Students can use the Profile Publisher to mock up or draft online social networking profiles, yearbook profiles, and newspaper or magazine profiles for themselves, other real people (including historical figures), or fictional characters. The tool could also be used for profiles of nonhuman living creatures, inanimate objects or abstract concepts (e.g., profile of an amoeba, an historical monument, or friendship). See a completed sample Profile for a fictional character based on Christopher Myers’ Wings to see what a student profile might look like. For additional ideas on how to use this tool, see Tips for Using Profile Publisher.

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

ReadWriteThink Lessons That Use This Tool

Action Is Character: Exploring Character Traits with Adjectives (6-8)
In this activity, students "become" one of the major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters, using Internet reference tools to compile lists of accurate, powerful adjectives. In class discussion, students support their lists with details from the novel.

Become a Character: Adjectives, Character Traits, and Perspective (9-12)
In this activity, students "become" one of the major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters, using Internet reference tools to compile lists of accurate, powerful adjectives. In class discussion, students support their lists with details from the novel.

Book Report Alternative: Creating a Childhood for a Character (6-8)
Students will be introduced to familiar characters, from literature and from popular culture, whom readers first encounter as adults, but whose childhood stories are only told later. Students will then create a childhood for an adult character from a book of their choice.

Developing a Definition of Reading through Investigation in Middle School (6-8)
Students will interact with a variety of different texts to uncover a broader meaning of reading as they define reading collaboratively and develop their own Reader’s Profiles modeled after online social networking sites.

Heroes Are Made of This: Studying the Character of Heroes (9-12)
Using a variety of individual and group activities, students will analyze the complex ways in which authors use characterization to present and explore heroism and the heroic.

It’s My Life: Multimodal Autobiography Project (9-12)
This lesson allows students to express themselves verbally, visually, and musically by creating multimodal autobiographies. Students benefit from the open exchange of ideas with other students and share important events in their lives through a PowerPoint presentation.

Many Years Later: Responding to Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool”  (9-12)
Students analyze the literary features of Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool” and then imagine themselves as one of the characters in the poem many years in the future. Students write a fictional paper that demonstrates how the character’s days in the pool hall influenced who the character is today, nearly fifty years later.

Mapping Characters Across Book Series (3-5)
How does a character change or stay the same through the course of a book? How also does that character grow and evolve through a book series? In this lesson, students will work on a guided characterization project, mapping the “life” of a character from a book series.

Naming in a Digital World: Creating a Safe Persona on the Internet (9-12)
To introduce the connotations attached to names, this lesson begins by asking students to explore the origin of their first, middle, and last names. After considering the ways that people in various situations react to names, explore naming conventions in digital and non-digital settings then choose and explain specific names and profiles to represent themselves online.

The Feature Story—Fifteen Minutes (and 500 Words) of Fame! (9-12)
To build connections and community within the classroom, students need to share and celebrate their unique interests and talents. This activity combines interviewing techniques and journalistic writing as it challenges students to write feature stories about their classmates.

There Are No Small Parts: Minor Characters in David Copperfield (9-12)
After students read David Copperfield, they begin the lesson by reviewing all the characters and sorting them into major and minor characters.  Small groups choose a minor character for whom they will develop a “back story” that includes information not present in the text.  They share their creative thinking in the form of an online social networking profile for the selected character.

Using Microblogging and Social Networking to Explore Characterization and Style (9-12)
Students use microblogging and social networking sites to trace the development of characters and examine writing style while reading a novel of manners such as Jane Austen’s Emma.  By assuming the persona of a character on the class Ning and sending a set number of tweets, or status updates, students examine the novel through imitation and transposition.