Objective: Students will be able to use the Trait Mate to describe and "show" a character's trait through the character's feelings, thoughts, actions, dialogue and others' reactions.
Guided Lesson
*Read the beginning part of
Rainbow Fish
. Ask students to notice how the author "shows" that Rainbow Fish is selfish. These are the details from the text that explain and describe the trait. Place the symbols next to each element in the text.
*Draw the Trait Mate and ask students fill in the parts with the way the author shows that the Rainbow Fish is being selfish. Explain that the parts work together to describe a trait. Continue to do this with some of the other character traits.
*Ask students to turn and talk with their partners about some of their own character traits and how they show it.
* Share some of your own character traits with the students and explain what you might say, do, feel, think, and how others would react to you. Use the Trait Mate on chart paper showing how that trait can be symbolized. A collection of these can be posted around the room.
*Ask students to name some of their character traits and explain them. Elicit a variety of character traits from the students supporting their explanations with examples. Add these traits to your word wall.
Independent Practice
*Students will fill in a Trait Mate with the thoughts, feelings, actions that would describe that character's trait.
* Students will name their characters with a trait, as in; Helpful Henry, Generous Gina, Forgetful Fred, Brave Ben, Creative Carlos, Selfish Sam, and Mean Mike.
* Students will write a paragraph describing their character using the information from their Trait Mates. Students will "show" and then tell the trait in their closing sentence.
