How Does the Character Feel?

Grade level

Grades 2–5

Time

About 20 minutes

Topic

Feelings and faces

Answer key

Yes, page 2 of the PDF

Kids practice

Naming feelings, Showing feelings with the face and body, Sizing feelings from small to big, Finding clues to a character’s feelings

What kids do

Printed on the sheet:

1. Read each scene. Write how the character feels and the clue that tells you.
2. 1. Leo stares out the window at the rain. His soccer game was canceled. He lets out a long sigh.
3. 2. Rosa’s hands shake as she walks to the front of the class to give her speech. She keeps clearing her throat.
4. 3. Sam opens the box, gasps, then hugs the puppy inside. “Is it really mine?”
5. 4. Grandpa crosses his arms and frowns. “Who tracked mud all over my clean floor?”
6. 5. Nia holds up her finished painting and grins. “I worked on this all week!”

Teacher tip

Ask “What did the character do?” for each scene. The clue is an action, like Leo’s sigh or Rosa’s shaking hands.

How to use it

• Make each feeling face together in a mirror or with a partner.
• Talk about a time a book character felt that way.
• Read the box at the top of the sheet together, then try the first item out loud as a class.

Watch for

Every feeling played at full size. Practice small and medium too.

Talk about it

• How do your eyebrows change when you are surprised?
• What did you change in your voice or body to show that?

Take it further

Pause a read-aloud and ask kids to show the character’s face.

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