Character Chart Wall

Somtime, it can be difficult for students to keep straight all the characters' names in a story or play that they are reading as a class. This can be particularly challenging when many of the characters' names sound similar, or when they are names that originated in a foreign language.

This past semester I read Taming of the Shrew with my sophomore students. I printed out a character chart for them at the beginning of the unit, but I quickly realized it was extremely unlikely they would pull it out every day for reference.

My solution to the problem was having the kids create a life-size character chart. I assigned each student from both sophomore classes a part that they had to write on a sheet of paper. They were encouraged to make it "pretty" and write big so the chart could be seen from all over the classroom.

This was a great activity for bellwork, since it didn't require me to explain anything and the kids got to use their more creative side that they rarely get to use anymore.

This is how ours turned out:

I had to fill in a few of the spots where students were absent, in addition to all the black arrows. It was a little work on my end, but it was a great visual that the students referenced on an almost daily basis while we were reading.