Elizabeth T. Lawrence
(Part of the Unit)
Lesson Plan #1:
Goal
To introduce characters in
The Hobbit
to students on a more intimate basis.
Objective
Students will be able to name and recognize characters from the tale and identify same when the story is read.
Teaches through role-play, self-awareness, oral speaking and characterization.
The teacher should assign a character, Bilbo, Gandalf, Smaug etc., to each student. The student will then have to find out personal traits of the character assigned. This is made easier by Tolkien who is a very visual writer and complete in his descriptions. Refer to
The Hobbit
as source. The student then “becomes” the character. Teacher gives an 8 to 10 minute period to showcase the character. Each student will present his character to the class. He may do this in one of the suggested ways below:
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1. role play the character with costume;
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2. first person dialogue, “I, who snort at my hoard . . . ”
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3. draw a picture of the character on large paper and give a brief description orally
When all of the students have completed their presentations, the teacher can tie together the assemblage of characters and review them with the class audience. Students can then understand how important each character is to the tale (part of the whole) and how it comes to life in the story spun by Tolkien.
Lesson Plan #2
Name that Character!
Goal
To have the students become so familiar with the characters in
The Hobbit
, as to know them from simple clues.
Objective
Students will be able to quickly recognize characters from the story when given minimal clues.
Developing auditory-memory skills.
This is an adapted version of the famous “I’m thinking of an animal game” which every adult who has ever driven with children, has used. The life saver of long car trips! Here, in the classroom, it takes on a different dimension because the teacher has prepared small index cards (3”x5”) full of character details. These cards are kept by the teacher. No character names are on the cards (she may code them as to the names).
Students, on a first-come, first-served basis, are given a card and then a time limit is set for the game. Students using the index card full of information (clues) have to guess correctly the name of the character. The name must be spelled correctly as well. All answers are timed and must be within the stipulated time limit.
Teacher may wish to begin with 10 minutes and as students become more adept with Tolkien’s material, cut the limit to 8 minutes, 6 minutes of 3 minutes etc.
This is at the teacher’s discretion and one must take into consideration the reading levels of the students in the classroom.