Use this free character trait word wall template for an easy way to help build character trait vocabulary with 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students

Character Traits Word Wall

Use this free character trait word wall template as an easy way to help build character trait vocabulary with 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students
Have you experienced the excitement of an engaging, rigorous lesson only to later discover that you left your students more confused than when you started?  The Character Trait Word Wall in my 3rd grade classroom came as a result of one of these huge teaching failures.  But like most failures, it turned into an opportunity for an even better learning experience!

The Misunderstanding

Going into my 3rd year teaching, I was finally beginning to feel more confident. I had successfully dealt with some difficult behavior problems, explained equivalent fractions to my 3rd graders without any tears, and I finally felt certain that my students were learning a lot.

Then, I taught a lesson on character traits that resulted in an unexpected confusion in my students. Somewhere in the lesson, we had taken a close look at the character trait "friendly." I'm not sure what exactly I said or did, but after the lesson my students became OBSESSED with describing characters as friendly. If a character handed a tissue to somebody, my students considered that friendly behavior. If a character took care of somebody else's pet, that was friendly behavior. If a character took a nap, somehow that was friendly behavior!

I vividly remember this group of students taking a practice test where a character made up a game involving running through the sprinklers in their front yard. When asked to describe the character traits this character exhibited, OVER 75% of my students chose friendly! (I believe the correct answer was creative.)

When I asked students to defend their reasoning and explain why all of these characters were friendly, the main answer I would get would be along the lines of "The character didn't do anything mean." Somehow, I had taught my class that anybody who was not mean is automatically friendly!

I decided my students needed to broaden their character trait vocabulary and start thinking more about word connotations. We created a character trait word wall that we added to all year long. And eventually, my students stopped describing every character as friendly!

I've experimented with several ways to organize this word wall, and my favorite two options are below.  There's also a free template for you to use in your own 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade classroom!

You might also like these other word wall ideas for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classrooms. 

Character Traits Word Wall: Sort By Synonyms

To create this word wall, I thought of several overused character traits - words like nice, mean, funny, smart, etc., and then I came up with several synonyms for each of these overused words.  (These character trait lists can help you come up with words more quickly!) As a class, we sorted all of the synonyms into groups based on their meaning, and then I posted these groups to make a character traits word wall.
Create a character traits word wall to build students' character trait vocabulary. Sort by synonyms in upper elementary classrooms.

Throughout the year, as we came across a new synonym that would fit into one of the groups, we would add it to the character trait word wall. Now, instead of simply describing a character trait as friendly, my students could refer to the word wall and choose the best word to describe a character.

Want a free template of this word wall? 

    Character Traits Word Wall: Sort By Shades of Meaning

    Another way to create a character trait word wall is to sort similar words based on their "Shades of Meaning." This word wall is most effective if students are active participants in setting up the word wall. I have found that this word wall encourages students to think critically, discuss actively, and justify their thinking.

    For this word wall, students are given a list of words with similar meanings and have to order the words on a continuum. In the example pictured, words are ordered from "The Most Mad" to "The Least Mad" based on the connotation of the words. Students have to think about which word has a more angry connotation - is somebody that is irritated more mad than somebody that is frustrated?

    Upper elementary students will not all agree about where words should be placed, but this allows for thoughtful discussion where students are required to defend their thinking.

    Teaching Character Traits? You Need This Freebie

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      Comments 6

      1. Thank you for offering this free printable we are a new homeschooling family on a budget and I have been searching for budget friendly ways to teach character Thank you so much this will be put to good use

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