Subscribe

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.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 7.1.6.1; 7.2.6.1 · how an author develops point of view, and narrator perspective

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 Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 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: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

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

    How does first person help readers connect with a narrator?

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

  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 crowd's
    • the narrator's own

  3. Question 3

    How would the story change if the bus driver told it?

    The Last Bus

    I ran as fast as I could, but the bus doors closed in front of me. My heart sank. I would have to walk home in the dark.

    • It would be told by you.
    • Nothing would change.
    • We might learn why the driver did not wait.

  4. Question 4

    Which words show the point of view?

    The Last Bus

    I ran as fast as I could, but the bus doors closed in front of me. My heart sank. I would have to walk home in the dark.

    • I and my
    • you and your
    • she and her

  5. Question 5

    A story speaks to the reader as you. What point of view is it?

    • second person
    • first person
    • third person

  6. Question 6

    What point of view is this?

    The Last Bus

    I ran as fast as I could, but the bus doors closed in front of me. My heart sank. I would have to walk home in the dark.

    • first person
    • second person
    • third person

More 7th grade