5 Ways to Teach Character Traits
Hey there, rockstar! Looking for new ways to teach character traits in the elementary classroom?
I have 5 PERFECT activity ideas to incorporate into your reading strategy lessons.
These ideas are full of creativity and teamwork that your students will absolutely love.
Don’t forget to sign up and grab a FREE reading comprehension color-by-number!
Idea # 1: Use art!
ElementaryΒ students LOVE being creative and making art.
Bring art into your reading block!
My favorite way?
Make a classroom character trait quilt!
Have a list of character traits.
Each student will pick a different character trait to illustrate.
Give each student a piece of paper, and they will create a visual representation of their character traits.
Tape all the character traits together to form a big quilt to display on your wall or outside your classroom.
Together, look at each piece of the quilt and see what pictures and images students chose to illustrate and explain the trait.
Idea #2: Practice character traits with reading passages
Let me tell you all about my Character Traits Reading Passages Color-By-Numbers!
Teachers absolutely loveΒ these – and let’sΒ be honest, so are students π
Say bye-bye to boring reading comprehension worksheets.
Students need to be able to read a text and comprehend what they are readingΒ and answer questions on character traits.
I created these color-by-number worksheets so that you can assess students on this reading strategy, while students get to have fun with a coloring “reward” at the end!
Each passage is relatively short so a student won’t take up an entire class period to read.
There are four questions for each passage, so you can quickly assess students on exactly what they know.
Each question is about character traits, so you can hone in on this particular strategy.
Click HERE to check out the color-by-number passages!
These are also available in a money-saving bundle with color-by-numbers for all the reading strategies, click HERE to check it out!
Idea #3: Use read-alouds to teach character traits
Read-alouds are an engaging way to teach character traits.
Read a book aloud, then together as a group brainstorm character traits for numerous characters in the book.
Here are some books that work especially well with character traits (all are Amazon Affiliate links, but most definitely will be in your school library!):
- A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
- The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Dewalt
- The Giving Tree by Shelf Silverstein
- The Invisible Boy by Patrice Barton
- The Recess QueenΒ by Alexis O’Neil
Idea #4: Role-playing & charades
Gamification is huge in the education world right now – and it’s easy to see why!
It’s so dang fun!
Character traits are an easy concept to gamify – make it into charades!
Have a list of cards available with different character traits written on them (ambitious, kind, curious, thoughtful, mischievous, etc.).
Students will draw a card, then act it out to the class.
The class will raise their hand and try to guess what character trait is being acted out!
This is a great way to learn new character traits that students may not be familiar with.
You’ll have a few students who won’t want to get up in front of the class – totally okay.
Guessing the character trait is just as important as acting it out π
Idea #5: Interviews
This is a fabulous way to incorporate character traits into your writer’s workshop block.
Students will be conducting interviews with a family member (but you could also do this in class and pick classmates!).Β
Students will ask their interviewee about what 3 character traits they possess.Β
What is really neat about this project is that students are going to learn about some all-new character traits that they may have never even heard of!
Some questions you could have students ask:
Why is the character trait important?
How can the character trait be challenging?
Have you always had this character trait?
How has this character trait helped you in life?
When all students have completed their interviews, they will share what they learned with the class!
They can bring in photos as well.
This one is SO FUN and your students will be over the moon to get to interview someone like they are a TV reporter π
Where can I get more 3rd-grade reading products?
You can get tons of reading products (both digital and paper) at Glitter in Third on TPT!
Click on the links below to check them out:
- 3rd Grade Reading Color By Number Worksheets (paper)
- Reading Interactive Notebook (paper)
- Reading Comprehension Pixel Art (digital)
- Reading for Google Classroom (digital)
Need more blog posts on READING?
I have other blog posts that I think you’ll love when teaching reading.
Click on the links below to check them out:
- Cause & Effect Activities to develop critical thinking in children
- Compare & Contrast Activities
- Create Confident Readers Using Nonfiction Text Features
- Fun Reading Comprehension Activities For Your Students
- Main Idea Activities & Resources
- Reading Comprehension Strategies: Before, During, and After
- Sequencing Activities
- Using Vooks to virtually teach reading strategies
Want a reading comprehension freebie?
Are you new to color-by-numbers?
Make sure to download my Reading Passage & Question Color-By-Number FREEBIE!
It’s super fun for students (and doesn’t take an entire class period to complete, like some reading comprehension passages!)
It’s no-prep, fun, and super easy to grade (just peek at the picture!)
Sign up below to get this color-by-number freebie sent directly to your inbox!