Fearless Character Traits

A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.  --Mark Twain

We have been learning about character traits in ELAR over the few days.  We have integrated character traits into science with pet rocks as well as characters in our Patricia Polacco stories.  Today, the Genius Centers produced incredible technological expressions of a deep understanding of character traits.

Earlier this week we used EduCreations to create digital graphic organizers.

Curiosity Center:

Choose a character from one of the books we read.  Think about what their 5th birthday was like.  Why do you think their birthday was as you imagine it to be?  How did that birthday shape who they are today?

Imagination Center:  

Take a picture of your favorite character from one of Patricia Polacco's books.  Import it into WordFoto and write ten character traits for that character.  Save that image to the camera roll.  Import your Wordfoto image into Comic Touch and create a thought and a speech bubble expressing something that character would think and say based on their character traits.  Ass a caption that explains the character's character traits as you see them.  Save the comic to the camera roll and email it to me. 

Collaboration Center:

Work with a partner to create a VoiceThread using your character trait images or make your own.  Retell a Patricia Polacco story using these images.  I am looking for your retelling skills.

Adaptation Center:

Switch character traits between the two main characters.  For example, in The Art of Miss Chew, have Miss Chew's character traits switch with that of Trisha's.  How does this affect the story?  What if Miss Chew visited Babushka and played with Babushka's doll?     How do you think the doll would behave?

Below are examples of the work from the Imagination Center:

From Babushka's Doll:  This is the character trait of the doll:

From Babushka's Doll:  This is the character trait of Natasha:

From The Butterfly:  This is the character trait of Sevrine:

From Babushka's Doll:  This is the character trait of the doll:

From Thank you, Mr. Falker:  This is the character trait of Mr. Falker:

From The Art of Miss Chew:  This is the character trait of Miss Chew:

From The Butterfly:  This is the character trait of Monique:

From Thank you, Mr. Falker: This is the character trait of Trisha:

From The Butterfly:  This is the character trait of Sevrine:

The VoiceThreads are coming soon.  This was an incredible way to motivate students to authentically use technology to express their learning and connect with characters. 

In addition to these fun and fearless activities, I had my Alpha Wolves who've been chosen twice (student of the week) do a WordFoto about themselves!  Here are the results:

Abby:  

I am fashionable, silly, caring, weird, kind, a star, friendly, beautiful, fabulous, and a GENIUS!

Fallon:

 I am pretty, nice, a star, friendly, cool, awesome, wonderful, smart, kind, and funny.

Bethany:

I am pretty, a star, a rock star, kind, caring, royal, fabulous, smart, loving, and a genius!