Students were first given a plan sheet to help organize their thoughts. I modeled how to fill out the plan sheet and discussed the expectations using a character from a book we all read together called Because of Winn Dixie. I thought out loud about which three traits best describe the main character Opal. Students had a bulletin board and a paper in their binder that lists several traits, so they could choose from there, if they found that helpful.
Students then read Keep the Lights Burning Abbie on their own, filling in the plan sheet afterward with three character traits and evidence from the story. We discussed how they needed two examples for each trait.
The next day, I modeled, using Because of Winn Dixie again, how to take their ideas from their plan sheet and turn them into paragraphs for a written response. I highlighted words that they may also want to consider using, like "for example," and "also." We also discussed that each trait would be its own paragraph and should include the character's name. Students then turned their thoughts and ideas about Abbie from yesterday into paragraphs for their written response. A rubric was used to score their response. If for some reason your child brings home just the rubric with the plan sheet, they were out of the room for some of the test. I used their plan sheet to see if they were able to identify the character traits and use evidence from the book.
Here are the examples I did in front of the students and the rubric that was used to score the students' responses. Let me know if you have any questions!