Maya wondered whether anyone would notice her new haircut. When Jay glanced at her and quickly looked away, her cheeks burned. Did he hate it?
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.
Alaska content standards learning standard: RL.6.6 · 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 Alaska
In the Alaska content standards, 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.
- 6th grade guide for Alaska parents
- Printable 6th grade English Language Arts sheet
- Alaska report cards explained
Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
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
- third person omniscient
- a narrator who only describes the weather
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?
- Third person omniscient
- First person
- Third person limited
Third person limited
Hint: The narrator uses he, she or they and shares only one character's thoughts. Everyone else is seen from the outside: third person limited.
Question 3
Why might an author choose to write in first person?
- to show every character's secret thoughts
- to give the reader step-by-step instructions
- to make sure the story has no narrator
- 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 4
From which point of view is this passage told?
We waited at the bus stop for almost an hour before we realized the buses weren't running. Our breath made little clouds in the cold air.
- Third person limited
- Third person omniscient
- First person
First person
Hint: Look at the narration's pronouns. “I”, “my” or “we” means the narrator is a character telling the story: first person.
Question 5
From which point of view is this passage told?
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.
- 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
What is something a first-person narrator can NOT know for sure?
- what they see and hear
- how they feel themselves
- what they remember from yesterday
- what other characters are secretly thinking
what other characters are secretly thinking
Hint: A first-person narrator is one character. Can you read other people's minds?