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.
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.
Maine Learning Results learning standard: Reading 9 · 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 Maine
In the Maine Learning Results, 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 Maine parents
- Printable 6th grade English Language Arts sheet
- Maine report cards explained
Source: Maine 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.
Question 1
From which point of view is this passage told?
- 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 2
Why might an author choose to write in first person?
- to give the reader step-by-step instructions
- to let readers experience events through one character's own voice and thoughts
- to make sure the story has no narrator
- to show every character's secret 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 3
From which point of view is this passage told?
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?
- First person
- Third person omniscient
- 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 4
Retell this in first person from Priya's point of view: “Priya packed her lunch and hurried out the door.”
- Priya packed my lunch and hurried out the door.
- She packed her lunch and hurried out the door.
- I packed my lunch and hurried out the door.
- You pack your lunch and hurry out the door.
I packed my lunch and hurried out the door.
Hint: Priya becomes “I” and her lunch becomes “my lunch.”
Question 5
From which point of view is this passage told?
You open the small wooden box slowly. Inside, you find a key you have never seen before.
- Second person
- First person
- Third person limited
- Third person omniscient
Second person
Hint: The narrator speaks to the reader as “you,” as if you are the character. That's second person.
Question 6
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 omniscient
- Third person limited
- 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.