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Previous Lesson (3  Of  6)
The Twits - Comparing Characters
A fun reading lesson for grade 3 and 4 students that explores the idea of describing characters through descriptive language and imagery. Here we’ve drawn up an example of zooming in on the character Mrs Twit from the book The Twits by Roald Dahl.
Reading | Writing
Grade:3-4
Lesson from Cleverbean

The Twits - Zoom In

Learning Intention: Create vivid descriptions of a character from a book.

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A fun reading lesson for grade 3 and 4 students that explores the idea of describing characters through descriptive language and imagery. Here we’ve drawn up an example of zooming in on the character Mrs Twit from the book The Twits by Roald Dahl.
Reading | Writing
Lesson from Cleverbean
Grade: 3-4

The Twits - Zoom In

Learning Intention: Create vivid descriptions of a character from a book.

Download lesson
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The Twits - Character Actions
Supporting Materials
Zoom In
Zoom In
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What you'll need
  • ‘The Twits’ by Roald Dahl
  • Six cardboard and/or paper squares
  • Coloured pencils
  • Coloured pens
  • Glue
  • Construction paper
Curriculum

Grade 4 - AC9E4LE03

Grade 3 - AC9E3LY05

Success criteria
  • I can write a descriptive sentence about a character using interesting vocabulary.
Lesson

Modelled

  1. Share the following quote from The Twits with students: “A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”

  2. Discuss the following questions with the class.
    a. Why do you think Roald Dahl included this paragraph in the chapter about Mrs Twit?
    b. Do you agree with Rolad Dahl?

  3. Review students' knowledge of adjectives by identifying them in the quote.

Guided

  1. Review Quentin Blake’s illustrations of Mr and Mrs Twit. Discuss what he has done to create them as ugly, disgusting characters.

  2. Display the illustrations and ask students to describe their clothes. Then zoom in to describe their face and zoom closer to describe a particular feature eg. nose, eye, hair, beard.

Independent

  1. Tell students they are going to draw either Mr or Mrs Twit. First they will start by drawing their whole body, then they will zoom into their face and then zoom into a particular facial feature.

  2. Give the students 3 square pieces of paper.

  3. Once students have created their 3 drawings ask them to add a sentence to describe each box. Tell them to build on their use of adjectives, description and imagery you have been working on in the previous lessons.

Differentiation
  • Support Students: Provide the students with word banks.
  • Extension Students: Explore the use of similes, metaphors and hyperbole.
Great with this lesson
Fun reading activities using coloured pencils to draw characters.
Colourful illustrations

Great for any art based colouring activity.

Take a look
Fun reading activities using coloured pencils to draw characters.
Colourful illustrations

Great for any art based colouring activity.

Take a look
Recommended books
Use Roald Dahl, The Twits for great reading lessons for Vocabulary
The Twits
Roald Dahl
Grade: 3-4
Assessment
  • Have my students successfully created visual descriptions of the characters?
  • Did my student/s need guidance when creating their description?
Zoom in on other characters
  • This zoom in strategy could be used for any character.