags, many are saying, “Stop! Let us find new meaning in our lives.”
In the most positive light, financial downturn is forcing people to redefine for themselves what they value in their lives. In shifting from needing abundantly to being able to recognize our abundance, many are finding a new meaning in life. People are finding ways to be grateful for many aspects of their lives that were formerly taken for granted.
If you are interested in sharing the process of examining the values of gratitude, abundance, and family relationships with your children, you will enjoy The Table Where Rich People Sit by Byrd Baylor. All of Byrd Baylor’s books are wonderfully illustrated by artist Peter Parnall. Ms. Baylor’s books share the beauty of the Arizona desert with the reader while helping us each remember important “small moments” in life that echo the “Stop!” resounding from the economic shift. The Table Where Rich People Sit is a book that shares the process of self-evaluation of our approach to wealth, with children. The book answers the question: “What does it mean to be rich?”
Children will enjoy the non-intrusive, non-lecturing way in which Ms. Baylor draws in the reader as her heroine challenges her parents to define what it means to be rich. The Table Where Rich People Sit is a book to read in today’s troubled economic times. You may find out you are richer than you thought!
