Character Charts
Graphic organizers, like the sample below, can be used to help students organize information about major and minor characters in a text. Completed character charts are useful tools for writing essays and studying for tests. They are often used to record information about literacy characters, but can also be adapted to record information about historical figures.
Step one: Decide why you are having students keep these charts
There are many reasons to have students use identity charts. Here are some:
- To help students more deeply understand characters in the text
- To help students develop the skill of looking for textual evidence
- To ensure accountability that students are reading
- To help students prepare for an essay or final project
- As an assessment tool to measure students’ understanding of the text
Why are you having students keep a character chart? Your answer to this question will inform how you approach steps two and three.
Step two: Designing the character chart template
Which characters you would like students to focus on? What information you would like them to track? Do you want students to track multiple characters or to follow one character? Build a chart based on your answers to these questions. Here are two examples:
A character chart for following multiple characters:
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Character’s Name |
Biographical information |
Major actions taken by this character (with page numbers) |
Important quotations said by this character (with page numbers) |
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A character chart for following one character:
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Character Name: |
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Description about the Character
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Dialogue Spoken by the Character
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Dialogue Spoken about the Character by Other People in the Text
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Actions Taken by the Character
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Step three: Decide how students will work on completing their charts
Students can work on character charts individually or in small groups. Often teachers have students share information on character charts through using the jigsaw teaching strategy. Sometimes students complete charts as a whole class activity. You could also organize this activity as a gallery walk – where a sheet for each character is posted on the wall and students walk around the room filling information in the charts.
