Activities

1. Identify the roles that characters play in a story.
   
   
2. Identify the setting of the story.
   
   
3. Recall significant events in a story.
   
   
4. Identify key characters, settings, and events in a story.

5. Compare and contrast specific details about two or more aspects of the story using details from the text to support:
   
   
   1. How relationships affect characters actions.
   2. How characters interact.
   3. How characterization affects the plot.
   4. How setting influences the story.
   5. How setting influences character actions.
   6. How setting influences the problem or resolution.
   7. How events develop the plot.
   8. How events affect character development or mood.
      
      
6. Analyze how characters respond to each other through actions and dialogue.
   
   
7. Describe similarities and differences between two characters.
   
   
8. Describe a character and his/her interactions with others and to situations using specific details from the text.

9. Draw conclusions about how the story would have developed if the characters and their interactions would have been different.
   
   
10. Identify if/how a character evolves/changes over the course of the text.
    
    
11. Explain which character’s traits are most significant in the context of the story.

Answer Key/Rubric

1. Student can identify the roles that various characters play in the story. Roles might include major/minor characters and protagonist/antagonist.
   
   
2. Student can correctly identify the setting of the story. The setting includes the time and place of the story. Stories may have multiple settings. If this is the case, students may need to consider what part each plays in the story.
   
   
3. The student is able to recall and retell the significant events in the story. This is a retelling of the story’s main events.
   
   
4. Student correctly identifies the key characters, settings, and events in the story. The student can recognize that some characters, settings, and events are minor, sometimes even insignificant in a story. Those that play a critical role need to be identified and recognized as their place plays an integral part throughout the story.
   
   
5. Student compares and contrasts using specific details from the story’s text to support various areas. It is critical that students be able to pull multiple examples from the text to provide sufficient evidence. Merely giving one example is not enough. These include focus areas such as:
   
   
   1. How relationships affect characters actions.
   2. How characters interact.
   3. How characterization affects the plot.
   4. How setting influences the story.
   5. How setting influences character actions.
   6. How setting influences the problem or resolution.
   7. How events develop the plot.
   8. How events affect character development or mood.
      
      
6. Student analyzes and considers characters’ responses to each other by what they do based on their actions and dialogue. Multiple responses from multiple characters are considered.
   
   
7. Two characters from the story are compared with each other and their similarities and differences are described. Multiple examples of character traits from the story are provided for each character as they are compared and contrasted.
   
   
8. A character from the story is described in detail in regards to his/her interactions with another character. Multiple details from the text should be provided to show how the characters interact with each other.
   
   
9. Student considers how the story might have developed differently if the characters and their interactions might have been different. In doing this, the student needs to fully understand the character’s place in the current story and also be able to understand how characters react to and interact with each other. By doing this, the student is able to make predictions and draw conclusions about what would happen if some characteristic of a character were changed.
   
   
10. Student identifies if and how a character changes throughout the story. Conclusions are drawn as to why the character changes or doesn’t change during the course of events. If the character changes or evolves throughout the story, reasons why and results of that change are stated.
    
    
11. Student analyzes a character in the story and explains which of the character’s traits are most significant in the context of the story. While a character has many traits, of which many are likely described in the story, some traits are most significant in the story. Those that are significant are ones which, without the story, would not have developed in the manner in which it did.