Read-aloud Books for Teaching 7 Character Traits

Like many aspects of writing, pedagogy kids near graphic symbol traits gets a whole lot easier when you take some quality texts at hand to help you do the job! If you're working on character traits in your elementary classroom, these picture books brand for great mentor texts for student writers as well every bit helping younger readers learn to make inferences and tell the difference between internal and external characteristics.

Why Is It Important to Teach Character Traits?

Learning nigh graphic symbol traits is an important part of literacy, merely perhaps more that, graphic symbol education helps fiddling learners grow as people. By learning to place the traits that make upward a character, kids gain perspective and abound in their power to exist empathetic.

From a curriculum standpoint, in the early years, kids need to acquire the difference between internal traits displayed through their deportment or their dialogue and external traits or physical characteristics. Past upper elementary, their agreement of grapheme traits should take on a deeper focus on those internal graphic symbol traits, and students should be able to develop a narrative in which characters display different traits as well equally existence able to identify ways their characters demonstrated those traits.

Children's Books for Teaching Grapheme Traits

Whether you're merely introducing grapheme traits to main students or re-introducing your upper-grade kids to the concept, these are some of our favorite books to do the chore!

The Paper Bag Princess past Robert Munsch

From the author of Love Me Forever, the Paper Handbag Princess has long been lauded by children'southward book lovers for turning the damsel in distress trope on its caput. Instead of needing to exist rescued, Princess Elizabeth is the one doing the rescuing — of a rather snooty prince. The book is a great one to have in the classroom for that alone, simply it's also a practiced one for discussing character traits with young learners to go them used to the use of positive descriptors of female protagonists.

Teach Starter Tip: Utilize a character traits graphic organizer as a scaffold to assist students as they brand inferences about Princess Elizabeth.

A Bad Example of Stripes by David Shannon

David Shannon'southward Camilla Cream is very worried about what other students think of her — so worried that she might just interruption out in a bad case of stripes! Besides opening the door to a social-emotional lesson about forging your own path and not beingness afraid to walk to the beat of your ain pulsate, A Bad Case of Stripes has a lot to offering when it comes time to talk about internal and external graphic symbol traits. Internally, Camilla is shy and worried. Externally, she'south covered in colorful stripes!

Teach Starter Tip: You tin can employ A Bad Example of Stripes to exercise summarizing with your students, answering the questions:

• Who is the main character?
• What does the main graphic symbol want?
• What is the problem?
• How does the main grapheme effort to solve the problem?
• What is the solution to the problem?

Princess Truly in I Am Truly by Kelly Greenawalt

Kelly Greenawalt's Princess Truly in I Am Truly is a peachy text for teaching chief-aged kids about character traits because the main grapheme spends a lot of the volume describing herself, how brave she is, and all the things she tin do, from dancing on the moon to taming wild lions. With a footling girl of color at the eye, this volume is a great ane for increasing the diversity of characters in your classroom library too.

Teach Starter Tip: After reading the book aloud to your form, create an anchor chart with students, describing Truly's internal and external character traits. You might desire to draw a picture of a little girl and draw a zig-zag line right down the heart. On one side write "outside (what we see)" and on the other "inside (what we know from the character'south beliefs)".

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

Kevin Henkes' book about a picayune mouse named Chrysanthemum is a popular book to read at the beginning of the school twelvemonth or on Earth Kindness Mean solar day, merely it's also ane that'south tailor-made for equally a mentor text for teaching kids to utilise descriptive words when they're writing about a grapheme. Chrysanthemum is kind and courageous. Classmates who tease her virtually her proper name are hateful and intolerant.

Teach Starter Tip: Use a recount writing template every bit a scaffold for students to gear up a narrative about a time someone was kind to them with descriptive linguistic communication near the graphic symbol traits of that kind person.

Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola

The classic tale of Strega Nona and her pasta pot that won't stop cooking is an old favorite, and information technology'southward perfect for didactics graphic symbol traits (you knew we were going to say that, didn't you?). Students can practice using descriptive linguistic communication when comparing and contrasting Strega Nona and Big Anthony, as well as making predictions, and identifying problems and solutions!

Nobody Hugs a Cactus by Carter Goodrich

Children's book author Carter Goodrich gets kids and their humor. He was a lead character designer ofBrave, Ratatouille, andDespicable Me, and his book Nobody Hugs a Cactus is an irresistible tale of Hank, the prickly cactus who does non love racket or rowdiness … or hugs. Merely in a fabulous example of internal traits, we follow along with Hank through missed opportunities and reflections every bit he realizes he actually could apply friendship.

Teach Starter Tip: Take students pick three events in Nobody Hugs a Cactus, draw a movie of each, and then make an inference about how the graphic symbol is feeling in the event. This character emotions worksheet can be used as a whole-grade action or independent job.

Ada Twist, Scientist past Andrea Beaty

Written by Andrea Beaty, whose other books fabricated our list of favorite engineering science books to share in the classroom, Ada Twist, Scientist, is a groovy book for moving your primary students into more complex descriptive language. Ada is curious and interested in science.

Teach Starter Tip: Create an anchor nautical chart with your students, brainstorming clarification words to describe Ada's personality traits.

Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell

The Molly Lou Melon books past Patty Lovell hit all the sweet spots when it comes to mentor texts for writing about character traits. As a moving picture book, they offer rich character descriptions for even older elementary students to analyze about a girl who has "a voice that sounds similar a bullfrog being squeezed by a boa constrictor."

The Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco

Based on a real-life event from author Patricia Polacco'due south The Junkyard Wonders offers a great chance to do some real-life learning along with your read-aloud. Before opening up the book, rub scents onto students' easily — you tin can utilize smelly markers, LipSmackers. In that location should be at least three to four students bearing each odor, and so they can wander around the room and form small-scale groups based on the same scents. This volition all make sense to them once you get-go reading the book, in which the teacher does the aforementioned affair!

Use the book as a way to talk about the grapheme traits of the kids in the "Vanilla Group" in Junkyard Wonders and and so have your odour groups create character trait profiles for the members of their grouping.

Check out more than resource on teaching kids about characters, and let us know your favorite children's books for character traits below!

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Source: https://www.teachstarter.com/us/blog/best-childrens-books-for-teaching-character-traits/

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