Lesson 07 — Pretending to Be a Character

Learners become characters from a simple story using voice, face, and body. They discover that pretending is a way to understand other people's lives and feelings.

D07 P3: Intellectual & Cognitive Awareness D07.S3 45 minutes Draft

Objectives

D07.S3.K.01 Move or pretend to be a person, animal, or character in response to a story or music.

Essential question

How do I become a character in a story?

characterpretendvoicefacebodystory

Materials

Standard materials

A simple story · 1 A short tale with a few characters (a helper, a seeker, a kind neighbor)
Open floor space · enough to move
A simple prop (optional) · 1 per learner A cloth, basket, or hat to help become the character

Low-tech / no-cost

Voice, face, and body only Become a character with no props at all; the body is the costume
A told story Hear the story aloud and act the characters as you go

Enriched / lab & device

A set of simple dress-up cloths · 1 box Scarves, hats, and cloths to choose a character's look
A camera or tablet · 1 per group Film the scene and watch it back to see the characters

Works in different contexts

large-group Assign roles in a told story and have groups of learners play the same character together, then swap roles
multi-age Older learners tell or read the story while younger learners act it out, then trade places
self-directed A learner chooses a character, acts them out with voice, face, and body, and tells a grown-up or friend who they are
level-grouped Some learners focus on one part of the character (just the voice or just the walk); others use voice, face, and body together
outdoor-only Act the story outside using found things — a stick for a walking cane, a leaf for a dish — to become the character

A child as a kind helper carrying a basket of food, with three labeled cards pointing to the parts of a character: "voice" with a speech bubble reading "I can help!", "face" with a warm smiling face, and "body" with feet and motion lines for "my walk". Teaches that voice, face, and body make a character; the labels carry the meaning, so it prints clearly in grayscale.

Lesson 7 — Pretending to Be a Character

Summary

Learners step into a story and become its characters. Using their voice, face, and body, they play a helper, a seeker, a kind neighbor. Pretending lets a child feel what another person feels — a small, safe lesson in walking in someone else’s shoes.

Objectives

Move or pretend to be a person, animal, or character in response to a story or music. (D07.S3.K.01)

Connection

When you play make-believe, you get to be someone else for a while — a cook, a builder, a helper, a hero. People everywhere tell stories and act them out to share ideas and to understand each other. Your voice, face, and body are your costume.

Materials

A simple story with a few characters
Open floor space
A simple prop (optional): a cloth, basket, or hat

Preparation

Choose or tell a short story with two or three clear characters.
Clear a space for acting and set out any simple props.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”) so it works in a classroom and for a self-directed learner. As facilitator, choose or tell a story where characters are kind and recognizable, from any culture, told respectfully as a story to play with. Never push a shy learner to perform; watching and copying is full participation. Celebrate every character — there is no “correct” way to play one.

Procedure

Gather (5 min). Sit and listen to a short story. Who is in it? What do they do?
Meet the characters (10 min). Pick a character. How do they stand? How do they talk — fast, slow, high, low? Try it: their walk, their voice, their face.
Become the character (15 min). Act out a small part of the story as your character. Use your voice, your face, and your whole body. Trade characters and try another.
Show and guess (10 min). Act your character for a friend. Can they guess who you are? Then tell them how it felt to be that person.
Close (5 min). Remember: pretending helps us feel what others feel. There is a whole world of characters in every story.

Differentiation

Support: Give one simple character and one action (“you are the helper carrying the basket”); let the learner copy.
Seated/adapted: A character lives in the face, voice, and hands — play the whole character from a chair; a “walk” becomes a lean, a nod, or a hand gesture, and acting with just the face or voice is full participation.
Extension: Invite learners to add a new character to the story and act how that character would join in.

Assessment

Formative (observation): Does the learner use voice, face, or body to show a character?
Performance: The learner’s character, observed live.

Home connection

With someone at home, pick a person from a story or a memory and both pretend to be them for a minute. Ask each other how it felt.