Day 49: Analyzing Character Change Lesson Plan
I begin today by reminding students that stories don’t move forward only through events—they move forward through people. Characters change, sometimes quietly, sometimes dramatically, and strong readers notice when and why that change happens.
I let students know that today’s focus is on:
noticing character growth during reading,
briefly revisiting participles as a descriptive tool, and
thinking about what character change might reveal about a book’s theme.
This frames the lesson as reflective rather than rushed and prepares students to read with intention.
2. Silent Reading – Literature Circle Books (20 minutes)
Students read silently from their literature circle novels.
During this time, I ask them to read with one guiding question in mind:
Which character seems different than they were earlier in the book?
Students are encouraged to:
flag moments of decision-making,
notice shifts in attitude or behavior,
pay attention to internal thoughts or reactions.
This keeps reading purposeful without interrupting flow.
3. Intro to Participles
Before moving into analysis, I give a short introduction to participles, reminding students that participles are verb forms used as adjectives and are often used to describe people in transition.
Examples I might share orally:
conflicted, hesitating, determined, exhausted
“Changed by the experience, the character begins to…”
I explain that participles are especially useful when describing character change, because they capture motion, emotion, and development in a single word.
Here is the full participles lesson plan with worksheet.
4. Lesson & Individual Seat Work: Analyzing Character Change
Students now work independently to analyze character development in their novel.
Student Task
Students respond in writing to the following prompts:
Who is changing the most in your book so far?
How can you tell?
(Think about actions, dialogue, internal thoughts, or relationships.)What might this change reveal about the book’s theme?
Expectations:
Students must focus on one character.
They should reference at least one specific moment from the text.
Encourage the use of a participle to describe the character’s state or transformation.
Sentence starters can be helpful here:
Struggling with this situation, the character begins to…
Changed by this experience, the character now understands…
This task works well as quiet seat work and provides excellent formative assessment data on both comprehension and thematic thinking.
5. Conclusion
To close the lesson, I remind students that character change is rarely random. Authors use it deliberately to communicate bigger ideas about identity, power, belonging, justice, or growth.
I reinforce the takeaway:
When you can explain how a character changes and why that change matters, you are already thinking about theme at a high level.
This lesson sets students up nicely for deeper thematic discussions later in the novel while reinforcing both grammar awareness and close reading skills.
