4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 4 of 13
Point of View
Who is telling the story?
What your child practices
Telling first-person stories (I, me, we) from third-person stories (he, she, they), finding pronoun clues, and noticing when dialogue uses “I” in a third-person story.
Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 4.1.5.1 · first- and third-person narration
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- First person uses I, me, my and we. The narrator is in the story.
- Third person uses he, she and they. The narrator is outside the story.
- Words inside quotation marks are a character talking, so an “I” there doesn’t change the point of view.
Example: “They raced to the park. ‘I win!’ shouted Mia.” What point of view is this? The narrator says “they.” “I win!” is Mia talking, inside quotation marks. Answer: third person
Point of View in Minnesota
In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 4 of 13 in 4th grade English Language Arts, after Figurative Language and before Parts of Speech.
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
This passage is told in third person. Which word is a clue?
The fox crept along the edge of the field.
It sniffed the cool morning air, then trotted off toward the trees.
- I
- my
- we
- it
it
Hint: Third-person clue words are he, she, it, they, his and her (outside of quotation marks).
Question 2
A news story about a soccer game is usually written from which point of view?
- second person
- third person
- first person
third person
Hint: A news reporter tells about what other people did, using names and he, she or they.
Question 3
From which point of view is this passage told?
Noah and his grandfather fished from the dock all morning.
They didn't catch a single fish, but they laughed the whole time.
- second person
- first person
- third person
third person
Hint: The narrator uses names and he, she, it or they and is not part of the story. That's third person.
Question 4
From which point of view is this passage told?
My stomach fluttered as I stepped onto the stage.
I took a deep breath and began to sing.
When the song ended, the audience clapped, and I grinned.
- third person
- second person
- first person
first person
Hint: The narrator uses I, me, my or we and is a character in the story. That's first person.
Question 5
Which sentence is written in third person?
- You cheered when your team scored a goal.
- We cheered when our team scored a goal.
- They cheered when their team scored a goal.
They cheered when their team scored a goal.
Hint: The narrator uses names and he, she, it or they and is not part of the story. That's third person.
Question 6
A story says: “She waved goodbye to her friends.” Who is telling it?
- one of her friends
- the reader
- the girl who is waving
- a narrator outside the story
a narrator outside the story
Hint: The narrator says “she” and “her”, not “I” or “my”. So the narrator isn't the girl.