The Drawbridge Character Monologue assignment builds upon the now-familiar text that was explored in 1.04 – The Drawbridge: PEE Paragraphs, asking students to consider the world of the text beyond the written page.

Created by Katherine Pearce, the lesson invites students to choose a character, consider why they made the choices they did, and then infer what that character was like prior to, and after, the events of the short story.

English Course Pack: Unit One – Literacy Skills

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1.05: The Drawbridge: Character Monologues

Step One: Selecting the Character

Students are encouraged to share the character they have selected, and explain why they made those choices. This will allow others in the class, who are having a difficult time beginning the process to build from the existing ideas.

Step Two: Organizing Ideas

Using the accompanying graphic organizers, students can begin recording what was said in the short story. This will provide a record of specific support from the text.

Once complete, the students will move on to the inferring sections, and use the specific details to support the choices they are going to weave into their monologues. This will ensure that students have a strong understanding of what they’re going to include, and why they’re going to include it in their final piece.

Step Three: Writing the Monologue

Students should now begin writing their monologues. Once they are complete, they can use the accompanying checklists to ensure that students know what is required to demonstrate the highest levels of success.

The attached Writing / Media rubrics link to specific curricular expectations, and include guiding questions.

If you already have a strong amount of Writing / Media evaluations, you may wish to create an Oral / Reading rubric, using this task to formally evaluate those strands.

Even if you do not include strand-specific rubric, you can use the informal demonstrations of learning from this task to fill in existing learning gaps in your grade records, where it supports student success.

The Impact

This product encourages students to make a media product that can be watched through the technology in your classroom. It creates a foundation to create more involved media texts as the course moves forward, with any concerns being identified and problem solved early in the course.

Students will develop a level of comfort for class presentations, as well as strengthen their understanding of how to use supporting evidence beyond embedding references in persuasive pieces.

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English – Unit One: Literacy Skills

English Course Packs: Full Units

Unit One: Literacy Skills
Unit Two: Poetry
Unit Three: Literature Circles
Unit Four: Creative Writing & Choose Our Way Tales
Unit Five: Essay Writing
Unit Six: Culminating Tasks

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