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Describe a Character in Depth is a free printable Grade 4 English worksheet on building a character description from specific details, aligned to Common Core standard RL.4.3. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 22 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.

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22 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.

Describe a Character in Depth

RL.4.3

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Lost Ledger

Mr Kaur ran the shop on the corner for forty-one years and never used a till roll. He kept a ledger. Every debt in the village was in it, in pencil, and every settlement crossed out. Nobody ever asked to see it. Nobody ever queried it. When he retired he handed the ledger to his daughter, who was taking over. She found eleven debts outstanding, some six years old, totalling more than she took in a fortnight. She thought about it for a week. Then she went through the book, tore out those pages, and started a new one with a card machine on the counter. She never told him. He never asked.

  1. 1. What does Mr Kaur's ledger tell you about how he ran the shop?
  2. 2. Describe the daughter in depth, using details from the text.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Clock That Was Wrong

The church clock in our village had been four minutes fast for thirty years. Everybody knew. The bus timetable was written around it. Weddings started on it. My grandmother set her oven by it, four minutes back. Then the council paid a specialist to come and correct it. He was there two days. When he left, the clock was exact. Within a month, three people had missed the bus, the choir arrived late twice, and my grandmother burned a cake she had made two hundred times. The vicar wrote to the council. In March they set it four minutes fast again.

  1. 1. What does the vicar's letter tell you about the village's view?
  2. 2. Describe the grandmother from the details given.

LessonPrint · RL.4.3 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Describe a Character in Depth

Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. On trust — pencil, no till roll, no queries in forty-one years. 2. Deliberate and private — she thinks for a week, tears out the pages, installs a card machine, and never mentions it.
  2. 2.1. That the village wanted the old clock back, and was willing to say so officially. 2. Practised and precise — she set her oven four minutes back for years and had made the cake two hundred times.

Questions about Describe a Character in Depth

What does the Describe a Character in Depth worksheet cover?

It practises building a character description from specific details — 2 questions for Grade 4, all on Common Core RL.4.3: Describe a character or setting in depth, using specific lines from the text. The instruction to pupils is “Read the text, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.

Which Common Core standard does Describe a Character in Depth practise?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 — RL.4.3, in the Reading: Literature domain for Grade 4. The published standard reads: “Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.

What age or grade is this worksheet for?

Describe a Character in Depth is written for Grade 4, typically ages 9-10. It is one of the sheets on RL.4.3, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.

Does Describe a Character in Depth come with an answer key?

Yes. All 2 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.

How many different versions of Describe a Character in Depth can I print?

25 versions, of which 22 ask genuinely different questions — this skill does not have 25 distinct questions to give, so the rest reorder them and no two pupils still share a paper. Set 1 downloads all 25 as one PDF.

Is Describe a Character in Depth free to print and photocopy?

Yes. Describe a Character in Depth, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.

Is there a lesson plan to teach RL.4.3?

Yes — “Describing a Character in Depth” is a 40-minute Grade 4 plan for RL.4.3, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. Describe a Character in Depth is the practice that follows it.

More practice for RL.4.3

Describe a character or setting in depth, using specific lines from the text.

Teaching this next? Describing a Character in Depth is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 4 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.4.3 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.