Using popular culture texts in the classroom offers students an alternative way to demonstrate their literacy knowledge and skills and to engage in meaningful literary practices. The Character Trading Cards tool allows students to create their own character cards, which they can then print off, illustrate, and trade or keep. It can be used with characters in a book students are reading or as a prewriting exercise for students who are writing narrative stories. Specific prompts ask students to describe the character, look at his or her thoughts and feelings, explore how he or she develops, identify important thoughts and actions, and make personal connections to the character. The accompanying planning sheet allows students to draft and revise their work before going online to use the interactive. For ideas of how to use this tool outside the classroom, see Tips for Using Character Trading Cards.

Visit this interactive tool at: http://readwritethink.org/materials/trading_cards/.

ReadWriteThink Lessons That Use This Tool

A Schema-Building Study With Patricia Polacco (3-5)
Help second- through fourth-grade students learn vocabulary and comprehension skills with Chicken Sunday and Rechenka’s Eggs by Patricia Polacco. Students study vocabulary in these books; they then deepen their understanding by making text-to-self and text-to-text connections and by using the vocabulary words to write about the characters and the author.

Analyzing Character Development in Three Short Stories About Women (9-12)
While reading about women who break from their traditional roles, students use comprehension tools to analyze similarities and differences among characters in three different short stories. This lesson fosters critical thinking and discussions about the influence of society’s expectations on a writer’s character development.

Creating Psychological Profiles of Characters in To Kill a Mockingbird (9-12)
This lesson asks students to explore the motivation behind characters’ actions. After reading To Kill A Mockingbird, groups of  students create psychological profiles for characters from the novel, determining what specific factors (such as family, career, environment, and so forth) have the greatest influences on the characters’ decision making throughout the novel.

Creative Writing Through Wordless Picture Books (6-8)
In this lesson, students develop their own story lines for wordless picture books. Students explore a variety of wordless picture books, develop story lines both orally and in writing, and share their stories with others. Students use an online, interactive Story Map to assist in the development of story lines.

Critical Reading: Two Stories, Two Authors, Same Plot? (9-12)
In this lesson, students read two short stories with the same title ("The Luncheon") that have been written by two famous authors. Students compare and analyze both stories to find differences and similarities among the characters and the plot and draw conclusions as literary critics.

Everyone Loves a Mystery: A Genre Study (6-8)
In this lesson, students read short mystery stories and use Internet resources to examine characteristic of the genre, such as vocabulary and story elements. Students then write their own mystery stories and publish them electronically.

Exploring Friendship With Bridge to Terabithia (3-5)
In this lesson, which is also appropriate for sixth-grade students, Bridge to Terabithia is used to explore the value of friendship. Students explore the main characters’ relationship and use this inquiry to help develop an appreciation of the many facets of friendship and relate the work to their own experiences.

Females in the Spotlight: Strong Characters in Picture Books (3-5)
Students read and discuss quality literature featuring strong females as the main characters, then focus on rich vocabulary as they use the online Character Trading Cards tool to describe the traits of one of these characters. A class discussion encourages critical thinking and enhances students’ experiences with the text.

Inferring How and Why Characters Change (3-5)
One way that readers construct meaning from text is by developing a deep understanding of characters. In this lesson, a short narrative text is used to model strategies for inferring how and why characters change. Students read short stories in small groups and independently to apply these strategies.

Introducing Shakespeare: Exploring Persona and Character Motivations (6-8)
Students are introduced to the concept of persona and examine how personality is revealed in a drama. To develop a richer understanding of Shakespeare's characters, students research Renaissance society and customs. After watching a scene from a Shakespeare play, students discuss the motivations of key characters and the relationships among them.

Planning Story Characters Using Interactive Trading Cards (3-5)
Writers often make plans for their characters' development before writing stories; trading cards are a popular culture text that appeal to students and can have valuable literacy applications. This lesson introduces students to the idea of understanding and planning characters for a story using an online Character Trading Cards tool.

Plotting a Plan to Improve Writing: Using Plot Scaffolds (6-8)
Students use plot scaffolds based upon literary genres, historical events, or popular stories to create written narratives.

Sharing Favorite Books Using Interactive Character Trading Cards (3-5)
Sharing books with friends is a literate behavior we want to encourage. What better way is there to motivate students to make reading recommendations than by using interactive character trading cards? In this lesson, students make and use trading cards to recommend books and make book choices.

Using Writing and Role-Play to Engage the Reluctant Writer (3-5)
In this lesson, students use dramatic role-play to further engage their literacy skills. By exploring the characters in a story and writing in role, students use creative means to support their learning and understanding of the writing process.

Word Maps: Developing Critical and Analytical Thinking About Literary Characters (9-12)
Characters come to life when we read. With the help of word maps, students can better understand and analyze the problems, actions, and feelings of the characters in a story and make connections to their own lives.

Young Adult Literature about the Middle East: A Cultural Response Perspective (6-8)
Adapted from Sheryl L. Finkle and Tamara J. Lilly’s Middle Ground: Exploring Selected Literature from and about the Middle East, this variation on traditional literature circles exposes students to a variety of young adult fiction from and about the Middle East. Students read and share researcha and responses in collaborative groups. At the end of the lesson, they write a letter to welcome an immigrant student to their school and community.