Character Walks and Voices

Grade level

Grades 2–5

Time

About 20 minutes

Topic

Creating characters

Answer key

Not needed: answers vary

Kids practice

Inventing a character, Inside and outside traits, Changing walk and voice for a role, Answering questions in character

What kids do

Printed on the sheet:

1. Actors change how they walk and talk to become someone new. Decide how each character moves and sounds, then try it! Fast or slow? Big steps or tiny? High voice or low? Loud or soft?
2. How does each character walk and talk?

Teacher tip

Let small groups try each character for a few seconds, from the tired giant to the tiny fairy, before they write how each one walks and talks.

How to use it

• Start with a character the class knows from a book, then let kids invent their own.
• Have kids walk across the room as their character before they write.
• Read the box at the top of the sheet together, then try the first item out loud as a class.

Watch for

Breaking character in the hot seat. Let kids pause and think before they answer.

Talk about it

• What does your character want most?
• What did you change in your voice or body to show that?

Take it further

Turn a finished character into a puppet.

US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.