Here's a lesson on...

Below are three lessons that I am including in my final project. Two focus on character development, and the other on dialogue. All lessons are for students in middle school. If the formatting doesn't look quite right it is because when I copied and pasted this from my Word document, some of the text and alignment was altered, especially in the lesson entitled "Let's talk about it". There initially was a table with two columns, one for scenario and the other for the three people that students had to write dialogue for. Sorry this didn't post clearly.

Developing Your Characters

Directions to the Student:
To really write impressive fiction you must develop your characters and start to think of them as real people, to go beyond describing them by just a few physical traits. Complete this character profile about the main character in a piece of fiction you hope to write. This should help you get to know your characters better.

NAME: AGE: HEIGHT: WEIGHT:
Birth place: Birth Date:
Eyes: Hair:
Other physical characteristics:

Marital status: Children:

Dress (Style, colors):


Description of where your character lives:



Best Friend:

Other friends:

Enemies and WHY:

Family:


How does your character react when around family? Friends? At work/in school?


The character thinks of him/herself as:


Others view the character as:


Sense of humor:

Temper:

Goals:

Educational background:


Work experience:


Habits:


Talents (what the character does well)


Hobbies:

Favorite author/actor/sports figure:

Your character can’t resist:


The worst part of your character’s life is:




The worst advice I ever received was:



What bothers your character:



To the Teacher:
This activity serves as a way of helping your students develop their character beyond the flat, static, characters that seem to dominate middle school writing. This profile should push students to think beyond physical characteristics to consider habits, goals, likes/dislikes, friends to how the character spends his/her time, where he/she lives and much more. This activity should be done before students begin writing their main piece of fiction.

Look Who is on Facebook

To the students:
In order to develop your character for your fiction writing, you first need to start thinking like your character. Here’s a way to “become” your character and use technology as well. Log on to Facebook, or if you don’t have access, as your teacher to print of a copy of profile screen from the site. Then, thinking as your character, fill out the details required in the Facebook Profile. Though you can’t add friends for real, also create a list of at least ten people that your character might invite to be friends. For example, if you are filling out the form as Bella from The Twilight Books, Edward, Jacob, Emmett, Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, Esme and Carlisle would be likely friends. After you’ve completed the profile, if you are doing it online, choose Print Screen and print a copy of the profile to turn in. In addition to your profile, create a list of at least five “Status” updates that your character might consider posting on Facebook.


To the Teacher:
Not all students will have access to Facebook, and some students simply might not have parent permission to do so. In this case, as a teacher you can go to profile and “print screen” and print copies of the profile to distribute to students for completion. If students have on-line access, they can do this online and print the screen for themselves. This should allow students to think like the character but do it in a contemporary way, using the popular social networking site. Following the assignment profiles should be deleted.

Let’s talk about it

To the students:
Read each on of the scenarios below and choose one that interests you. You will be writing three different sets of dialogue, each one will be between you and someone else. This activity will help you to practice your skills in manipulating language choice, how you talk, and the words you use, depending on who you are talking with. Remember you will be writing three separate sets of dialogue but for the same scenario.
Scenario People with whom you will dialogue with
You witnessed/participated in a fight Parents/guardians
Principal
Best Friend
You decide you “like” someone in your class Best Friend
The person you like
Your mom who wants to know if you like anyone at school
You found out a friend is about ready to do something really dangerous Your friend
A guidance counselor
Another friend
You just got your report card and you got all As A friend at the lunch table
Your grandma or other relative
A teacher who really helped you
Your coach is playing favorites and never lets you play, even though you’re good A teammate
Your coach
Your parent/guardian


To the Teacher:
In this activity students will have to write distinct sets of dialogue that should reflect how we all speak to different people in different ways, given different circumstances. We make different choices about how we talk, what words we use and how we deliver our ideas. To start this activity choose one of the scenarios and model at least two sets of dialogue to help students understand how our dialogue changes based on the situation.