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6th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 1 of 17

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.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 6R6 · point of view and narration

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. First person: the narrator is a character and says I.
  2. Third person limited: the narrator uses he or she and knows only one character’s thoughts.
  3. 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 New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 1 of 17 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.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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

    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
    • First person
    • Third person omniscient

  2. Question 2

    Which narrator would be best to show us only what a nervous new student feels?

    • third person omniscient
    • first person, told by the new student
    • a narrator who only describes the weather
    • second person speaking to the reader

  3. Question 3

    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.

    • Third person limited
    • First person
    • Third person omniscient
    • Second person

  4. Question 4

    From which point of view is this passage told?

    Sam stared at the math test. He had studied for hours, but now every formula seemed to slip away. Across the room, Priya was already writing quickly.

    • First person
    • Third person omniscient
    • Third person limited

  5. Question 5

    Which sentence is written in first person?

    • Kenji grabbed his umbrella and ran for the bus.
    • I grabbed my umbrella and ran for the bus.
    • They grabbed their umbrellas and ran for the bus.
    • You grab your umbrella and run for the bus.

  6. Question 6

    From which point of view is this passage told?

    Noah noticed the empty chair beside him. He wished Amir had come to the party, and he wondered whether he had said something wrong the day before.

    • First person
    • Third person limited
    • Third person omniscient

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