Populating a Story: Creating Dynamic Characters (ages 8-11)

Class will begin with a brief talk on what is a character with students volunteering some of their own favorite characters as examples. We’ll proceed to making our own character and answer questions to learn about the character: what is its name? personality? background? family? hobbies? strengths? weaknesses? etc. We will look at what challenges that character might face and how that could create a compelling story or affect a story already in progress. This is a fun activity for learning about how character affects plot.

Class will involve lots of student discussion and interaction as students answer questions and brainstorm ideas for our character and the challenges that character might face. I will act as a guide, prompting students to continue asking questions and will record answers about our character (which will be made available after class). I will also answer any questions students have about characters.