Margin Notes

In her book, When Kids Can’t Read What Teachers Can Do, Kylene Beers introduces several strategies to support the exploration of character development, one of which is Semantic Differential Scales. Using a Semantic Differential Scale is an effective way to track character development throughout the story as readers use evidence from the text to rate a character at the beginning, middle and end of the story. It allows readers to interpret character traits along a spectrum of opposing qualities (e.g., brave vs. timid, honest vs. deceptive). This scaffold encourages readers to consider the degrees of change and growth that character’s experience. By revisiting these scales throughout a text, students can visually map shifts in a character’s behavior or personality, deepening their comprehension of character arcs. Beers illustrates this concept using characters Roger and Mrs. Jones from Langston Hughes’ short story Thank You, M’am. Students can discuss their ratings with evidence from the text. 

Additionally, students could write a reflection explaining why they rated the character along certain points on the scale. In their responses, they could cite quotes from the text that demonstrate the shift in the character’s traits or actions, providing evidence from the text for their ratings. What another great scaffold to support readers with tracking how characters change throughout a story.