Virginia SOL 2.RL.1.C
The Standard
Describe character’s attributes (e.g., traits, motivations, or feelings) and how they respond to major events and challenges.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Key Ideas and Plot Details
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify what a character is like, wants, and feels using details from the story. They explain what the character does after an important event or problem and why.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can name a fitting trait, feeling, or goal and support it with a specific action or line. The student can explain how a major event shapes the character’s response.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may name a temporary feeling, such as sad, as a lasting trait. They may retell an event without explaining the character’s response or choose a trait without text evidence.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Name one major challenge in today’s story. Write how the character responded, what that response shows, and one supporting detail.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs trait, feeling, event, and action cards to sort, then match each character response with the best supporting description.
Ask students to write: What does the character want, and how does that goal affect the response to the main problem?
Play Character Detective by reading short scenes and awarding points when teams name a character attribute and cite matching evidence.
Discuss a familiar playground problem, then compare several possible responses and what each response might reveal about the person.
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Printable 2.RL.1.C Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 2.RL.1.C, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- 3.RL.1.C
Describe a character’s attributes, including their traits, motivations, or feelings and how they develop throughout the text.
- 4.RL.1.A
Summarize the theme of stories, dramas, or poetry, including the thematic topic (e.g., courage, loyalty, family) and how characters respond to challenges.
- 5.RL.2.A
Describe how an author develops a character through what characters say, think, do, and how other characters respond.
- 5.RL.1.C
Explain how events from the plot cause the character(s) to change or evolve and how the development of character(s) or settings impact the plot.
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