Grade 5 · Reading · Lesson 12

Interpret tone and mood

Two writers can describe the same rainy afternoon and leave you with completely different feelings — one calm, one creepy. That is the power of TONE and MOOD. Tone is the AUTHOR\u2019s attitude toward the subject. Mood is the FEELING a reader gets from the passage. Strong readers can name both, and use the words in the text as proof.

What this lesson teaches

1Define tone as the author’s attitude toward the subject
2Define mood as the feeling a passage gives the reader
3Identify tone and mood words from common categories
4Use word choice and details to name the tone and mood of a passage

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