Grade 3 Reading | FL B.E.S.T. Standard: ELA.3.R.1.1
Characters in stories often CHANGE because of what happens to them. We call this character development. Let's learn how to spot these changes!
Character Development = How a character changes from the beginning to the end of a story.
Characters can change in their:
Maya changed BECAUSE the puppy helped her and was kind to her.
On the first day of school, Leo sat alone at lunch. He had just moved to town and didn't know anyone. "I'll never make friends here," he thought sadly. He stared at his sandwich, wishing he could be invisible.
During recess, a soccer ball rolled toward Leo. "Hey! Can you kick that back?" called a boy named Marcus. Leo kicked it, and it went right into the goal!
"Wow, nice kick!" Marcus said. "Want to play with us?" Leo felt nervous but decided to try. He scored two more goals!
After the game, Marcus invited Leo to sit with his friends at lunch the next day. Leo walked home smiling. "Maybe this new school won't be so bad after all," he thought. "I just needed to give it a chance."
| When? | What is Leo like? |
|---|---|
| BEGINNING | Leo is sad and lonely. He thinks he'll never make friends. He wants to be invisible. |
| WHAT HAPPENED? | Marcus invited him to play soccer. Leo scored goals and got invited to lunch. |
| END | Leo is smiling and hopeful. He thinks the new school "won't be so bad." |
Leo's Change: Leo went from feeling sad and hopeless to feeling happy and hopeful BECAUSE Marcus was friendly and Leo gave the new school a chance.
When explaining character development, always connect the change to what happened:
"[Character] changed from ____________ to ____________ BECAUSE ____________."