Emotion to Action

This worksheet helps students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 strengthen inferencing and narrative writing skills by connecting emotions to observable character actions. Students begin by matching emotional states to physical or verbal behaviors, then apply their understanding by writing a short passage that shows a character experiencing an emotion without naming it directly.

Learning Goals

• Making Inferences About Characters (Grades 4-6) – Identify emotions based on actions and behavior.
• Show, Not Tell Techniques – Convey feelings through movement, dialogue cues, and reactions rather than labels.
• Reading Emotional Cues – Recognize how authors suggest emotions indirectly.
• Clear and Coherent Sentence Writing – Write expressive sentences that communicate emotion through detail.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to support narrative comprehension and writing craft.
• Scaffolded Skill Practice – Moves from guided matching to independent writing application.
• Supports Emotional Literacy – Helps students understand how feelings are expressed through behavior.
• Flexible Classroom Use – Works well for reading units, writing workshops, small groups, or assessment.

This printable worksheet helps students understand that emotions in stories are often revealed through actions, not labels. By matching emotions to behaviors and then writing a showing passage, learners build confidence in inferencing, expressive writing, and character development. It is a simple, no-prep resource for classroom and homeschool settings that strengthens narrative technique and emotional comprehension.

This worksheet is part of our Character Development Worksheets collection.