Sam thought the surprise would be perfect. His sister Zoe had already guessed it, but she was pretending not to know. Their dad, hiding in the hallway, was trying not to laugh.
6th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 1 of 12
Point of View
Who is telling the story?
What your child practices
Telling first person, third person limited and third person omniscient apart, and thinking about what each narrator can and can't know.
Alabama Course of Study content standard: 6.1; 6.3 · point of view and narration
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- First person: the narrator is a character and says I.
- Third person limited: the narrator uses he or she and knows only one character’s thoughts.
- Third person omniscient: the narrator knows what every character thinks and feels.
Example: “Leo worried about the test. Across the room, Ana was sure she would ace it.” Which point of view is this? The narrator says he and she, so it is third person. We learn both Leo’s and Ana’s thoughts. Answer: Third person omniscient
Point of View in Alabama
In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 1 of 12 in 6th grade English Language Arts, before Connotation & Tone.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which narrator would be best to show us only what a nervous new student feels?
- first person, told by the new student
- second person speaking to the reader
- a narrator who only describes the weather
- third person omniscient
first person, told by the new student
Hint: A single character telling their own story lets readers feel their nerves up close.
Question 2
From which point of view is this passage told?
- First person
- Third person omniscient
- Third person limited
Third person omniscient
Hint: The narrator uses he, she or they and tells us what more than one character thinks or knows. That all-knowing view is third person omniscient.
Question 3
Retell this in third person from Kenji's point of view: “I left my skates by the door.”
- You left your skates by the door.
- Kenji left my skates by the door.
- I left Kenji's skates by the door.
- Kenji left his skates by the door.
Kenji left his skates by the door.
Hint: “I” becomes Kenji, and “my skates” becomes “his skates.”
Question 4
Why might an author choose to write in first person?
- to make sure the story has no narrator
- to give the reader step-by-step instructions
- to show every character's secret thoughts
- to let readers experience events through one character's own voice and thoughts
to let readers experience events through one character's own voice and thoughts
Hint: First person puts you inside the narrator's head.
Question 5
From which point of view is this passage told?
Lena hoped her grandmother would like the painting. Her grandmother, unwrapping it, thought it was the most beautiful gift she had ever received. Neither of them noticed the cat sneaking off with the ribbon.
- Third person limited
- Third person omniscient
- First person
Third person omniscient
Hint: The narrator uses he, she or they and tells us what more than one character thinks or knows. That all-knowing view is third person omniscient.
Question 6
From which point of view is this passage told?
Looking back, I see that nobody at the table was really listening to me that night, though at the time I convinced myself they were.
- First person
- Third person omniscient
- Third person limited
First person
Hint: Look at the narration's pronouns. “I”, “my” or “we” means the narrator is a character telling the story: first person.