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7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 9 of 13

Whose Story?

First, second and third person

What your child practices

Telling first, second and third person apart, finding the clues, and imagining how a different narrator would change the story.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 7.3 · first, second and third person

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. First person: the narrator says I and shares their own feelings.
  2. Second person: the story speaks to the reader as you.
  3. Third person: he, she, they. A different narrator would notice and know different things.

Example: “You step into the cave. Your flashlight flickers.” What point of view is this? The story speaks to the reader directly. It uses you and your. Answer: second person

Whose Story? in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 9 of 13 in 7th grade English Language Arts, after Punctuation Power and before Roots & Word Parts.

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.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What does the reader learn about the narrator?

    The Science Fair

    I carried my volcano model carefully down the hall. My hands were shaking, and I worried that the baking soda would spill before the judges arrived.

    • The narrator is bored.
    • The narrator is nervous.
    • The narrator is angry.

  2. Question 2

    What point of view is this?

    The Science Fair

    I carried my volcano model carefully down the hall. My hands were shaking, and I worried that the baking soda would spill before the judges arrived.

    • first person
    • second person
    • third person

  3. Question 3

    How does second person affect the reader?

    Pack Your Bag

    You open your suitcase and stare at it. You have only an hour before the car arrives. You fold your jacket and wonder what you are forgetting.

    • It hides the characters.
    • It makes the story shorter.
    • It makes the reader feel part of the story.

  4. Question 4

    Which sentence is written in second person?

    • You hear a strange sound behind the door.
    • I hear a strange sound behind the door.
    • Sam hears a strange sound behind the door.

  5. Question 5

    What point of view is this?

    Pack Your Bag

    You open your suitcase and stare at it. You have only an hour before the car arrives. You fold your jacket and wonder what you are forgetting.

    • second person
    • first person
    • third person

  6. Question 6

    How does first person help readers connect with a narrator?

    • They hear the narrator's own voice and feelings.
    • The story becomes a list.
    • They learn every character's secrets.

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