English Language Arts and Reading.4.8.B

The student is expected to

explain the interactions of the characters and the changes they undergo;

multiple genres TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--literary elements. The student recognizes and analyzes literary elements within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse literary texts.

Students should understand and explain that characters often do not stay the same throughout a story. Characters develop, or change, in various ways (e.g., personality, appearance, or status). Students should discuss these changes verbally and/or in writing. For example, after reading a story about Sam Houston, students should be able to describe how he changed from the beginning to the end of the story based on his interactions with other characters.
Students should discuss the significance of the interactions that take place among characters. Students should understand that how characters in a story behave around each other and how they respond to each other in conversations can reveal useful information to the reader when trying to understand the plot.

Research

Mabry, M., & Bhavnagri, N. P. (2012). Perspective taking of immigrant children: Utilizing children's literature and related activities. Multicultural Education, 19(3) 48–54. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1001536.pdf

Summary: This study of promising practices looks at perspective taking and highlights the need for interpersonal understanding, especially in the U. S. with its diverse population. The article focuses on promoting perspective-taking among African-American fourth graders by using children's literature on immigrant families and includes follow up activities. The classroom reads and analyzes several different stories, including Levitin's A Piece of Home and Perez's My Diary from Here to There, seeking to understand the characters and the cultural changes they are experiencing. The historical and cultural setting has an impact on each of the protagonists in these stories.