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Point of view assessment with reading excerpts and comprehension questions regarding the point of view of the excerpt.

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List of comprehension questions that can be asked after any reading to figure out the point of view.

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Below is a list of 36 questions you could use while teaching point of view to get students thinking more critically. The point of view questions are organized with Bloom's Taxonomy in mind. Make sure you are incorporating higher order thinking questions consistently in your teaching of point of view.

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Below is a list of 36 questions you could use while teaching point of view to get students thinking more critically. The point of view questions are organized with Bloom's Taxonomy in mind. Make sure you are incorporating higher order thinking questions consistently in your teaching of point of view.

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Various activities and graphic organizers to introduce point of view.

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Most state standards for English Language Arts require that students analyze the impact the point of view has on a text. Download a Point of View Overview Mini-Unit that will assist you in exploring each type of point of view in your classroom! In addition to my mini-unit, this article contains additional printable resources for teaching point of view.
Download the Point of View Overview Mini-Unit now!
Point Of View Overview Mini-Unit

This mini-unit that I am sharing with you is written as six lessons, but depending on the level and ability of your students you may want to spend several days working on each type of point of view. Below I've shared the first two point of view lessons in my mini-unit. You can download the complete unit here.

I DO:

Explain point of view is the manner in which a story is told. The point of view is the narrator's perspective. It directs how the story will unfold, and influences the tone of the book. The point of view of a story impacts the reader's depth of understanding of a book because the narrator can provide the reader with information or withhold information.

WE DO:
On the board, write the phrase: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Display photographs for students to look at and discuss (suggestion: use cute, but weird, animal photos). This should lead to a conversation that even though they were looking at the same photos there were different points of view in the class.

Explain that sometimes in picture books the illustrations are critical to understanding the point of view in which the story is being told.

Together read Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg. In this picture book, the story is being told from the ants' point of view, but the illustrations show what is actually happening to the ants. Pause throughout the story to discuss how the two points of view are different yet the same.

YOU DO:

Show students a wordless picture book, such as Flotsam by David Weisner.

Have students write a story (as they see it) to explain what is happening in the pictures. After the students have finished their stories, have them share what they wrote in small groups.

As a group, discuss that even though the illustrations they were looking at were the same, their stories were different based on the point of view of the narrator.

Explain the importance of voice in a piece of literature. Voice is the author's style, and is what makes his or her writing unique. The author's voice expresses his or her point of view.

WE DO:

Together read The Pain and the Great One by Judy Blume.

Cite examples of voice coming through the text. Compare and contrast the two sections of the book by discussing the differing points of view the brother and sister have of the same events. Evaluate the author's craft.

YOU DO:

Have students practice writing with voice. Encourage them to write a story that explores two different perspectives (this tends to be an easier way to illuminate writing with voice).

Resources for Teaching Point of View

Download my Point of View Reference Guide* to assist you in reviewing or teaching point of view to students. You can make a copy for each of your students to keep or hang it up in your classroom as a resource for your students. I'm sure your students will find this guide very useful!

The Circle of Viewpoints routine encourages students to think about different perspectives. It helps them to understand that people may think or feel differently from them about the same topic or idea.

There are lots of different ways you can use this "thinking routine." It can be used at the beginning of a unit in order to help students imagine possible perspectives about a topic or theme. It can also be completed at the end of a lesson to encourage discussion about differing opinions.

As a literacy specialist, I like to use this routine at the end of a chapter or book so students can compare and contrast the different perspectives of various characters. I love this routine because it can be modified to be used across any subject area. I know many of my colleagues also use it during their debate units.

Download two literacy-inspired Circle of Viewpoints Graphic Organizers. I like to use them alongside books that have multiple perspectives woven throughout the story.

*Note: I've created two versions of my Point of View Reference Guide. One version has just the three types of Point of View, and the other version includes the three specific types of the Third Person Point of View.

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Teaching Point of View; An Overview for Grades 3-5

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Teaching Point of View Lessons for grades 3-5 >> FREE PRINTABLE >> Most state standards for English Language Arts require that students analyze the impact the point of view has on a text. The mini-unit is written as six lessons and will assist teachers in reviewing or teaching point of view!

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Modified task cards for with simpler questions for EL students to determine the point of view of a text.

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We have been busy working on point of view, and most specifically, on how an author's point of view impacts how a story is written or told. I loved some of the activities we did, and I'm excited to share them with you!

We started the unit by creating an anchor chart together. (Are you shocked!?)

My students had an idea of what point of view was, but they needed to solidify their understanding of the types of third person point of view and well as second person point of view. We have referenced this chart (and the foldable they made) SO.MUCH. during this unit.

Then, we did one of my favorite activities of the unit! I grabbed pictures off of the internet (I can't share them here because they weren't public domain. I typed in things like "learning to ride a bike" and "scored a soccer goal.") and glued them each to a piece of large construction paper. I separated the page into five different sections. Perspectives, First Person Point of View, and then the three types of Third Person point of view.

We talked about how similar perspective and point of view are, but that they are still a little bit different. The students got into pairs and were assigned one of the pictures. The first round, they wrote all the different perspectives that were possible in the picture. Then they rotated to a new picture, and they all wrote a brief narrative of what was happening in the picture in first person point of view using one of the perspectives they had identified. We rotated around until they all had practice writing in each of the points of view. The students truly enjoyed this point of view activity, and it was a good way to help them see the difference between perspective and point of view.

Then, I did some work with small groups. We used a short (53 second) clip from Toy Story (You can see it on YouTube HERE). We watched it several times, and we discussed the different perspectives that each of the main characters in the clip had. Then we did some more writing, and we rewrote the scene in first and third person. For kids who were still struggling, instead of generating the words, I quickly wrote paragraphs for them to identify the correct point of view and perspective. It was an easy way to differentiate, and it helped drive home some ideas about how different points of view and different perspectives can have an effect on how a story is told.

You can download the differentiated pages for free HERE. You'll need to watch the clip with your class in order the use them.

We had a 20 minute block of time to use some task cards, so I pulled out my Point of View Task Cards, and we got busy! We actually used them with board games, and the kids had a blast. You can read about how I used board games with task cards over at my Task Card blog post, but here is a look at the task cards. They are differentiated, and you can use them for different proficiency levels, or for scaffolding. One set includes simple sentences, another includes paragraphs, and the last set includes types of writing, and students must identify the point of view from which it is most likely written. Each group turned in a recording sheet, so it was an easy way to assess where they stood. These cards generated some great discussion in class!
You can purchase the Differentiated Point of View Task Cards at my TpT store HERE.
Finally, we are still working on an assessment. The students each selected a "meaty"picture book. They read it, and now they're doing some analysis of the narrator, the point of view that the narrator wrote from, and how the book would be different from a different character's point of view.

Mary is an upper elementary teacher and creator of Teaching With a Mountain View. She has a passion for differentiated instruction and creating resources that engage students in authentic, meaningful learning that they can get excited about! In addition to being a classroom teacher, she also has experience as a Talented and Gifted Program Coordinator and as a K-5 Interventionist. You can visit her on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, her blog, or at her TpT store Teaching With a Mountain View.

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Effective Tips for Teaching Point of View | The TpT Blog

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We have been busy working on point of view, and most specifically, on how an author's point of view impacts how a story is written or told. I loved some of the activities we did, and I'm excited to share them with you! We started the unit by creating an anchor chart together.

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Anchor chart to identify 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person point of view.

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Visual aids and activities using cartoons to discuss point of view.

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In the first episode of Bates Motel, Norman Bates and his mother hide a body in their hotel room. A couple of police officers come by unannounced, just looking things over. As you might expect the tension in the scene comes from whether or not the policemen will uncover the body.

As I watched this episode I remember thinking to myself how odd it was that I was rooting against the policemen. I didn't want them to find the body. I was hoping that Norman and his mother would get away with it. Since Norman was the protagonist, I was hoping that he would succeed, even though in real life there's no way I would wish that the police wouldn't discover a murder in a hotel.

Point of View

Such is the power of point of view. Tell the story from the policemen's point of view, and we want law and order to prevail. Tell it from the criminal's point of view, and we want to see someone do something wrong and get away with it.

Point of view is a literary technique we cover for much of our students' lives, but by the time they are in secondary we want our students to move beyond a simple understanding of point of view. We don't want them to just be able to identify first person from third person, and third person limited from omniscient. We want them to be able to tell how point of view affects a story - how it shapes our understanding of the action based on who tells it.

An Activity to Help Students Understand How Point of View Works

I introduce point of view early on in the school year with an activity that gets students thinking about it. I show them this New Yorker cover from Adrian Tomine:

I project in on the screen, but I also have it available for students on their iPads so they can zoom in and look at the details.

I like to use this cover because it's an objective view of a scene and the students are forced to make some inferences about what's going on: the woman feels guilty that she is receiving a package from Amazon because she lives right next door to a bookstore. Unfortunately, he's opening (or closing) the store for the day right when she gets her delivery. Talk about awkward.

How I Do It

I split the class into groups of three and have each person pick a different character from the scene. Then, using either first person or third person limited point of view, they have to tell the story from that person's point of view. (If you have a group of four, you can have one student do third person omniscient, or have two student do the same character, but from first person and third person limited.) It's best that students don't know too much about what the other members of the group are doing, but they do need to stay consistent with what's in the image (interior monologues are a good way to keep them focused.) Obviously students need to know the definitions of the different points of view, so you might have to review them.

The Next Day

The following day the students share their stories, not reading them word for word, but giving the basic framework for what they did. I then ask them to answer the following questions.

What assumptions did you have to make about the characters?

For example, you can't see the bookseller's face, so you have to assume what his reaction is. Same thing with the UPS guy, but my experience with them leads me to believe he's thinking about quickly jumping in his truck and going off to the next delivery.

You also have to assume character's reactions to the event, and this is a fun playground to be in. What does the woman assume that the bookseller is thinking, and vice versa?

What does your character know that the other characters do not?

The big one here is obviously: what's in the package? It might not be a book. Or it could be a used book that wasn't available at the bookstore.

Who is the best person to tell the story?

If you want an objective reading of the event, the UPS guy would probably be the best because he isn't invested in what's going on. However, most students said that the woman is the best person because she knows what's in the package. We know from the composition that Tomine wants us to believe that too - she's in the center of the image and she's the only face we see.

Why is this important?

Developing an understanding of point of view can help students understand that there are multiple sides to every story. Sadly, many of us shelter ourselves from other points of view, only listening to those who agree with us politically or ideology. We can't understand how anyone would think differently than us, and we surround ourselves with people on social media who reinforce that our world view is right. As teachers we want to develop students that will consider all sides of a story. Students whose opinions come from their own minds and not from what gets pushed to them on social media.

Looking for more creative assignments? Check out the posts below.
The Hat Project: A Great Project for the End of a Short Story Unit Alternatives to the Essay: Infographics Impostor Poems Learning Stations in the Secondary ELA Classroom David Rickert is a high school English teacher in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. He has been teaching for over 20 years and has taught virtually every grade and every subject. David is passionate about developing lessons that make difficult language arts subjects fun and engaging. He is also an author on Teachers Pay Teachers.

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A Creative Way to Learn About Point of View - David Rickert

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In the first episode of Bates Motel, Norman Bates and his mother hide a body in their hotel room. A couple of police officers come by unannounced, just looking things over. As you might expect the tension in the scene comes from whether or not the policemen will uncover the body.

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Picture books to provide visual aids for special needs students to determine point of view.

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The fiction picture books below are all based on well known fairy tales. The books tell the same story as the original fairy tale, only from somebody else's point of view.

Although most students will be familiar with the original fairy tale, some of your students might not be. It can be helpful to read the original story before reading the versions below.

My personal favorites are the stories told from the "bad guy's" point of view. After reading these, students love to write their own fairy tales from a different point of view. You can find more ideas for integrating writing into your point of view lessons here.

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Fiction Books That Help Teach Point of View - Teaching Made Practical

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The fiction picture books below are all based on well known fairy tales. The books tell the same story as the original fairy tale, only from somebody else's point of view. Although most students will be familiar with the original fairy tale, some of your students might not be.

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Practice of point of view with poetry and rhyming for special needs students.

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Analyze Point of View in Literary Texts/Fiction

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You will learn how to identify and understand an author's choice of point of view, including limited versus omniscient and subjective versus objective.

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Point of view flashcards that can be used to determine point of view of text.

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Fun video about 1st, 2nd, and 3rd point of view.

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Introduction to Reading Skills: Narrator's Point of View