Characters in We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson

Activity Overview

In this activity, students create an outline for the characters in the story, paying close attention to the feelings and actions of both major and minor characters. Students can also provide detailed information regarding the character’s actions, how they influence other characters, and how the main character changed over time.

Characters included in the character map are:

Branch Rickey
Jackie Robinson
Gus Greenlee
Josh Gibson
Satchel Paige
James “Cool Papa” Bell
A. B. “Happy” Chandler
Andrew “Rube” Foster

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Template and Class Instructions

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Student Instructions

Create a character map for the major characters.

Identify the major characters in We are the Ship and type their names into the different title boxes.
Choose a Storyboard That character to represent each of the book characters.

Select colors and a pose appropriate to story and character traits.

Choose a scene or background that makes sense for the character.
Fill in Textables for each question.

Character Map Template 3 Field Filled In

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Lesson Plan Reference

Grade Level 4-5

Difficulty Level 1 (Introducing / Reinforcing)

Type of Assignment Individual

Type of Activity: Character Map

Common Core Standards

[ELA-Literacy/RL/5/2] Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

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Rubric

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Character Map Template

Create a character map of the characters in the story. Put the character's name in the title boxes and choose a character and scene to represent each one. As you read, take notes on the characters by answering the questions.

	Proficient 33 Points	Emerging 25 Points	Beginning 17 Points
Character Picture & Scene	The characters and scenes are both appropriate for the book's characters.	Many of the characters and scenes match the book's characters.	More than half of the characters and scenes do not match the characters in the book.
Accuracy of Notes	Most of the information of the notes is correct.	Many of the notes have correct information, but some are incorrect or missing.	Less than half of the information of the notes is correct and relevant.
Effort	Work is complete, thorough, and neat.	Most of the sections of the character map were at least attempted and work is presentable.	Character map is unfinished and/or disorganized.