Ask the students to close their eyes and listen carefully to what I am going to describe. Tell the students to open their eyes and describe the character I just read to them. Explain to the students that an author tries to create a mental picture of a character. The author reveals the character's traits through the character's thoughts, words and actions. Tell students that these traits are sometimes stated and sometimes implied by the author.
Readers often have to draw their own conclusions based on the author's description.
Ask the students to list the character traits revealed in the passage. Create a character web on the chalkboard that includes specific examples from each student. Help the students brainstorm a list of character traits such as honesty, courage, and laziness. Direct each student to pick one strip from the bag. Instruct the student to write three sentences that describe a character with the trait that was drawn - without using the word written on the strip.