4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 4 of 14
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.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 4.10(E) · 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 Texas
In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 4 of 14 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.
- 4th grade guide for Texas parents
- Printable 4th grade English Language Arts sheet
- Texas report cards explained
Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)
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 first person. Which word is a clue?
I grabbed my skates and raced to the frozen pond.
My friends were already gliding in circles.
- he
- I
- she
- they
I
Hint: First-person clue words are I, me, my, we and our. They show the narrator is in the story.
Question 2
A character's diary is usually written from which point of view?
- third person
- second person
- first person
first person
Hint: In a diary, the writer tells about their own day using I and me.
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?
Our class planted a maple tree last spring.
I got to pat down the soil around its roots.
Now I check on it every morning.
- 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 first person?
- I fed my cat before I left for the park.
- Leo fed his cat before he left for the park.
- You fed your cat before you left for the park.
I fed my cat before I left for the park.
Hint: The narrator uses I, me, my or we and is a character in the story. That's first person.
Question 6
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.