1. For identifying character traits
ABCD RULE
For identifying character traits

2. Character Trait
Notable feature of someone's personality (unlikely to change)

3. A=Appearance Not physical Emotional Mannerisms
For example: head down, frown
For example: head up, smile
Look at facial expressions and body language

4. B=Behavior What the character does
More isolated than appearance. More of a choice than appearance.

5. C=Character's Views What other characters say about the character
What other characters think about the character
How other characters react to the character

6. D=Dialogue What the character says and thinks
What other characters say about the character

7. Try it out with "Mike's New Car"
Choose character on which to focus
Choose a character trait
Character=
Trait= A= B= C= D=

8. Title/author: “Mike’s New Car” by Pixar Studios Character: Mike
Sample
Title/author: “Mike’s New Car” by Pixar Studios
 Character: Mike
Character Trait: Impatient

9. TIPS
ALL EVIDENCE TIES INTO CHARACTER TRAIT IMPATIENT
BE SPECIFIC WITH EVIDENCE. CHOOSE 1 PIECE OF EVIDENCE PER LETTER
INCLUDE PAGE NUMBER, CHAPTER, or CHUNK

10. Sample
4. Appearance: moves around constantly. When Mike is showing Sully his new car for the first time, he is moving back and forth and bouncing around. (beginning, chunk 1)
5. Behavior: When Mike and Sully are in the car, Mike repeatedly pulls at his seatbelt in an attempt to buckle it. (middle, chunk 3)

11. Sample
6. Character Views: When Sully is adjusting his car seat, Mike yells at him. Sully immediately stops adjusting his car seat, his eyes grow wide, and he looks away. (middle, chunk 2) 7. Dialogue: When the car has been acting up, Mike yells at Sully to get “out” “out” “out.” (end, chunk 4)

12. TIPS
VARY YOUR EVIDENCE. DO NOT ONLY FOCUS ON ONE CHUNK/SECTION OF THE STORY. 

13. In “Mike’s New Car” by Pixar Studios, the main character, Mike, is impatient. At the beginning of the short film when Mike is showing Sully his car, he is constantly moving around. He cannot stay still (chunk 1). A patient person would stand still and wait while his friend was walking toward him. Mike is not impatient, he bounces up and down and waves his arms around. Mike continues to show his impatience when Sully gets in the car and is adjusting his car seat. Mike yells at him to stop adjusting the seat and Sully immediately stops adjusting his seat; he freezes. His eyes also grow wide (chunk 2). Sully realizes Mike will not wait for him to find the perfect position for his seat. If Sully thought Mike would wait for Sully to finish adjusting his seat without getting mad, Sully would have continued fixing his seat or he would have spoken up. Perhaps he would have asked Mike for another minute or two, but Sully does not continue moving his seat nor does he ask for more time. He knows Mike is impatient. 

14.  Further along in the video, during chunk 3, Mike demonstrates an impatient behavior. Mike’s seatbelt is stuck, and he repeatedly pulls on it in an attempt to stretch the belt out and buckle himself in. A patient person would have let go off the seatbelt completely, let it fully rewind, and then slowly pull the seatbelt back out. 🙂 While Mike was unsuccessful in buckling his seatbelt, Sully showed patient behavior and had no difficulty buckling his seatbelt. At the end of the film, Mike’s impatience made him totally angry. He yelled at Sully to get “Out! Out! Out!” Mike was so mad at his car. He was mad that his seatbelt wouldn’t work. Mad that he didn’t know what buttons to push in order to make his car work properly. Mad that Sully was so calm the entire time. 🙂 Mike's impatience is seen throughout "Mike's New Car." Maybe if Mike were more patient, he could have enjoyed his new car instead of being angry and disappointed.

15. Meets Exceeds Expectations Expectations
Uses 3 of the 4 ABCD
Uses strong text evidence
Follows RACES format
Is color-coded properly
Uses evidence from different sections
Red=restate/answer
Black=cite text evidence
Orange=explain evidence
Underline=summarize response
Meets expectations and...
Uses all 4 ABCD 
Goes in sequential order.
 Includes if statements
Includes smiley face tricks to elevate the writing.