Story Character Homepage

Student Objectives

Research Step

Analysis Step

Creating Step

Student Assessment/Reflections

 

STUDENT OBJECTIVES

Students will

• form small groups of 3 to 5 to analyze a character in a piece of fiction they have read either in literature circles or as a whole class.
  
  
• research personal homepages online or view teacher-selected personal homepages and compile a list of common elements.
  
  
• choose elements which they wish to incorporate into their character's Web page.
  
  
• analyze what information they believe their character would wish to put on a homepage.
  
  
• construct their character's homepage using a Web-authoring program (e.g., FrontPage, Dream Weaver, Communicator) or using a word-processing program (e.g., Word or Claris Works).
  
  
• use text, color, and graphics in their homepage.
  
  
• include in their homepages at least four hyperlinked pages: an index page, a favorite activities page, a favorite Websites page (this page can be eliminated if there is concern of students accessing inappropriate sites, or teacher could supply a list of acceptable sites for various interests), and a personal page.
  
  
• either publish their Web pages on the Internet or save on a CD to present to the class.

back to top

 

Research Step

1. Provide a handout with some links to students' homepages. It is also good to let the students do some of the research themselves. Most schools' software protects students from accessing inappropriate sites, but students could be limited to links on the handout.
   
   
2. Students go on the Internet and explore homepages, looking for as many as they can find in the time allowed. One way to find homepages is to go to yahoo.com or google.com and type in "family homepages" in the search window. Another fun way is to type your last name in the search window and look at the homepages of people who share your last name. This step would be eliminated if students are given a teacher-selected list of homepages.
   
   
3. Students make a list of elements that they find common to most homepages.
   
   
4. Then they make a list of elements which would be unique to them and would be found on their own homepages.

back to top

 

Analysis Step

1. Students choose a character from their novel for whom they will develop a homepage.
   
   
2. They then analyze the character thoroughly. What things might this person put on his or her homepage?
   
   
3. Students can use the Literary Elements Map student interactive to gather basic information about their characters. Encourage students to answer the questions from the perspective of their character (e.g., what is the main conflict for the character you're exploring?)
   
   
4. Students then make a list of the graphics and writing that they will put on their homepages.
   
   
5. Here they can fill out the storyboard form for building a Web page.

back to top

 

Creating Step

1. Using a Web-authoring or word-processing program, students create their character's homepage. It should contain a minimum of five graphic elements and three written elements. It should also contain a minimum of four pages hyperlinked to each other, as in the storyboard form.
   
   
2. Once the homepages have been created, students save them as Web pages on the supplied disks, or, if the school allows, upload them to a Website.

back to top

 

STUDENT ASSESSMENT/REFLECTIONS

• Using the Story Character Homepage Rubric and working with their groups, students view and evaluate their character homepage.
  
  
• Teacher evaluates character homepage using the same rubric.
  
  
• Students write a reflective letter on their project.

back to top