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Traits, Motivations and Feelings is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on describing what a character is like and what they want, aligned to Common Core standard RL.3.3. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 23 of them with different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 2 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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One paper per pupil

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. 23 of these 25 sets ask different questions — this skill does not have 25 questions to give. The rest reorder them, so no two pupils have the same paper in front of them.

Traits, Motivations and Feelings

RL.3.3

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Violin in the Loft

Nobody in our family plays anything. So the violin in the loft was a mystery for eleven years. Then Great-Aunt Sylvie came for Christmas and saw the case on the table. She went very quiet. "That was my brother's," she said. "He played in a café in Marseille before the war." She opened it. Three strings had gone, and the bridge lay loose in the bottom of the case. She did not play it. She held it under her chin for about ten seconds, put it back, and closed the lid. Then she asked for more potatoes and did not mention it again.

  1. 1. Why might Sylvie have put the violin back without playing it?
  2. 2. Describe Great-Aunt Sylvie from what she does rather than what she says.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Wrong Bus

Halim was two stops past the school before he looked up. The bus was going the other way. He had got on at the same shelter, in the same rain, and never checked the number. His stomach dropped. He thought about crying and decided against it, because it would not help. He read the route map above the window. He worked out that the 41 came back the same way. He rang the bell, got off, crossed at the lights, and waited eleven minutes for the 41. He was twenty minutes late. Mrs Achebe asked what happened. "I got the wrong bus," said Halim, "and then I got the right one."

  1. 1. Describe Halim's character from what he does.
  2. 2. How do Halim's actions contribute to the sequence of events?

LessonPrint · RL.3.3 · Set 2 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Traits, Motivations and Feelings

Set 2. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The story does not say; the broken strings, or the memory of her brother, or both. 2. Private and reserved — she shows feeling by going quiet and holding the violin, then changes the subject.
  2. 2.1. Level-headed — he decides crying will not help and works out the route instead. 2. Because he read the map and worked out the 41, he got himself back rather than staying lost.

More practice for RL.3.3

Describe what a character is like and how what they did changed the story.

Teaching this next? Characters, Traits and Motivations is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.3.3 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.