Learning about characters’ backgrounds and motivations can help students better understand why characters behave the way they do and make connections to other books they have read, or to their own lives. Characters are often what make the story, and Rick Riordan does an amazing job of staying true to the traditional mythological characters while updating them to fit our modern world.
As students read, they can keep a character reference log. A character map allows students to recall important information on characters. When reading a novel, little attributes often return to become an important plot details. Through the use of character mapping, students will catch this information and will be able to follow the fine points which make reading more enjoyable.
By clicking "Use This Assignment", both the example above and a blank template will copy into your teacher account. Depending on your students, you can provide them with scaffolded templates. Feel free to adjust as desired, and even add additional questions for students to answer.
For a quick way to incorporate character maps into the classroom, you can print out these storyboards as a worksheet for students to complete. Alternatively, assign different characters to different students or groups to go into greater detail. Students or groups can present their information to the rest of the class.
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a character map of the important characters in The Lightning Thief. Be sure to include gods, humans, and demi gods!