Characters Change on Book Talk Thursday

One of the skills my fifth graders always need a little help with is character traits. So many times we just look at how a character acts through much of the story, but we have to think about how they change and what causes that change. In the book Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina, both characters face problems that change them both forever. (Affiliate links provided to fund future book purchases.)

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Book Talk Thursday ~ St. Patrick's Day and Freebie

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, and I wanted to share a book and activity I did several years ago for Book Talk Thursday.  I used the book The Leprechaun's Gold by Pamela Duncan Edwards to guide the students through the process.

The story is about Old Pat and Young Tom, who are both harpists.   Tom learned to play the harp from Old Pat but thinks that he is a better harpist and should always charge money.  The king decides to hold a contest to see who the best harpist in the land is, so they both decide to travel together to play in the king's contest.  Tom realizes that he will lose to Pat, so he destroys Pat's harp, making it unable to play beautifully.  Along the way, they hear a leprechaun who needs help, so Pat chooses to help the leprechaun.  The sincere hospitality of Pat helps the leprechauns show their gratitude.

In the story, Young Tom changes his attitude, so I used this Character Change Chart to help them understand that characters can change in a story.   You can use this with any book that has a character that changes throughout the story.  Just click here or on the picture below to grab it.

I love how my students think about the characters during a story.  They now understand that they don't always stay the same, and many times the solution is born out of their changes.

Don't forget to link up again this week!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Mentor Monday Linky: Analyzing Characters ~ 3/10/14

I was so excited to find out that the topic for this week for Mentor Monday at The Reading Tutor/OG was character analysis.  I have spent a lot of time in the past working on this with many of my groups.

Congratulations, Emily, on the birth of your little baby girl!  She is a cutie!  And thanks, Wendy from Read with Me ABC for hosting as a guest blogger this week.  I am so glad to be able to keep it going!

I want to share a mentor text and idea for character analysis this week.  It is one of my favorite books to use for it.  Many of the kids can relate to the characters in the story.  I love using Julius, the Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes.

In the book, Lilly is faced with the challenge of the arrival of her new baby brother,Julius.  He gets all of the attention, and she is not happy.  She resorts to calling him names and making fun of him, even to the point of saying mean things to him in his crib.  Jealousy plays a huge role in her feelings, just as they do with many children in the same situation.  But when her cousin insults Julius, Lilly stands up for him since he can't stand up for himself.  What a true change of character and a show of love!

This book is perfect for looking into a character's heart and thinking about the changes that Lilly makes because of her little brother.  Students can map out how Lilly's feelings change through the story by focusing on the the turning point in the story.

To help my students better comprehend the text, I use a character change chart.  Just as in real life, the students can see that Lilly has a change of heart because she really does love her brother.  Love wins over jealousy in this case!  Click {here} or on the picture below to grab your copy of the character change chart which can be used with any book. 

What books do you use to help students understand character analysis?  Leave a comment below or link up with The Reading Tutor/OG with your book!

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Book Talk Thursday ~ Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink

It is time for another edition of Book Talk Thursday!

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and there are so many fun books to read.  One of my favorite books to read is Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink.

Gilbert sits down to write his Valentines and doesn't have anything nice to say about Lewis and Margaret.  He writes mean Valentines for them but signs their names to them.  When the students at school find out, they don't want anything to do with Gilbert.  He realizes that he has to change his ways and make things better.

The story is a wonderful example of how characters can change throughout the story.  Next week I plan to use this book with my second graders to help them see how characters change.  I plan to use this simple graphic organizer to help them identify how and why Gilbert changes in the story.

You can grab it for free by clicking on the picture above or {here}.

What are your favorite books for helping students see how characters change?  And what are some of your favorite books for Valentine's Day?

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Book Talk Thursday ~ St. Patrick's Day Edition {with freebies}

It is that time of week again ~ Book Talk Thursday!

I have TWO freebies for you in this post, so read on to find them!

Since St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, I am going to showcase two different books that I plan to use with my students next week.   Since I am testing, I am going to do more read-alouds with my students.

With my first and second graders, I am going to use That's What Leprechauns Do by Eve Bunting.

The book is about three leprechauns, Boo, Col, and Ari have to go on a mission to put the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  They all say they will go on the journey and make no mischief, but the problem is that the leprechauns cannot stay out of mischief.  It all starts when they paint the cow's hooves red and continues on from there.  The story leaves the reader wondering if they will put the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  The children will love the story and laugh along the way at the three mischievous leprechauns!

I am going to do a lot of predicting and sequencing with the students.  Since I will actually be able to see my first and second graders each day, I am going to use my Catch a Leprechaun book and rhyming game with the students.  You can grab it from my TPT store or TN shop.

Since you have made it this far, here is your first freebie!  I shared this on Monday, but in case you missed it, here is the game board with blank game cards that you can use with any concept!  Grab it and have some fun! Click on the picture to grab it!

Now for the second book!  My third graders are still working on character traits.  After working with biographies in their class, I thought this was fitting.  This week we are going to focus on how characters change throughout the story.  I am going to use The Leprechaun's Gold by Pamela Duncan Edwards to guide the students through the process.

The story is about Old Pat and Young Tom, who are both harpists.   Tom learned to play the harp from Old Pat but thinks that he is a better harpist and should always charge money.  The king decides to hold a contest to see who the best harpist in the land is, so they both decide to travel together to play in the king's contest.  Tom realizes that he will lose to Pat, so he destroys Pat's harp, making it unable to play beautifully.  Along the way, they hear a leprechaun who needs help, so Pat chooses to help the leprechaun.  The sincere hospitality of Pat helps the leprechauns show their gratitude.

In the story, Young Tom changes his attitude, so I am going to use this Character Change Chart to help them understand that characters can change in a story.  This is your second freebie!  You can use this with any book that has a character that changes throughout the story.  Just click here or on the picture below to grab it.

I am also going to do a little context clues work with them, since this activity won't take all week.  I just created this context clues game using the above gameboard.  It is on sale for half price through the weekend, so grab it in my TPT store or TN shop.

I hope these will help you plan for St. Patrick's Day!  These two books are great for helping children understand parts of literature.  Enjoy!

Until next time!

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Thursday Book Talk ~ Mr. George Baker and Character

It is that time of the week again ~

This week's book is one that I will use next week with my third graders.  We have been working through many of the lessons at ReadWorks.org to help them with many aspects of comprehension strategies and skills.  If you have not used ReadWorks.org, you really should check it out!  It is chock full of FREE resources for Grades K-6.

OK ~ Onto the book review part!

In the first lesson on character, the suggested book is Mr George Baker by Amy Hest.

The book is about a young boy who has befriended an older man who cannot read.  Each day they wait for the bus together to go to school.  Hest does a wonderful job describing Mr. Baker through the young boy's eyes, which lends itself to some great discussion on character.  The boy tells the story in an almost sing-song tone saying things like "That's George, all happy and snappy in the morning."  Children will enjoy the rhythm of the book as they look into the world of a young boy and his much older friend!

ReadWorks.org has a fabulous lesson which reflects on describing the character.  I am going to use it with my third graders to make inferences about the character.  Since the book describes the characters and his actions through the words of a young boy, we will use it to give some good character traits for Mr. George Baker.  I made this graphic organizer to help them get their thoughts together.  I am going to use it to help them make inferences about the character Mr. George Baker.  It can be used for any book with good character details.  Click here or on the picture below to grab this freebie.

I hope this helps you in your reading endeavors!  Enjoy!!

Until next time!

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