Read a picture book with well-developed characters to the class. Such books include "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss and "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein. Ask students to think about the characters in the story as they listen.
Ask students if they have any general observations about the characters. They might make comments like "The tree is kind" or "The fish is worried." Explain that you are now going to look closely at the story and figure out how the students know these things about the characters.
Tell students that authors tell readers three kinds of things about their characters: what they look like, how they act and what other characters think of them. Draw three columns on the board, one for each topic. Tell students that you are going to find everything the author tells the readers about the tree in "The Giving Tree."
Ask students to tell you what the tree looks like. Write their answers on the board in the first column. They can give examples from the text of the book or from the illustrations. Encourage them to consider how the tree's appearance changes from the beginning of the book to the end.
Ask students how the tree acts. When they give examples of things the tree gives the boy, read those passages aloud from the book, so the students match the section of the story with the idea of characterization. Write the details the students suggest on the board in the second column.
Ask students what the boy thinks of the tree and how he acts toward the tree, and write their answers in the third column. Have them consider whether or not he is grateful. If they decide that he is not, ask them what it means about the tree if she continues to give herself away to the boy even though he is not grateful.
Discuss where in the book the author gives all this information about the character. Have students point out phrases, pictures and plot points that specifically develop the character of the tree.
Tell students that their homework is to reread a story they have written and create a chart like the one you have just done as a class describing their own main character. If they cannot find many characterization details in their story, have them add new ones to make the character more interesting.