Standards:
Literary Response and Analysis 3.3: Use knowledge of the situation and setting and of a character's traits and motivations to determine the causes for that character's actions.
Listening and Speaking Strategies 1.1: Ask thoughtful questions and respond to relevant questions with appropriate elaboration in oral settings.

Objective:
To review and analyze the characters and events from Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. The talk show brings characters in literature to life.

Anticipatory Set:
For morning journal writing, the topic will be to write questions for the characters in the story: Write questions you would like to ask Mrs. Frisby, Nicodemus, Mr. Fitzgibbon, and Dr. Schultz.
Conduct: Listen to your classmates; participate in the discussion.
Transfer: Students will be selected to represent characters on the talk show panel (four students: Mrs. Frisby, Nicodemus, Dr. Schultz, Mr. Fitzgibbon). Audience members will be given index cards with questions for the characters written on them.
Purpose: To review the characters and events of the story.
Motivation: The class will watch the movie The Secret of NIMH later in the week. The teacher will tell them to think about the differences and similarities between the characters in the book and movie.

Learning Activity:
Summary: Students recreate a talk show with some students as panel, others as audience members.
-Teacher acts as host, facilitating the talk show.
-The four students on the panel will sit in a row in front of the classroom.
-Students may ask the panel questions that they’ve thought of themselves, or from a teacher provided index card. The panel will answer the questions in first person, responding how they think the character would.
-Depending on the time and the flow of questions and answers, a new panel may be chosen to allow more students to participate as characters on the panel.

Differentiated Instruction:
All students can participate because they have a choice to ask their own question or one provided by the teacher. Panel members will wear different colored signs with their character names printed on them.

Assessment:
Review journal entry questions. During the activity the teacher will keep notes of which students asked questions, responsed, etc. Were questions knowledgeable and accurately based on the characters? Did the students share these questions during the talk show? Did the panel use knowledge of the characters to respond to questions?

Closure:
Ask the students if they learned anything new about the characters or changed their opinion of any of the characters. Students will be dismissed to centers.