Lessons & Units :: Character 2nd Grade Unit

Lesson 3: Describing Characters with Rich Language

Lesson Plan

Julius, the Baby of the World | 460L

Julius, the Baby of the World
Learning Goal
Use descriptive language to describe a character’s personality.
Duration
Approximately 50 minutes
Necessary Materials
Provided: List of Descriptive Words for Direct Teaching and Guided Practice (Optional)
Not Provided: Julius, the Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes, Lilly’s Big Day by Kevin Henkes

  • Teacher Modeling

    will reread the first page of Julius, the Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes and describe Lilly’s personality as “nice”. I will then think aloud as I try to find better words to describe Lilly. “Nice” doesn’t give us enough information about Lilly and we use the word “nice” too often. I will identify and define three other words that describe Lilly’s personality based on the information on the first page of the book. (thoughtful, loving, generous) Note: You can use the Example List of Descriptive Words as a reference for Direct Teaching and Guided Practice (provided below in Teacher and Student Materials).

    TIP: Make new words meaningful and relevant to your students. Have students give examples of times they have been jealous, selfish, thoughtful, or generous.

  • Think Check

    Ask: How did I describe Lilly? Students should respond that you thought about Lilly's personality and then thought of more interesting words that described Lilly.

  • Guided Practice

    will finish rereading Julius, the Baby of the World and use another word to describe Lilly’s personality—mean. We will think of additional words to describe Lilly’s personality. (jealous, unkind, selfish) We will prove these descriptions with evidence from the text. We will use these words in sentences and explain their meaning.

  • Independent Practice

    will choose another character from either Julius, the Baby of the World or Lilly’s Big Day and accurately describe that character’s personality by using descriptive language.

Build Student Vocabulary insulting

Tier 2 Word: insulting
Contextualize the word as it is used in the story After Julius was born, Lilly “yelled insulting comments into his crib.”
Explain the meaning student-friendly definition) Insulting means rude or hurtful. When Lilly yelled insulting comments at Julius, it means that she was trying to hurt his feelings.
Students repeat the word Say the word insulting with me: insulting.
Teacher gives examples of the word in other contexts When he arrived late to the party, he insulted the host. My mom taught me to never shout insults at my sisters because it is very hurtful. Your comments on my homework were insulting. I tried my hardest.
Students provide examples Have you ever felt insulted? Start by saying, “I felt insulted when ______________.”
Students repeat the word again. What word are we talking about? insulting
Additional Vocabulary Words showered, admired

Build Student Background Knowledge

While reading Julius, the Baby of the World, stop when Lilly is "playing opera" (p.15). Ask your students if they know what an opera is. Explain that opera is a musical drama. In an opera, there are singing storytellers that have elaborate (fancy and detailed) costumes and an orchestra of instruments that plays music in the background. You may want to provide examples of famous operas such as The Magic Flute and Peter and the Wolf.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

(To see all of the ReadWorks lessons aligned to your standards, click here.)

User Comments

Super Fantastic for struggling readers because they can engage as well as relate text to self!!!!

Submitted by giggere on 12/27/15

Excellent tool to teach English language learners

Submitted by Soledad809 on 11/2/15

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Submitted by Watson on 9/7/15

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Submitted by laboyi on 10/19/14