Naples Eighth Graders Map Characters’ Emotional Arcs on the Coordinate Plane
NAPLES, Italy — Eighth grade students at Naples Middle High School recently explored how mathematics can enhance narrative writing by graphing the emotional arcs of characters from curriculum-based short stories they developed earlier in the school year. The exercise blended mathematical thinking with storytelling, allowing students to visualize how a character’s fortunes rise and fall in response to key narrative events.
Mr. Macone, an Advanced Academic Program and Services teacher, and Ms. McDowell, the secondary math instructional specialist, partnered with Mr. Brundage, the eighth grade English language arts and drama teacher, to design and co-teach this interdisciplinary learning experience. Their collaboration enabled students to engage with math and literature using both mathematical reasoning and literary creativity.
The lesson began with a “Four Corners” activity in which the teachers used the “team teaching” approach to spark discussion about different representations of the Cinderella story on a coordinate plane. Students then worked in small groups to graph the emotional arc of a character from their own stories. Throughout the activity, Mr. Macone and Ms. McDowell supported cross-disciplinary thinking by applying De Bono’s Thinking Hats strategy for structured discourse, while Mr. Brundage anchored students’ reasoning in narrative-writing principles. The teachers also guided students in connecting their graphs to key mathematical concepts such as slope and its meaning.
“I liked how I could use math to actually plot the emotions of my character,” one eighth grader said. “It was like creating a mood meter, and I liked seeing the variations on the graph. I think I could also use it for monitoring personal goals.” The reflection highlights the broader value of the activity, showing how the concept can support self-reflection and goal setting.
Another student shared, “I like how the activity made me feel more connected to the character I created. I think it is useful to visualize how your character’s feelings may vary and the impact this can have on the audience. Based on the graph, you can easily make changes to your story as a writer.” This insight underscores how visualizing emotional movement can help strengthen story pacing and character development.
Beyond storytelling and mathematics, the activity fostered creative thinking, problem-solving and meaningful collaboration while reinforcing grade-level standards in both subjects. The culminating lesson showcased the benefits of co-teaching and encouraged students to think creatively across two disciplines.
