Title: What are they? Character description

Lesson plan elaborated by: Katarzyna Maciejak

Topic: What are they like? We write character description

Target group

7th‑grade students of an elementary school.

Core curriculum

Specific requirements, class 4‑6

II. Language education.

1. Polish grammar. Student:

1) writes and talks correctly; 2) correctly grades adjectives and adverbs, understands their role in the description of the world and is used in appropriate contexts; 3) identifies utterances in the text types: single sentence, sentences complex (subordinate and the coordinates) equivalents of sentences and understand the functions used in the practice of the language;

1. Diversity of language. Student:

1) uses a style appropriate to the communication situation; 2) recognizes utterances collocations, recognizes their wealth understands their importance, and are used properly in the statements; 3) recognizes the vocabulary neutral and evaluative understands their functions in the text; 4) adapts a way of expressing the intended purpose of expression; 5) differentiates between synonyms, antonyms, understand their functions are used in the text and in their words; 6) knows and uses the principle of cohesion and formal semantic text.

1. Spelling and punctuation. Student:

1) writes correctly by spelling, and apply spell‑checking; 2) correctly use punctuation marks: period, comma, question mark, exclamation mark, quotation mark, colon, semicolon, parenthesis.

III. Creating expression.

1. Elements rhetorical. Student:

1) forms a logical and structured semantically full story using the appropriate form for a given species composition and layout; understand the role of creating the paragraphs in its entirety mental expression; 2) makes the selection information; 3) knows how to construct a paragraph;

1. Speaking and writing. Student:

1) creates a coherent expression in the following forms genre: dialogue, storytelling (creative, reconstructive), a description, a letter, a report (from the film, performance, events), dedication, invitation, thanks, announcement, greetings, description of internal experiences, characteristics, the text of an argumentative;

IV. Self‑study. Student:

1. uses general language dictionaries Polish, also special, and the dictionary of literary terms.

Specific requirements, class 7‑8.

III. Creating expression.

1. Rhetorical elements. Student:

1) collects and organizes the material needed to create tangible expression; edits his own compositional plan of expression; 2) forms a statement using the appropriate form for a given species composition and the rules of linguistic coherence between paragraphs; paragraphs understand the role as a consistent whole thought in the formation of writing and applies rhythm Paragraph (interleaving longer and shorter paragraphs).

The general aim of education

Learning writing skills of character description.

Key competences

• communicating in the mother tongue;

• communicating in a foreign language;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• names character traits, personality, appearance;

• recognizes the diversity of types of characterological;

• creates a coherent oral and written text;

• discusses;

• applies the acquired knowledge and skills.

Teaching methods / techniques

• delivery: clarification;

• activating: discussion;

• programmed: using the computer;

• practical: exercises to the text.

Forms of work

• collective,

• group,

• in pairs.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Before the lesson

Students complete the task included in the part „Before the lesson” in the abstract „What are they like? Character description”.

Introduction

1. The teacher introduces students to the objectives of the course.

2. The teacher and the students start the lesson „What are they like? Character description”. Students listen to the first part of the recording. Teacher before beginning this lesson invites students to actively listen to the text, asking to focus attention on the most important elements that are necessary in the structure characteristics. Together with the students they create a diagram of the characteristics - students write it in their notebooks.

Realization

1. Students will learn the specific Infographics 1. They complete scheme with the optional questions that they write in a notebook.

2. The teacher asks students to play a the game „Who they are,” involving the characterization classmates. Other students randomly guess who it is.

3. Students listen to another part of the recording. Then they perform the tasks of developing the vocabulary needed to characterize the form (adjectives definitions, antonyms, valuation).

4. The teacher discusses the most common mistakes made by students writing characteristics. He shows students the characteristics of the overall plan.

Summary

1. The teacher sums up the message from the current lesson.

2. He gives the students homework, which is to write characteristics. Students can start working on it yet in class, creating the plan.

Homework

Create the characteristics of the person you conducted the interview with, preparing for the lesson. You can ask her or him for additional information. Remember all the elements of the character description.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

What are they like? Character description

Make an interview with someone who impresses you in some way (it can be a family member, a friend, etc.). Then make a short note from the conversation, writing down the obtained information in points. Ask this person about his or her most important character traits, interests, skills, habits, opinions and attitude towards people and animals.

A physical description is an analysis of the appearance of a real person or a literary or fictional character. Character trait description, in turn, is a form of an oral or a written discussion of a character’s personal qualities. Such an analysis may cover character behaviour, personal and intellectual qualities, lifestyle and opinions, e.g. what positive traits does this character have? What negative character traits does he or she have? What makes this character stand out? Self‑description, in other words an attempt to describe oneself, is a special form of character description. Character description is used in all kinds of texts: literary ones, official letters, journalists’ articles, rhetoric expressions, scientific definitions, as well as cover letters, film scripts and laudatory speeches. Depending on the author’s intention, a depiction can be serious, jocular or ironic. A full character description should include: character presentation, physical description, character trait description, description of a character’s behaviour, hobbies, skills, views and core values, and an evaluation of that character.

In the introductory part, make a brief presentation of the person and give basic information about him/her. (e.g.: What’s his/her first and last name? Where does he/she come from? How old is he/she? Where does he/she live?)

The development is the main and the most comprehensive part of the characteristics. In this part of the work one should not only focus on the external features of the person presented and on the life events important for him/her (so‑called external characteristics), but also describe his/her character, manner of behaviour, interests and professed values (so‑called internal characteristics).

The last part of the characteristics (ending) contains the opinion of the writer about the presented person.

While characterizing your colleagues, you used the words that describe their appearance or personality. Developing this type of vocabulary is very important, thanks to it your characteristics will be more interesting and more accurate.

Characteristics of a person do not always contain only positive feature, you can also characterize, for example, the villain of your favourite movie.

While creating the characteristics of a person, the following errors often occur:
● too extensive description of the appearance,
● omitting the description of the person's internal features (i.e. his/her psyche, character traits, interests, views),
● lack of character assessment (laconic conclusions, lack of justification of the assessment).

Other errors appearing in written works, regardless of the form of the statement, are:
● writing off topic,
● lack of a well‑thought‑out concept of the whole,
● the occurrence of sentences not connected with each other in a coherent and logical manner,
● poor vocabulary (too frequent repetition of the words „to have” and „to be”),
● grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors.

Pay attention to this while writing your characteristics.