CoA Ep 10 Character Description.mp4

Direct Instruction:

Auckland is still at Level 2.5, which means that you will notice a very different spaced out classroom with students remaining in their seats during the lesson. We spent some time discussing what makes a good story before looking at the example character description from "The Gruffalo" by Julia Donaldson. Using this character description as a model, students were asked to write their own character description of a made up taniwha.

Extended Plan Here

Reflection: This lesson provided a fun, informative lesson on writing a character description using descriptive and figurative language. Students were very responsive. It allowed for my more able writers to explore some writing conventions that we have been discussing during the year, and those who struggle with writing enjoyed the challenge of using similes (I know I spelt it wrong on the whiteboard) and metaphors in their writing to describe. If I were able to teach using smaller groups, I would have had the model text available to all students to highlight the descriptive words on a Google Doc.

Please Note: This lesson was filmed the second week that Auckland schools reopened after our second lockdown. This meant that many of our intermediate students were still returning to school at their own pace and we were still teaching whole class lessons.

Class Site Content

WALT: use descriptive language in our writing.

First, we will have a class discussion about what makes a good story.
Then, we will take some time to explore a good character description. What do you notice?
Using this doc, write your own character description of a taniwha. Use ideas from what you read yesterday when you explored taniwha of New Zealand, but be sure to make the description your own! You are creating this taniwha.
Draw a picture of your taniwha (digital or hand drawn). Be sure to include all the detail you included in your writing in your drawing. Is there anything you added to your drawing that you should go back and add to your writing?
Create a Google Drawing poster similar to the Gruffalo example using your description and taniwha picture.