English- creative writing- Character boxes

Today I want to post a lesson that I have used a number of times in schools. It is called Character boxes. I have used this lesson a number of times over the years. Each time it worked brilliantly. All of the student’s loved it. This lesson is great for developing the students’ essay writing skills and also developing their creativity/imagination. The characters need to think creatively to develop a character using the five images on their handout. The students’ find this lesson fun too! I first tested this out on my 12 year old cousin, and her first response when I told her what the task was ‘cool’!. My best advice when using this lesson is know your class well etc.. what they like and then you can pick you can the most suitable images for your class. However, if you do not know your class well, five random images work just as well.

I am not posting my full lesson plan here as I write really long lesson plans (3-5) pages long each but I will post a general gist of my lesson plan.

What do you need for this task? Coloured paper and handout with five random images each. 

Lesson objectives

1. The pupils will be able to define the term character.
2. The students will be able to portray their ability to develop a character.
3. The students will be able to develop their creativity skills.

Assessment of Learning outcomes

1. The pupils will be able to define the term character as they will think pair share the definition of character
2. The students will portray their ability to develop a character by working in groups and developing a character.
3. The students will develop their creativity skills by using their imagination and creating a  character.

Phase 1.

Greet the pupils.

Take a roll call.

Review what was learnt in the last lesson.

Phase 2. Think-Pair-Share

I will put the students into pairs.

I will ask the students ‘What is a character?’.

I will ask a number of pairs for their answers.

I will discuss the students’ answers with the class.

Phase 3:Group work: Five random images to develop a character

I will ask the students to develop a character by using five random images.

I will then put the students into groups.

I will give each group a handout with five random images.

I will ask the students to work together in their groups and use their group’s five random images to develop a character.

Phase 4: Coloured card: Draw and write about your group’s made up character

I will give each group a coloured card.

I will ask the groups to work together and use their group’s five random images on their handout.

I will tell the students to draw their character and write about their character on their group’s coloured card.

I will tell the groups they have eight minutes for this task.

I will use a countdown timer to motivate the students and let the students know how much time they have left.

After the time is up, each group will present their work to the class.

We will have a class discussion about each group’s work.

Phase 5: Wrap things up. Give homework and end the class well.

Character boxes

 

 Character boxes

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 Character boxes example