Foundations of Language and Literacy · Junior Infants · Reading Pictures and Stories · Spring Term

Who and Where: Characters and Places

Exploring who is in the story and where it takes place to deepen understanding of narrative structure.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• NCCA: Primary - Comprehension
• NCCA: Primary - Appreciation of Language

About This Topic

Characters and Settings are the 'who' and the 'where' of a story, forming the core of narrative structure in the NCCA Primary Language Curriculum. For Junior Infants, understanding that characters have feelings, motivations, and traits is a major step in developing empathy and comprehension. Similarly, recognizing that the setting influences the plot (e.g., a story set in a dark forest feels different than one set on a sunny beach) helps children appreciate the atmosphere of a story.

In Ireland, teachers often use local settings or familiar character types to make these concepts relatable. By exploring how characters change from the beginning to the end of a story, students begin to understand the concept of a story arc. This topic comes alive when students can physically inhabit the characters through role play or recreate the settings through collaborative building, making the abstract elements of a story tangible.

Key Questions

1. Who are the characters in this story?
2. Where does this story take place?
3. How does the place in this story look different from our classroom?

Learning Objectives

• Identify the main characters and the primary setting in a given story.
• Compare and contrast the appearance or characteristics of a story's setting with a familiar environment, such as the classroom.
• Explain how a character's actions or feelings are influenced by the story's setting.
• Differentiate between a character and a setting within a narrative.

Before You Start

Recognizing People and Places

Why: Children need to be able to identify familiar people and places in their environment before they can identify them in a story.

Basic Picture Interpretation

Why: Understanding that pictures represent things and events is foundational to interpreting characters and settings within story illustrations.

Key Vocabulary

Character	A person, animal, or imaginary creature that takes part in the action of a story.
Setting	The time and place where a story happens. It includes where the story takes place and when it takes place.
Location	A specific place where something happens or exists, like a forest, a house, or a town.
Appearance	What someone or something looks like, including their clothes, features, or the way a place looks.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

Students often think a character is only defined by what they look like.

What to Teach Instead

Focus on actions and words. Use role play to show that a 'scary' looking character can be kind, or a 'small' character can be brave. Active discussion about character choices helps students look deeper than the illustrations.

Common Misconception

Children may think the setting is just a background and doesn't matter.

What to Teach Instead

Ask 'Could this story happen anywhere else?' Use simulations to show how a character's behavior changes in different environments (e.g., being quiet in a library vs. loud at a park) to highlight the setting's importance.

Active Learning Ideas

Role Play: Character Hot Seating

A student or teacher sits in the 'Hot Seat' as a character from a familiar book. The rest of the class asks questions like 'How did you feel when...?' or 'Why did you...?' to understand the character's perspective.

20 min·Whole Class

Inquiry Circle: Setting Swap

In small groups, students take a familiar story (e.g., The Three Little Pigs) and discuss what would happen if it were set in space or under the sea. They draw the new setting and share how the story might change.

25 min·Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Character Emotion Map

Place pictures of a character at different points in a story around the room. Students walk to each picture and use 'feeling words' to describe how the character is acting, discussing why their feelings changed.

20 min·Whole Class

Real-World Connections

• Imagine you are a tour guide for a famous landmark, like the Giant's Causeway. You would describe the unique rocks (the setting) and perhaps tell a story about the giants who supposedly built it (characters).
• Think about a local park or playground. Children can describe the different parts of the park (the setting) and the people they see there playing (characters), like friends or families.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

Provide each child with a picture from a familiar story. Ask them to draw a circle around one character and a square around the setting. Then, have them tell you one thing about the character or the setting.

Discussion Prompt

After reading a story, ask: 'Who was in our story today?' and 'Where did our story happen?' Encourage children to point to pictures in the book to support their answers. Ask, 'How is the story's place different from our classroom?'

Quick Check

Hold up two different objects, one representing a character (e.g., a doll) and one representing a setting (e.g., a small toy house). Ask children to identify which is the character and which is the setting, and explain why.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I help students describe characters beyond 'good' or 'bad'?

Introduce a 'Word Wall' of emotions and traits. During active role play, prompt students to use more specific words like 'lonely', 'excited', 'brave', or 'clumsy'. Seeing these words in action helps them stick.

How can active learning help students understand character development?

Active learning, particularly role play and hot seating, allows students to 'step into the shoes' of a character. This physical embodiment forces them to consider the character's internal state. When they have to answer questions as that character, they are performing deep analysis without even realizing it, making the learning far more impactful than a teacher-led lecture.

What is the best way to teach setting to Junior Infants?

Use sensory boxes. If a story is set at the beach, include sand, shells, and the sound of waves. Having students interact with these physical elements while discussing the story helps them understand how a setting creates a 'mood' or 'feeling'.

Why is empathy important in literacy?

Understanding characters is the first step toward empathy. By discussing why a character might be sad or angry, children learn to recognize those same emotions in themselves and their peers, aligning with the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum.