English · Senior Infants

Active learning ideas

Analysing Complex Characters and Settings

Young learners grasp complex ideas best when they can step into them, not just observe them. Active learning lets children embody characters and manipulate settings, turning abstract concepts into concrete, memorable experiences.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• NCCA: Junior Cycle English - Reading
• NCCA: Junior Cycle English - Engaging with and Responding to Texts

• 20–25 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Role Play
• 20 min · Whole Class

Role Play: Hot Seating

A student or teacher sits in the 'Hot Seat' dressed as a character from a familiar story. The rest of the class asks them questions about their life, their friends, and why they made certain choices in the book.

How do an author's choices in characterisation reveal personality and motivation?

Facilitation Tip

During Hot Seating, ask students to answer questions from their character’s perspective, not their own, to deepen role immersion.

What to look for

Provide students with a short story excerpt. Ask them to draw one detail from the setting and write one sentence explaining how it makes them feel. Then, ask them to identify one thing a character wants and write one sentence about why.

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

Activity 02

• Inquiry Circle
• 25 min · Small Groups

Inquiry Circle: Setting Swap

Small groups are given a character (e.g., The Three Little Pigs) and a new setting (e.g., Outer Space). They must discuss and draw how the story would change: What would they build their houses out of now?

What is the symbolic significance of the setting, and how does it influence the narrative?

Facilitation Tip

In Setting Swap, provide picture cards of both time and place to ensure students consider all elements of setting.

What to look for

Display two contrasting images of settings (e.g., a cozy fireplace and a stormy sea). Ask students: 'If a character felt sad, which setting would they prefer and why? If a character felt excited, which setting would they prefer and why?'

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

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 20 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Character Traits Map

Large outlines of characters are placed around the room. Students walk around and add 'trait' stickers or drawings (e.g., a heart for 'kind', a muscle for 'strong') based on what the character did in the story.

How do characters and settings interact to develop the central themes of a story?

Facilitation Tip

For the Gallery Walk, assign each student to focus on one character trait per poster to avoid overwhelming them.

What to look for

Read a familiar story aloud. Pause at a key moment and ask students to point to a character and describe one thing they want. Then, ask them to point to the setting and describe one detail that makes the story feel a certain way (e.g., exciting, quiet).

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teaching character and setting together helps children see how authors use them as tools, not just backdrops. Avoid separating the two in lessons, as they interact constantly. Research shows that young learners benefit from visual and kinesthetic approaches, so pair discussions with acting or drawing whenever possible.

By the end of these activities, students will describe how a character’s feelings or actions connect to the setting. They will also explain how changing the setting alters the story’s mood or events, using evidence from the text or their own reasoning.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Hot Seating, watch for students who describe the setting as just a 'place,' not including time or atmosphere.

  Pause the role play and ask, 'What time of day is it? Is it sunny or stormy? How does that make your character feel?' to guide their attention to all elements of setting.

• During Setting Swap, watch for students who only change the location and ignore how the time or mood affects the story.

  Remind them to ask, 'Would the same thing happen at night instead of daytime?' and have them explain why or why not using the story’s events.

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Methods used in this brief

• Role Play
• Inquiry Circle
• Gallery Walk