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Mr. Donnellon's Newsletter
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Readers Workshop: Understanding Characters, students read fictional texts
We have finished our first reading unit. The read aloud, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane quickly became a classroom favorite. In our next unit, Understanding Characters, our read aloud is Because of Winn Dixie. This unit of study, like the first, is broken into three concepts.
Concept one: Readers connect to characters; readers learn strategies that help them
connect with the characters in their stories. As they read, readers will see the importance to empathize with characters by connecting with their own experiences, envision the characters and the scenes much like a movie, and make predictions about what might happen and how it will happen based on the feelings the reader is carrying from their work with connecting and envisioning.
Concept two: Readers grow theories about their characters; readers look for patterns in a character's behavior to grow a theory about the character and revise or confirm their theories as they continue to read.
Concept three: Readers see that stories and characters relate to real life; readers understand that characters will face challenges, and find ways to overcome them, often becoming turning points in the story which force a character to change or grow from their experiences. Readers also learn that secondary characters also have important roles in stories often teaching the character and the readers meaningful lessons.