Unit of Study: Realistic Fiction Date: _______________________
Title of Minilesson: Giving Characters Struggles and Motivations Session 4 pgs.43-58
Intention: To develop the character further creating struggles and motivations
Materials: My Name is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada
Ways to Develop Characters Chart (prepare ahead based on students’ work in previous lesson)
Shared Writing Story (started in previous lesson)
Connection:
Writers, I feel like there is a whole crowd of people here today besides us.
Give some examples of characters the students have developed.
I made a list after our discussion yesterday of ways that we can develop characters.
Display a list of their ideas.
Today, I want to teach you that even though there are so many things that we could talk about, there are just one or two
things that we must talk about. Specifically, every fiction writer needs to know what his or her characters want, what they
yearn for, and what gets in the way. I also want to teach you that when we know what our character yearns for, we don’t
just come right out and say it. We show what our characters want by putting examples of this into small moments, into
what fiction writers call “scenes”.
Teaching:
I learned to do this by studying published authors. Writers like Alma Flor Ada show what a character yearns for and
what gets in the way for that character. In the book “My Name is Maria Isabel” (or another book of your choice),
remember how the teacher decided that because she had two students with the name Maria that she’d call Maria Isabel
Lopez, Mary. Of course, Maria Isabel didn’t feel like a Mary at all and she yearned to be accepted for who she is.
Notice that the author doesn’t just come right out and say this, but she puts examples of this yearning into scenes.
Share an example from the text in the chapter “The First Snowfall” pg. 28-29 where the author reveals Maria Isabel’s
longings and also the trouble she encounters at school.
Some people say that fiction is like a brick wall, and the bricks that go together to make the story are scenes. This
scene shows what school is like for Maria, when she gets into trouble for simply not recognizing or hearing her name.
We see how Maria desperately wants to be part of things, and how she hides her sadness.
When we are developing our characters, we need to think not only of what our character wants and what gets in their
way, but also how we can create little scenes that show all of this.
Active Engagement:
Now let’s try this with Luz. (Substitute your modeled shared writing story line) I’ll start by thinking about what she wants.
Let’s see, I know that Luz is afraid of the dark and she is going to have a slumber party with all of her friends, but she
doesn’t want them to know that she’s afraid of the dark. That’s the story, but I have to think of what she really wants. I
think she wants her friends to think that she is cool, but she feels different because her dad is Mexican. She wants to
feel accepted.
So, will you imagine a scene that could show some of this? Let’s put Luz somewhere- packing for a slumber party,
climbing into her sleeping bag- and she is doing something that shows that she is afraid of the dark, but doesn’t want her
night-light because she wants to be accepted by them. Turn and Talk. See if you have any suggestions for how we
could write this into a scene.
Share ideas for scenes. As a class, write a scene that shows what Luz wants and what she struggles with. Use words
to bring the scene to life. For example, “There was a comfortable glow under the door”.
All of you will write scenes like this for your own character today, tomorrow, and whenever you write fiction.
Link:
So writers, whenever you write fiction, remember that there are so many things you can write about when you are
developing a character such as best friends, favorite things to do, collections. There are so many things we can think
about, but just one or two things we must think about: As fiction writers, we must know what our character yearns for
and what gets in their way. We usually build our story out of the struggles and motivations of our character. Once we
know what our character yearns for and struggles with, then it’s smart to create little scenes that show this. Remember
how we just put Luz someplace and came up with something she could be doing. You’ll want to do this same work with
your story idea, not once, but many times today and you’ll also want to remember to do this every time you write fiction.
The scenes that you end up writing today may not end up in your story, but you are bringing your character to life.
Share:
Use a student’s writing for an example of a scene to a story.
Talk to your partner right now about how you created scenes to show who your character really is.