Mood Task Cards: Practice Inferring the Mood with 24 Short Stories

Mood Task Cards: This set of 24 task cards will give your upper elementary and middle school students an opportunity to practice reading a passage and identifying the mood of the passage. Each task card consists of an engaging passage and four multiple-choice options. The answer choices consist of words often associated with mood and tone, giving your students an authentic opportunity to interact with these terms and expand their vocabulary.

Students will complete the following steps as they work through each task card:

1. They will read the short fiction passage.
2. They will read the following question: Which of the following words best reflects the mood of this passage?
3. They will read the answer choices and select the word that best reflects the mood.
4. They will record the answer on their recording sheet.

An answer key and a recording sheet are also included. Like most of my task card sets, I have included a bonus game-like answer sheet in addition to the more traditional recording sheet. For the game-like answer sheet, students record their answers on a worksheet that has four mood rings pictured. A question on the worksheets asks, "When you slip the mood ring on your finger, which color does it turn?" Once they have recorded all their answers, students tally their A, B, C, and D answers to reveal the "winning" color!

Many teachers report posting the task cards around the room to give their students an opportunity to get up and walk around the room. Others say that they use these as a whole class formative activity where they place a task card under their doc cam, and then have students write their chosen answer on whiteboards. Both activities provide an engaging alternative to a traditional worksheet activity!

********This resource is available in three formats:

1. Traditional Printables- Print the PDF and distribute paper task cards and recording sheets.
2. Easel Activity- With this digital format, there is one task card per slide. Students can complete this activity on a device. Students read each question and select an answer. This has a multiple-choice format, and students push the button that displays the correct answer. No checking is necessary! When your students turn it in, you will see their score and the number of attempts they made on each card.
3. Easel Assessment- Students complete this self-grading quiz on a device, as well. After reading each passage, students select the word that best described the mood from a list of four possible answer choices. With this option, the teacher chooses whether or not his or her students receive immediate feedback.

***If you would like to have a Google Slides and/or Google Forms version of this activity, click on these links to access the digital version or the bundle.

Here's what teachers like you had to say about using these task cards with their students:

⭐️ Katelynn G. said, "My kids enjoyed this. It was a great way to get them on their feet and moving around the room. My one surprise is how many students did not know some of the words (like pessimistic and morbid). But that was enlightening as well. Very easy setup - just print and stick around the room for me, and the kids got a sheet to record their answers."

⭐️ Lindsay P. said, "My students loved completing these tasks in class. They found them engaging and I found them to be a great practice for mood."

⭐️ Mrs. Hayes said, "This was a fun and engaging way for my students to practice identifying mood. It was easy to use with the students working in small groups."

If you are looking for additional tone and mood activities, check out my related resources:

Mood and Tone PowerPoint

Mood Ring Craftivity

Tone Craftivity

Tone Task Cards

Copyright by Deb Hanson

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