Reading in the Middle, Junior and Senior High Schools, Spring, 2010

*http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/become-character-adjectives-character-168.html?tab=1#overview*

I found a great lesson plan that focuses on characterization. It is designed for a 10th grade English classroom. I have always been really interested on expanded on the idea of characters within a novel or short story. The lesson plan intends for students all read the same novel, and then pick out several key/main characters. Then students are presented with a worksheet that has them match up certain character traits and actions with the specific characters from the novel. I really liked this because I think it will encourage students to improve on their critical thinking skills.
The final activity includes students finding a partner and creating their own short anecdote for a character in the novel and then guessing who each other is describing. I believe this will help students think about the different aspects of characterization and the role it plays in the how the plot is formed.

The website also included several helpful and well organized student handouts that focus on descriptive adjectives to use during characterization. The only thing I would alter about this lesson plan is after the partner group work is completed I would have the class rejoin as a whole, and share what they learned or found interesting about the activity. I believe it is very important for students to be able to discuss what they have learned and to hear from the experiences of others. I think this activity would be a fun way to encourage students to share their ideas.

I think this activity would be great for character analysis and promotes students to really contemplate what role each character plays in the overall novel or theme.

I really enjoyed looking at lesson plans on readwritethink. I loved how it provided you with so much materials, handouts, websites, and so much more. I think your lesson sounds good, I enjoy getting into the hearts and minds of characters and I think your students will as well.

I really like this idea. I've always favored interesting character development over plot. I think that studying the importance of characterization is incredibly important to understanding how a character works within the novel as well as how he/she works in relation to the other characters.
I love the idea of guessing the characters in a later activity. Being able to pick out discernible character traits shows that the student understands the character, and that he/she can put that knowledge toward unraveling the work assigned.

I like the sound of this lesson plan as well. Character analysis is important for students to learn and it can be difficult for some. This lesson plan seems to guide students through the process of getting to know each character. It shows how students can assess characters the way an author intended for the reader to see them, and why the author may have wanted the reader to view the character a certain way.

I also agree with having the class rejoin as a whole as an addition or alteration to this lesson plan. If a class is trying to better understand a novel more opinions can only help with this process. Individual work is always important, but it never hurts to share what they learned as a group. Something one student caught on to another may not have. By coming together as a group, students can further build on what they learned in small groups.

I really enjoyed the article we had to read this week. I have always been interested in gender studies, and I have never applied my theories to internet usage. I found that my answers did not change from before to after I read the article. My explanations changed, but my ultimate opinion was not altered by the information in the article. I found that the article gave a lot of good examples and studies, but it was too vague concerning who and how these studies were actually conducted. I feel that with gender studies their is an easy chance to have a biased opinion, so I would like to know more about the studies before I let the results effect my opinion. I really found the topic on how the internet forces students to search for their own research instead of just copying from one single book.
"The knowledge that the Internet provides may be fragmented, unlike the "readily bundled" information of a book, said Rand Spiro, a professor of educational psychology at Michigan State University, but it allows informed users to be the author of their own searches. Spiro argued that the nonlinear approach to information-gathering on the Internet can help a person learn to navigate the world better. How your brain adapts to the Internet depends in part on how you make the Internet adapt to your needs."

The internet, in my opinion, will force students/people to become better critical thinkers. After looking up information on the internet students must then think about whether the information is reliable or not. Students must also choose what is important from a vast amount of resources and information. I think the internet is helping people to become more independent thinkers.