All images are from The Outwin 2016 finalists collection. Students should study the portraits, with the only shared information the title of the work, using the Claim-Support-Question Strategy. Each student will make several claims about their assigned image, and support those claims through their own created character. They will use the questions that they come up with as a jumping-off point for character creation. Each fully-realized character should come from the world of the portrait, have a distinct stance and walk, and be able to answer questions presented in an improvised manner.

Lesson 2 of a currently 2-part series in creating characters and ideas from a portrait. Following the improvised character discussions, students should be assigned one portrait from the collection "Thank You for Teaching Me English." Students will be told just a bit about the piece, specifically that the person portrayed is speaking the word that they taught the artist. Students will also be told the word for each portrait. Using the strategy of "Peeling Back the Layers," students will create a character and either a monologue or a short scene devised from the portrait they were given. Each monologue or scene should show the sitter teaching the artist the word linked to the portrait. Students will create the story that necessitated the need to learn this word, how the word was received, and the appropriate definition of the word based on the story they create.