Standard: 2.RL.3 – Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
Grade level: Grade 2
Subject: English Language Arts
Domain: Reading: Literature
Teacher Overview
This standard requires students to describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. It is important because it helps students understand character development and motivations, which are key components of reading comprehension. Students need to have a basic understanding of story elements like characters, setting, and plot, and be able to identify major events in a story.
After mastering this standard, students will be able to analyze and compare characters’ responses, understand character development, and make connections between characters’ actions and the story’s outcome.
Common Misconception 1
Some students may think that all characters respond to events in the same way, which is incorrect because each character has unique traits and motivations that influence their actions.
Intervention 1
Provide students with diverse examples from various stories to illustrate how different characters can have distinct responses to similar events.
Common Misconception 2
Another common misconception is that a character’s response is always the right or best way to handle a situation. This is not true because characters, like real people, can make mistakes or have multiple ways to respond.
Intervention 2
Engage students in discussions about alternative responses and potential outcomes to help them understand that there is not always one correct way to respond to challenges.
Prerequisite Knowledge
Students should understand basic story elements such as characters, setting, and plot. They should also be able to identify major events in a story.
Subsequent Knowledge
Students will develop the ability to analyze and compare characters’ responses, understand character development, and make connections between characters’ actions and the story’s outcome.
Instructional Activities
- Read a story and discuss how the main character responds to a major event.
- Have students write a journal entry from the perspective of a character facing a challenge.
- Create a class chart comparing different characters’ responses to similar events.
- Use role-playing to act out different character responses to the same situation.
- Analyze a character’s response in a movie or TV show and discuss how it affects the story.
