Books are filled with long expository passages, but a dramatic play is a more bare-bones exploration of characters and emotion. Have the fourth grader pick two characters in the book that are in conflict. Then tell him to imagine the characters in a situation or setting that isn’t in the book – what would happen if these two characters were trapped in an elevator, for example? The student will use clues in the book’s text to extrapolate how the character might act. When the writing is done, the scripts can be presented to the class.
If the book’s protagonist is moving to a new city, have the student write a personal essay about a time of change in his own life. Using the character’s story as a jumping off point, the young writer can explore how he felt on the first day of school, for example, or when joining a new sports team. Offer suggestions as to what types of emotions people commonly experience during life changes – excitement, fear, insecurity, nervousness.
Tell the student to compare a fictional character’s emotional life to the weather, and write a weather report. If the character’s temperament were a forecast, would it be dark and rainy? Bright and sunny? Calm on the surface, but with the possibility of severe storms at any moment? This gives the student an opportunity to externalize the character’s inner life, making it larger and more dramatic, like the weather.
When talking about a character in the book, ask the student to create a journal entry based on what that character’s typical day would be like, or a journal entry following a particular turning point in the book. Journals are private explorations of emotions, in which the writer can express themselves without inhibition. What would the protagonist write at the end of a rough day? What would the protagonist write in the journal at the end of a happy day?