Teachers, save “Story Elements: Characters” to assign it to your class.

A CHARACTER is a person, animal, creature or object in a story that says things or does things that make the story happen. People are always CHARACTERS, and animals are usually CHARACTERS in children’s stories. It can be tricky to tell if other things are CHARACTERS. The Gingerbread Man is a cookie, but he’s the main CHARACTER in his story. Lightning McQueen is the main CHARACTER in “Cars,” crayons are the main CHARACTERS in “The Day the Crayons Quit,” and letters of the alphabet are the CHARACTERS in “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.” See how tricky it can be? When I want to figure out if something is a CHARACTER, I ask myself, “Who is this story about?” Let’s see if you can figure out who the characters are in a few stories. 1. Click on the to start the game. 2. Look at the illustration and read the text (the words on the page) or ask a family member to read to you. 3. Ask yourself, “Who is this story about?” 4. Use the to circle the CHARACTERS on the page. 5. On the last page, use the to take a picture of a CHARACTER from a book you have at home. 6. Press when you are finished.