Character Analysis Activities for Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade

Character analysis is often a challenging concept for students. These character analysis task cards are perfect if you want a tool to practice this concept and enhance student understanding! 

What makes these task cards unique? We’ve created them to be used with any fictional text! Students can choose a book they love and demonstrate their knowledge using content they are comfortable with. This set of 20 character analysis task cards can be used with groups ranging from third through sixth grade. The resource file consists of twenty task cards and a recording sheet for student answers.

Color and blackline versions are available for all cards. They are great for test prep and can be used in literacy centers, stations, and independent learning activities.

Through this activity, students will show the ability to analyze a character in a fictional text.

Differentiation Ideas for Character Analysis

A team of dedicated, experienced educators created this resource to support your Reading lessons. 

In addition to individual student work time, use these character analysis task cards to enhance learning through guided reading groups, whole class lessons, or remote learning assignments. 

If you have a mixture of above and below-level learners, check out these suggestions for keeping students on track with the concepts: 

Support Struggling Students

Assist struggling readers with the concepts by trying one of the following.

• Have students work in partners or small groups to complete the assignment.
• Provide read-aloud accommodations if required.
• Provide students with a reference guide or anchor chart to review different character traits.

Additional Activity Ideas

Scoot Activity 

Read aloud a popular fiction book to the whole class. Place the cards around the room numerically and give each student a recording sheet. Assign students or pairs to a starting point card. Give students time to review the card and record their answers in the corresponding space on their paper. Students will rotate to the next card when you say, “SCOOT!” Continue in this manner until students return to their starting point. 

Exit Ticket

Use these cards as a formative assessment after your lesson. Pick a random assortment of cards and project them on the board for the whole class to see. Students can record their answers on paper, sticky notes, or notebooks. 

Easily Prepare This Resource for Your Students

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to choose between the PDF or Google Slides version of this resource.

Print on cardstock for added durability and longevity. Place all pieces in a folder or large envelope for easy access. 

Punch a hole in each corner to keep the task cards out of pockets or under desks to place them on a binder ring. 

Kiri Sowers, a teacher in Illinois and Teach Starter Collaborator, created this resource. 

Don’t stop there! We’ve got more activities and resources that cut down on lesson planning time: