Character Analysis Graphic Organizers – STEAL Method

Students identify and record textual evidence of a character's speech, thoughts, actions, looks and effect on others, citing page numbers.

Students name three character traits supported by the evidence they gathered.

Students draw and justify further inferences about a character's motivation and behavior.

Assign the STEAL organizer while students are reading a chapter or scene so they can record page numbers as they encounter each detail, rather than after finishing the whole text.

Have students complete page one for a shared class text before asking them to apply page two's trait-and-evidence process independently.

Use the final question — whether students would want to be friends with the character — as a discussion starter to surface differing interpretations of the same evidence.

Textual evidence gathering — students record specific page-cited details of a character's speech, thoughts, actions and looks.

Character trait identification — students name three traits and support each with story evidence.

Inferential reasoning — students go beyond stated facts to infer a character's motivation and judge their behavior.