TEXT TO WORLD: Identify Feelings of Characters
Overall Goal: Help readers use the text, pictures, and their own background knowledge
to identify the emotions/feelings/facial expressions that the characters in the story show
in different situations.
Materials: A book with characters that experience different emotions throughout the story.
Chart paper or white board to record before reading activity
Before Reading Activity:
Tell students, “We all have lots of feelings and our faces often show or express how we feel.
Not everyone looks the same when they feel a certain way. Not everyone feels the same way in
different situations.”
 Write “Feelings” at the top of the chart, and ask students to show how they look when
they are feeling happy, sad, mad, scared, and tired.
 As the teacher calls out each feeling and the students show their faces, the teacher writes
the words down the left side of the chart paper.
 During background you might also ask students to tell you things that make them feel
happy, sad, mad, scared, and tired.
Clear Purpose for Reading / Listening: “Today you will read/listen so that we can talk about
<insert character(s) names> in the story. How does s/he look? What do you think s/he is
feeling?”
During Reading: Read the story. Stop only once or twice to remind students . . . “Remember,
you’re listening to see how <insert main character name> looks and feels.” (point to the
feelings chart you made before reading). Don’t get into a discussion about the feelings, but just
keep reading, so students hear a fluent reading of the text. The purpose should be completed
after reading the whole story, not page-by-page.
After Reading:
Work with students as a group.
- Read each of the feelings on your list.
- For each feeling, take a vote to decide who thinks there was a character who felt that
way in the story.
- Accept all answers – just record what students say at this point.
Now go back to the book, and ask students to help you find the places in the book where
characters had the feelings they’ve identified.
Tell students, “The first feeling on our list is <insert feeling word>. Let’s see if we can find a
place in the book where <insert character(s) name> looks <insert feeling word.>”
Continue for all of the feelings.
© Center for Literacy & Disability Studies, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill