Character Traits brainstorm rubric:
Your Name___________________Traveling Group____
7th Graders’ Tech Week LA Work
During DSP or any “down time” or free time you have during Tech Week, you should do the following work on your Murder on the Orient Express character train car.
1. Choose your character and have him/her approved by Ms. Levin/Mrs. McKenna.
2. Using your notes taken while we read in class, brainstorm on the back of this sheet a written list of all your character’s traits: physical, social, emotional, national, and intellectual, being sure to include all sides of his/her personality.
3. Choose some symbol, metaphorical or actual, to represent each of these traits.
4. Make a drawing of how the inside of the box will be decorated and set up. Be creative: you might want furniture that displays his/her need for creature comfort; decorated walls; pictures of the character’s family that s/he might carry on a trip; clothing they might wear hung on a hook; a book next to his/her bed; etc.
5. Get or make a box in which to portray your character’s character. Shoe boxes work really well, but you can use any kind you want. However, it shouldn’t be much bigger than a shoe box.
6. Choose a place in your advisory or in the LA room to keep the box---- somewhere where you don’t need to ask anyone where it is, where YOU can always find it. BE SURE TO LABEL THE BOX WITH YOUR NAME!
7. Gather the materials you will need to create the finished product, and keep those materials in a bag together with the box in your special place.
8. Using construction materials in the LA room, begin to assemble your finished product.
9. As you finish each step of the process, put a checkmark next to the number as well as the date you finished. This is necessary as you will hand in this form along with your finished box, and it will help you to organize the process.
You will not be able to finish your creation until after we finish reading the novel, as there is much more to know about each character.
But, get started during Tech Week!
BRAINSTORM A LIST OF CHARACTER TRAITS. HAVE YOU INCLUDED THE NATIONALITY? SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL TRAITS? SECRET TRAITS?
NOW, BRAINSTORM YOUR LIST OF SYMBOLS FOR EACH TRAIT ON THIS PART OF THE SHEET.
TRAIT SYMBOL
CREATE YOUR PRELIMINARY DRAWING. Use a blank white sheet of paper.
NOW, BRAINSTORM A LIST OF YOUR CHARACTER’S TRAITS HERE. DON’T FORGET: SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL, INTELLECTUAL, NATIONAL. YOU CAN USE WHAT THE AUTHOR OR ANOTHER CHARACTER SAYS ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER, HOW YOUR CHARACTER BEHAVES, OR WHAT S/HE SAYS ABOUT HERSELF.
BRAINSTORM A LIST OF SYMBOLS FOR EACH CHARACTER TRAIT. REMEMBER, THESE CAN BE ACTUAL SYMBOLS OR METAPHORICAL ONES. METAPHORS SHOW HOTS!!!
