Character Traits: Many Luscious Lollipops!

We've been learning about character traits!  In order to scaffold them, I used the book "Many Luscious Lollipops" and Dum Dums to review adjectives in a delicious way!  You could probably use any book to teach this lesson, but I love the lollipop theme!  So, out came the balloon "lollipops" that you see below! 

I launched the lesson by holding up a colorful balloon on a balloon stick (a.k.a. a lollipop).  I told my students that we would be reviewing adjectives. I asked them to share a few adjectives that described the balloon, and we generated a quick list together before reading "Many Luscious Lollipops: A Book About Adjectives" by Ruth Heller.

After that, I read the book aloud to students and discussed why adjectives are important.  (They make our writing more exciting, they help us make mental images, they provide sensory details, they help us feel emotions, etc.)  Then, out came the Dum Dums!  I encouraged them to jot down adjectives that described the way their lollipops looked, felt, smelled, tasted, and possibly sounded.  (Slurp?)  This part was completed independently, and then I had them turn and talk to share out a few examples.

I told the kiddos that we call special adjectives that describe characters "character traits".  Character traits are words that describe what a character's like on the inside.  We practiced with Junie B. Jones, and we described what she was like on the outside (using adjectives) and the inside (using character traits).  I created an anchor chart to display student responses.  Then, it was time for the big reveal!

I handed out a balloon "lollipop" to each student.  I told my students that they needed to write 3-5 words on their lollipops that described what they were like on the inside... and they needed to write their names as well.  Then, I had my students pass their balloons to the right and kept passing until they had made it all the way around their tables. Each student at their table added character traits to their balloons.  Then they took a moment to record the character traits that were written on their "lollipops" on a recording sheet.

We discussed how these were examples of character traits since we are the main characters in our own life stories.  This was a great launching pad for a closer examination of character traits in stories.  Students finished the recording sheets by adding adjectives that describe them.  We briefly discussed the difference between adjectives and character traits one more time before breaking into small groups.

Each group was assigned a character and a short text.  They were responsible for reading the text and making a list of adjectives and character traits that would describe each character.  Each group shared their "findings" with the rest of the class. We completed one example together before breaking out, and everything went just as planned.  My students were engaged and successful, and I was a happy teacher (to say the least).

All in all, you can't beat a tasty and tangible lesson!  It definitely leads to higher student engagement and makes a little extra rigor that much more accessible to students.  This is one of those lessons that my students are SURE to remember!  Do you think you may want to try this with your own class?  Click HERE to check out the UPDATED file on TpT and unlock the magic with luscious lollipops!