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Advanced/Gifted and Talented: An advanced/gifted and talented tool is an idea for a complex, multi-step instructional task that requires students to apply knowledge and skills of multiple objectives that support one indicator. Tasks require students to interpret, analyze, and evaluate text at an appropriate level of complexity and embed a variety of differentiation strategies to challenge advanced readers. Many of these strategies and activities can be adapted for use with all students.

Standard 3.0 Comprehension of Literary Text

Indicator 3. Use elements of narrative texts to facilitate understanding

Objective d. Identify and analyze the characters

Other Objectives Addressed
a.Identify and distinguish among types of narrative texts such as stories, folk tales, realistic fiction, historical fiction, fables, fairy tales, fantasy, and biographies
b.Identify and explain the elements of a story
c.Identify and describe the setting and the mood
e.Identify and explain relationships between and among characters, setting, and events
f.Identify and explain how the actions of the character(s) affect the plot

Instructional Task
Students will use the elements of narrative text to create a dinner party seating plan for characters from a narrative text. The goal of the seating arrangement is to facilitate an interesting and lively conversation. Students will determine who should sit next to whom and will develop a dialogue around the narrative elements (authentic product).

Development of Task
  • Students will read narrative text of appropriate complexity and map the elements of narrative text.
  • The teacher will introduce the problem of the dinner party using a question about the text such as, "What would happen if you invited both (the protagonist) and (the antagonist) to a dinner party? What might happen if they sat next to each other at dinner? What could we do to ensure that they did not sit next to each other?
  • Students will select characters from the text to invite to the dinner party, explaining their choices through discussion or writing. Students will decide on a seating arrangement and create a visual representation of the dinner table (visual learning style).
  • The teacher will use the "Questions for the Dinner Plan" from the chart below to focus student thinking on the elements of literary text to include in the dialogue.
  • Students will compose the conversation between the pairs or triads of guests that could occur at the table, incorporating the elements of narrative text including character relationships, story setting, plot and mood (synthesis).
  • As an option, students may perform their dinner party conversation as a Reader's Theatre (auditory learning style).
Objectives Questions for the Dinner Plan
Identify and distinguish among types of narrative texts In what ways does the type of narrative text affect the type of dinner party you will plan?
Identify and explain the elements of a story Based on the events of the story, what characters would you sit next to each other? What characters would you sit far apart?
Identify and describe the setting and mood Based on the setting and mood of the story, when and where should the dinner party take place?
Identify and analyze the characters Based on the characters' traits in the story:
What behaviors would the characters exhibit at the table?
Which characters had traits that would make them popular guests?
Which characters had traits that might cause problems?
Identify and explain relationships between and among characters, setting, and events How might the setting and mood affect what the characters say and how they say it?
Which characters would you not want to sit together? Why? (analysis)
Which relationships might change if the characters had a chance to meet one more time at your dinner party? Why? (interpersonal intelligence)
Identify and explain how the actions of the character(s) affect the plot How would the characters describe their roles in starting and resolving the conflict of the story?
Identify and describe the narrator What would the characters say about the narrator of the story?
/instruction/advanced/reading/grade4/xml/3A3d.xml
Resources for Objective 3.A.3.d:
Lesson Seeds | Public Release Items | ADVANCED/G-T |