Characters

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Characters
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What is a character?

• A character is a person in a story. Characters
  have feelings, thoughts, and problems.
• To learn about the characters in a story, pay
  attention to their actions, thoughts, and words
  and their relationships with other characters.

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What is a character trait?

• A character trait is something special about the
  character.
• It can be something special about the way the
  character looks or the way a character acts.
• Traits are words like smart, pretty, old,
  and funny.

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Find the Character Traits

• Billy is a young boy with short blonde
  hair. He enjoys playing football, soccer, and
  baseball. Billie has a lot of friends and loves
  playing sports with them after school.
• What are some traits to describe Billy?

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young

• Billy is a young boy with short blonde
  hair. He enjoys playing football, soccer, and
  baseball. Billie has a lot of friends and loves
  playing sports with them after school.

likes sports
blonde hair
friendly
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• What is a relationship?

A relationship shows how two or more characters
connect with each other. Characters can be
friends, family, or teammates. Some characters
get along very well, and sometimes characters
fight and do not get along. This is part of
their relationship.
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Find the Relationships

• Sylvia poked Simon with her finger. She
  was tired of Simon always taking the remote
  control from her. Simon poked his little sister
  back.
• What describes Sylvia and Simons relationship?

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Sylvia poked Simon with her finger. She was
tired of Simon always taking the remote control
from her. Simon poked his little sister back.
Sylvia and Simon are brother and sister.

• Sylvia is upset at Simon.
• Simon is upset at Sylvia.
• Simon and Sylvia are not getting along.

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How does the character act?

• It is really important to know why a character
  does something.
• Characters actions are sometimes caused by how
  they feel.

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Why did he do that?

• Brody was so mad he kicked his basketball
  across the yard.
• Why did Brody kick his basketball?

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• Mr. Rodriguez hugged his son because he was
  so proud of him.
• Why did Mr. Rodriguez hug his son?

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• Sean made a perfect score on his math test,
  and he could not stop smiling.
• Why was Sean smiling?

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What does the character think or say?

• When characters are talking in a story, it is
  important to read their conversation carefully.
  Authors will often share a characters thoughts
  during a story too.
• These thoughts and dialogue help the reader
  find out more about the character.

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What do you know now?

• Beatrice and her friend were walking home
  from school. Beatrice said, I wish I could just
  go to dance class instead of doing my homework.
  All I want to do is dance.
• What did you learn about Beatrice?

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• Beatrice and her friend were walking home
  from school. Beatrice said, I wish I could just
  go to dance class instead of doing my homework.
  All I want to do is dance.
• Inside the quotation marks, Beatrice tells her
  friend how much she really enjoys dancing.

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What do you know now?

• Jessie opened her birthday present from her
  aunt. She smiled and thanked her aunt. But
  inside she felt disappointed. Did anyone buy me
  new skates? she wondered.
• What did you learn about Jessie?

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• Jessie opened her birthday present from her
  aunt. She smiled and thanked her aunt. But
  inside she felt disappointed. Did anyone buy me
  new skates? she wondered.
• Jessie is upset because she wants skates for her
  birthday. Even though she thanks her aunt, she
  thinks about how much she wants skates.

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How does the character change?

• Sometimes characters go through a change in a
  story. Characters may learn a lesson or change
  their way of thinking. This can change how the
  main character acts.

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• Shrika was very afraid of her next door
  neighbor Mr. Potla. One day, Shrika saw Mr. Potla
  walking outside to his mailbox when he tripped
  and fell. Even though Shrika was afraid, she ran
  over to help Mr. Potla. Mr. Potla smiled at
  Shrika and thanked her for helping him. He said,
  You are a very nice little girl for helping an
  old man like me. Mr. Potla smiled at Shrika,
  and Shrika was not afraid anymore.
• How did Shrikas character change?

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• Shrika was very afraid of her next door
  neighbor Mr. Potla. One day, Shrika saw Mr. Potla
  walking outside to his mailbox when he tripped
  and fell. Even though Shrika was afraid, she ran
  over to help Mr. Potla. Mr. Potla smiled at
  Shrika and thanked her for helping him. He said,
  You are a very nice little girl for helping an
  old man like me. Mr. Potla smiled at Shrika,
  and Shrika was not afraid anymore.
• Shrika realizes that Mr. Potla is not so scary
  after all. She is not afraid of him anymore.