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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.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 7.RL.6 · 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 Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, 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: Arizona Department of Education

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

    Which sentence is written in third person?

    • I stared at the door.
    • You stared at the door.
    • Ravi stared at the door.

  2. Question 2

    Whose thoughts do we learn?

    The Referee

    From the middle of the court, Mr. Alvarez blew his whistle. He saw the ball touch the line, but the crowd groaned. He was sure he had made the right call.

    • Mr. Alvarez's
    • the narrator's own
    • the crowd's

  3. Question 3

    How might a player telling this story differ?

    The Referee

    From the middle of the court, Mr. Alvarez blew his whistle. He saw the ball touch the line, but the crowd groaned. He was sure he had made the right call.

    • The player might think the call was unfair.
    • It would have no ending.
    • The ball would not exist.

  4. Question 4

    A story is told with the words I, me and my. What point of view is it?

    • first person
    • third person
    • second person

  5. Question 5

    Which words show the point of view?

    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.

    • I and my
    • you and your
    • he and his

  6. Question 6

    What point of view is this?

    The Referee

    From the middle of the court, Mr. Alvarez blew his whistle. He saw the ball touch the line, but the crowd groaned. He was sure he had made the right call.

    • third person
    • first person
    • second person

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