4th Grade Reading Unit, Reading, Worksheets, Lesson Plan, Examples, Activities

Lessons & Units

Character 4th Grade Unit

Lesson 1 Protagonist Identify and describe the protagonist in a story using text evidence and the term “protagonist”.

Hansel and Gretel

Lesson 2 Antagonist Identify and describe the antagonist in a story using text evidence and the term “antagonist”.

Hansel and Gretel

Lesson 3 Relationship Between the Protagonist and Antagonist Identify and describe how the relationship between the protagonist and antagonist affects the plot.

Hansel and Gretel

Compare and contrast the character traits of the protagonist and antagonist. Use a Venn diagram to compare each character. (See Additional Activity A Worksheet below in Teacher and Student Materials.)

Discuss the following questions:
- How does the protagonist see him or herself?
- How does the antagonist see him or herself?
- How do other characters see the protagonist and antagonist?
- Are there ever bad character traits for a protagonist and good character traits for an antagonist?

Continue to read stories with protagonist v. antagonist conflicts.
Ask students to identify the protagonist and antagonist and explain their reasoning.
Ask students to analyze the relationship between these characters and explain how this conflict affected the story.

Students can write a story with a clear protagonist and antagonist. Use the graphic organizer provided for the Independent Practice for Lesson 3 as a prewriting activity to organize thoughts.

Students can write a story featuring a protagonist and antagonist they have studied. Have students tell the story from the perspective of the protagonist or antagonist and vice versa. Some examples of this include The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by John Scieszka, The Wolf Who Cried Boy by Bob Hartman and The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas.

Students can work in pairs to role play characters. One student can take on the role of the antagonist or protagonist while the other student will interview the character. Have the interviewer write a list of questions to ask the character. Then, have students switch roles.