Character Emotions Worksheet

Noticing how a character feels is one of the first real reading skills a young student builds, and it is the bridge between simply decoding words and truly understanding a story. This character emotions worksheet teaches 1st Grade students to hunt for the words and phrases in a poem that show feeling — the shaky hands, the bright smile, the loud cheer — and to name the emotion behind each one. Once children can point to the evidence in a text, they are ready to retell stories, make predictions, and write about characters of their own.

This 1st grade emotions worksheet is ready to print with no preparation. Page one holds an original twelve-line poem about Stella, a first grader who has to sing in front of her class, and Ashton, the friend who cheers her on, along with a full-color illustration of the moment she finishes her song. On page two, students use a four-word feeling bank to complete four sentences drawn from the poem, then write their own short answers to two questions about how Stella and Ashton feel. Read the poem aloud together first, then let students work through the questions independently or with a partner.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• An original 12-line poem about character emotions
• A full-color illustration of the scene in the poem
• 4 word-bank sentences and 2 written response questions

There are three reasons this character emotions worksheet works so well for young readers. First, the poem is written on grade level, so students spend their energy on the feelings instead of on sounding out hard words. Second, the word bank gives just enough support that every child can succeed while still having to think about which feeling fits each moment. Third, the two written response questions ask students to point back to the text for proof, which is exactly the habit that state reading assessments measure later on.

Try acting the poem out as a mini play, with one child reading Stella’s lines and another cheering as Ashton, then talk about how each voice sounded. Keep a class feelings chart on the wall and add new emotion words as students meet them in books. At home, pause during a bedtime story and ask how a character feels right now and what made your child say so. Drawing a face for each feeling word is another quick, low-prep way to make the new vocabulary stick.

Related Resources

• Describing Emotions Worksheet
• Finding Feelings Worksheet
• Feelings Worksheet
• Character Songs from Have Fun Teaching