Who and Where: Characters and Places

Active learning helps young children grasp abstract concepts like character traits and setting by making them concrete and personal. When students physically become a character or explore a setting, they connect emotions and actions to the narrative rather than just observing pictures or text.

• Junior Infants
• Foundations of Language and Literacy
• 3 activities
• 20 min–25 min

Learning Objectives

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

Role Play

⏱ 20 min·Whole Class

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.

Prepare & details

Who are the characters in this story?

Facilitation Tip: During Character Hot Seating, prepare simple props or costumes to help students step into the role and focus their responses on the character’s feelings and actions rather than appearance.

Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging

Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Inquiry Circle

⏱ 25 min·Small Groups

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.

Prepare & details

Where does this story take place?

Setup: Groups at tables with access to source materials

Materials: Source material collection, Inquiry cycle worksheet, Question generation protocol, Findings presentation template

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

Gallery Walk

⏱ 20 min·Whole Class

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.

Prepare & details

How does the place in this story look different from our classroom?

Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter

Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Teaching This Topic

Teachers should model questioning techniques that focus on character motivations and setting details beyond visuals. Avoid leading questions that only require yes or no answers. Research suggests that young children benefit from repeated exposure to the same characters and settings in different contexts to build deeper understanding.

What to Expect

Successful learning looks like children accurately identifying characters and settings, describing their traits or features with examples, and explaining how the setting influences the story’s mood or events. They should show empathy for characters through their discussions and role plays.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Character Hot Seating, watch for students who describe only a character’s appearance or clothing.

What to Teach Instead

Prompt students with questions like, 'What did the character do that showed they were kind?' or 'How did the character feel when they spoke?'. Use follow-up questions to shift focus from looks to actions and words.

Common Misconception

During Setting Swap, watch for students who treat the setting as decoration rather than a key part of the story.

What to Teach Instead

Ask groups to describe how the story would change if it happened in their swapped setting. Have them act out key moments to show the setting’s impact on the character’s behavior.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

After Character Emotion Map, 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 feeling or action of the character or one detail about the setting.

Discussion Prompt

After Character Hot Seating, ask: 'Who was in our story today?' and 'Where did our story happen?' Encourage children to point to pictures or props used during the role play to support their answers. Ask, 'How is the setting different from our classroom? What would change if the story happened here?'

Quick Check

During Setting Swap, 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 using language from the activity, such as 'This is the setting because...' or 'This character would act like this in this setting because...'

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge students who finish early to create a new setting for the story and act out how the character’s actions change in that environment.
• For students who struggle, provide picture cards of familiar characters and settings to sort and match before role playing.
• Deeper exploration: Invite students to draw a new character or setting for the story and write or dictate one sentence about how it changes the plot.

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.