– Drama:Students will explore the thoughts and emotions of a character from the book Matilda by Roald Dahl through the use of movement and imagination.
– ELA:Students will be able to draw on specific details from the text to describe a character from the book Matilda by Roald Dahl in depth through the use of a worksheet
– Integration:Students will draw on specific details from the text to explore the thoughts and emotions of a character from the book Matilda by Roald Dahl through the use of imagination, movement, and a guided worksheet.
National Standards:
TH:Cr1.1.4. c. Imagine how a character might move to support the story and given circumstances in a drama/theatre work.
Materials Needed:
Large piece of paper or drawing on board of the outline of two women
Scarf
Book, Matilda by Roald Dahl
Warm Up:
Matilda has some special powers in this story. If you could have any super power what would it be?
Sometimes, our character traits can be our super powers.
Introduction of Character Traits (and prep for worksheet):
What are Character traits? What are the character traits of your mom? What has she done to show you these character traits? What are the character traits of your best friend? What have they done to show you these character traits?
Today we are going to talk about Characters in the book Matilda that you guys have been reading in class. Specifically, today we are going to focus on Miss Honey, and also Miss Trunchbull.
Role on the Wall:
(On the board or on a Large piece of paper, outline 2 large figures of women, one titled Miss Honey and one Miss Trunchbull. There should be enough room for students to write inside their bodies.)
I want you to think about some of the character traits of Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull. When you think of a few of their character traits, come up to the board, take a marker, and write some of their traits inside of their picture.
Can one of you read what we wrote down for Miss Honey?
Can someone read for Miss Trunchbull?
What are some of the differences? Are there any similarities? If not, can anyone think of any similarities? Does anyone want to share an example from the story that explains why they chose the character trait that they wrote down?
Teacher in Role:
We actually are going to get a special visit from Miss Honey herself in a moment. Now I know in your reading you learned a little bit about Miss Honey’s past during her visit with Matilda. You can ask Miss Honey more questions about her past and about what happened with her aunt and her parents when she comes.
When I put on this scarf, I will become miss honey.
(Answer the students questions about Miss Honey’s tragic backstory, guide them to keep the topic of conversation on her past, and allow them to makeup some of the details themselves when appropriate)
Debrief of Teacher in Role:
What did we learn about Miss Honey?
What did we learn about Miss Trunchbull?
What do you think happened to Miss Honey’s dad?
Flashback Convention:
Now that we got some more information on what really happened to Miss Honey in her childhood. Lets explore it even further. In the book we only hear Miss Honey telling the story of what happened between her and her aunt Trunchbull, but we never get to actually see it for ourselves. Lets see if we can act out what happens in a flashback scene. This is going to be a fun little challenge. Can I get a volunteer to be Miss Honey, Miss Trunchbull, and Miss Honey’s father? Okay, you three are going to act out what happened with Miss Honey’s family. But I only want you to use one word or sound combined with one movement at a time. Make sure you try and tell a story, even though you are limited in your words and actions. If there is time, allow others to come up and try to tell the story as well.
Reflect:
So what happened between the three characters in the flashback stories we made? For those of you who played Miss Trunchbull, what was it like to play her? Did you understand why she made some of the choices she did a little bit more? What about those of you who played Miss Honey? Can you understand her feelings more after playing her part?
Worksheet:
So thinking back to the very beginning of the lesson when we talked about character traits, we are going to do a worksheet about the character traits of Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull. On this worksheet I want you to write down character traits for each of the two characters, but also give examples of where they showed those character traits in the story. You can use your book for reference if you need to.
