Stories have characters.

Let’s start by looking very carefully at a character in a story that you just read or are reading. Think about all the things you know about your character. Do you know the answers to these questions?

• The character’s name
• What the character looks like. Why he or she wears this kind of clothing
• How old the character is
• Who his or her relatives or friends are
• Who he or she likes a lot
• What the character likes to do best, his or her hobbies
• What the character doesn’t like to do
• What the character is feeling
• Anything else special about the character

Now, print the model. Draw in the face and clothing for your character. Write the answers to the questions on the paper around your character.

Look at our examples! They come from Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco and Less than Half, More than Whole by Kathleen and Michael Lacapa

Model for a character

Here is a model for you to make your character drawing. Draw in the face and clothing. Write answers to the questions around the figure.

Print Model

Making your character into a puppet

Here is a larger model. Color in the face and clothes for your character. Then cut out the figure of your character. Use masking tape to put a rod behind it so you can move your puppet around.

Print Model

Making your puppet talk

Find a partner. Your puppet is going to ask your partner’s puppet questions to find out about him or her. And your partner’s puppet is going to ask your puppet questions. This is called a dialogue, characters talking.

Standing behind your puppet, have your puppet start asking questions. Remember, use your imagination. You can ask any question that won’t hurt the puppet’s feelings. And the puppet can make up answers to your questions whether the answer was in the book or not.
Here is our example:

This is dialogue, what characters say. Use you imagination. There are no right or wrong answers, just wonderful things
that you make up as you go along!

If you like, you can share your puppet dialogue with your class. Just remember that they want to hear what you say. Use your biggest “outside voice.”