| Name: ______________________________ | Date: ______________ |
Instructions
- Become a character detective by studying the story evidence before making a claim.
- Read this scene: Mira discovers that the community garden's young plants are wilting. Although she is nervous about speaking to adults, she interviews neighbors, researches the problem, and organizes a watering schedule. When the garden begins to recover, she thanks everyone and admits that she could not have solved the problem alone.
- Use specific details from the scene to identify traits, motivations, conflicts, and character changes.
- For short answers, explain your thinking in complete sentences.
Example: Claim: Mira is responsible. Evidence: She organizes a watering schedule after researching the problem. Explanation: This shows responsibility because she takes practical action to help the garden recover.
Answer: A strong character analysis connects a trait to evidence and explains how the evidence supports the trait.
Part 1: Trait Tracker
Choose the character trait best supported by each detail.
1. Mira interviews neighbors and researches why the plants are wilting. Which trait does this best show?
| ○ A. Curious | ○ B. Careless |
| ○ C. Selfish | ○ D. Impatient |
2. Mira feels nervous about speaking to adults but still asks them questions. Which trait does this best show?
| ○ A. Courageous | ○ B. Dishonest |
| ○ C. Bored | ○ D. Cruel |
3. Mira thanks everyone and admits she could not have solved the problem alone. Which trait does this best show?
| ○ A. Humble | ○ B. Greedy |
| ○ C. Suspicious | ○ D. Reckless |
4. Mira creates a watering schedule to help the plants recover. Which trait does this best show?
| ○ A. Responsible | ○ B. Forgetful |
| ○ C. Jealous | ○ D. Lazy |
Part 2: Evidence Decoder
Complete each analysis sentence with the best word or phrase.
5. Mira's nervousness creates an internal __________ because she must decide whether to speak despite her fear.
6. The wilting plants create the main external __________ that Mira tries to solve.
7. Mira's actions are motivated by her desire to __________ the community garden.
8. The detail that Mira thanks others suggests that she values __________ rather than taking all the credit.
Part 3: Detective Vocabulary
Match each analysis term with its meaning.
| 9. | Character trait | __________ | A. The reason a character wants or does something |
| 10. | Motivation | __________ | B. A detail from the text that supports an idea |
| 11. | Conflict | __________ | C. A struggle faced by a character |
| 12. | Evidence | __________ | D. A quality or feature of a character's personality |
| 13. | Character change | __________ | E. A way a character's feelings, thinking, or behavior develops |
Part 4: Build the Case
Complete each row by adding a trait, a story detail, and an explanation.
| Character trait | Story detail | What the detail shows |
|---|---|---|
| Responsible | Mira organizes a watering schedule. | She takes action to solve the garden's problem. |
| Mira interviews neighbors and researches the plants. | ||
| Mira speaks to adults even though she feels nervous. | ||
| Mira thanks everyone and shares the credit. |
Part 5: Change Over Time (optional challenge)
Answer each question with evidence from the scene.
15. How does Mira change from the beginning to the end of the scene? |
16. What is Mira's main motivation, and which detail supports your answer? |
17. Which trait is most important to Mira's success: curiosity, courage, responsibility, or humility? Defend your choice. |
18. Write a character-analysis claim about Mira and support it with one piece of evidence and an explanation. |
Answer Key
| 1. | A (Curious) |
| 2. | A (Courageous) |
| 3. | A (Humble) |
| 4. | A (Responsible) |
| 5. | conflict |
| 6. | problem |
| 7. | help |
| 8. | teamwork |
| 9. | D (A quality or feature of a character's personality) |
| 10. | A (The reason a character wants or does something) |
| 11. | C (A struggle faced by a character) |
| 12. | B (A detail from the text that supports an idea) |
| 13. | E (A way a character's feelings, thinking, or behavior develops) |
| 14a. | Curious · Mira interviews neighbors and researches the plants. · She gathers information before deciding what to do. |
| 14b. | Courageous · Mira speaks to adults even though she feels nervous. · She acts despite feeling afraid. |
| 14c. | Humble · Mira thanks everyone and shares the credit. · She recognizes that other people helped solve the problem. |
| 15. | She begins nervous about speaking to adults, but she becomes more confident as she investigates the problem and organizes help. |
| 16. | Her main motivation is helping the community garden recover. She researches the problem and creates a watering schedule to save the plants. |
| 17. | Responsibility is most important because Mira does not stop after learning about the problem; she organizes a plan and follows through until the garden improves. |
| 18. | Mira is a courageous problem-solver because she interviews adults even though she is nervous. Her actions show that she does not let fear prevent her from helping. |