Creative Character Building

Lesson Overview

This 60-minute English lesson is specifically tailored for Year 8 students and aligns with the UK National Curriculum for English within the Autumn 1 content block. The focus of this lesson is to deepen students' understanding of creating and developing characters through writing, which supports the curriculum aims of fostering creativity, critical thinking, and understanding literary techniques used by writers. This lesson sits within the writing composition strand of the curriculum, under the wider area of "writing imaginatively and thoughtfully" at Key Stage 3.

The overall goal is for students to develop and refine their ability to create engaging, believable characters with depth, while presenting their ideas clearly, creatively, and effectively in writing.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will:

• Explore and analyse the traits that bring fictional characters to life.
• Use a structure to create a detailed, engaging, and believable character of their own.
• Experiment with different literary techniques, such as description, interior monologue, and dialogue, to strengthen a character's depth.
• Reflect on and edit their written work to ensure coherence and creativity.

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Lesson Outline

1. Starter Activity: Character Spotting (10 minutes)

• Objective: Identify how authors create compelling characters.
• Preparation: Display three short excerpts (no more than 100 words each) from age-appropriate, diverse UK novels, focusing on different character introductions (e.g., traits revealed through dialogue, actions, and appearance).

1. Group Discussion (5 minutes): Read excerpts aloud and discuss:

• What impressions do you get of the character?
• Which techniques or words give you these impressions?
• Do any of these characters remind you of someone you know? Why?

2. Pair Work (5 minutes): Students form a quick "who's who" mind map to annotate each character’s traits using colourful markers.

Teaching Tool: Encourage use of literary terminology (e.g., “adjective choice,” “motivation,” “inference from dialogue”).

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2. Main Activity: Build a Character from Scratch (25 minutes)

Objective: Students use newly learned techniques to create their own original character.

1. Step 1: Character Questionnaire (10 minutes)

   • Students answer a short questionnaire to build the "skeleton" of their character:
     • Name:
     • Age:
     • Personality traits:
     • A secret they are hiding:
     • A quirky habit:
     • What motivates them deeply?
   • Additionally, they jot down a simple backstory (1-2 sentences). For example, "Sophia is a 14-year-old school student who is brilliant at solving puzzles but constantly feels underestimated by others."

2. Step 2: Flesh It Out with Techniques (15 minutes)

   • Students bring their character to life by:
     • Writing an interior monologue, showing the character’s thoughts as they prepare for an important event.
     • Adding dialogue that reveals their personality (e.g., include a quirk or emotional reaction).
     • Describing their physical traits in two sentences, avoiding clichés.

Peer Interaction Opportunity: Time permitting, have the student read aloud their interior monologue or dialogue to a partner for constructive feedback.

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3. Plenary: The Reflection Circle (10 minutes)

Objective: Review the creative choices and focus on the process of editing to refine work.

• Quick Share (5 minutes): If the student feels confident, they can share a sentence or two and explain their choice of words (optional).
• As a class, brainstorm "What makes a great character great?" and create a checklist to refine character work. Example points:
  • Multi-dimensional (not a stereotype).
  • Believable motivation.
  • Memorable quirks or traits.
  • Depth in their inner and outer behaviour.

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Assessment Opportunities

Formative assessment will take place throughout the lesson:

• Monitor the quality and clarity of student responses during the starter activity.
• Observe and guide character creation during Step 1 and 2, ensuring the student is engaging with and applying the techniques correctly.
• Encourage thoughtful verbal contributions during the reflection.

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Differentiation

• Support: Provide a scaffold for less confident writers, such as sentence starters for their interior monologue or dialogue ("I can’t believe that they think I’m not good enough to join the team! If only they knew…”). Offer pre-completed examples for the character questionnaire.
• Challenge: For advanced students, ask them to place their character into a small, dramatic situation (e.g., during a conflict with a friend). They may write a passage describing how their character handles it.

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Resources

• Excerpts from UK-authored novels (e.g., Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling, Northern Lights by Philip Pullman).
• Character questionnaire handout (pre-prepared with guiding questions).
• Colourful card and markers for the starter activity’s mind map.
• Writing tools (notebooks or laptops).

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Homework (Optional)

Write an extended scene using the character developed in class. Include sensory details, some form of conflict (external or internal), and highlight the character's motivations clearly.

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Teacher Reflection

• Did the student use a variety of techniques to give their character depth?
• How well did they demonstrate understanding of how authors create and reveal character traits?
• Were they able to reflect meaningfully on their work?