Point of View & Perspectives | Student Concept Worksheet

What Will You Learn?

In this lesson, you'll learn TWO important concepts: point of view (WHO tells the story) and perspective (HOW characters think and feel). These are related but different!

📖 Point of View

Point of view is WHO tells the story. We figure this out by looking at the pronouns!

First Person: "I walked to school. My backpack was heavy."

Third Person: "Emma walked to school. Her backpack was heavy."

💭 Perspective

Perspective is HOW a character thinks, feels, and sees things. Different characters have different perspectives!

Mom's perspective: "The puppy is making too much noise."

Child's perspective: "The puppy is so playful and fun!"

Pronoun Clues for Point of View

First Person (I'm in the story!) I, me, my, mine, we, us, our

Third Person (Outside looking in) he, she, they, him, her, [character names]

Practice: Identify the Point of View

Read each sentence. Circle the pronoun clues, then write if it's First Person or Third Person.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the giant rainbow!

Marcus ran as fast as he could, but his brother was faster.

We packed our lunches and headed to the park for a picnic.

The little girl smiled at her grandmother and gave her a big hug.

Understanding Different Perspectives

Characters in the same story can see things very differently. Their perspective depends on:

What they know (some characters know more than others)
What they want (different goals = different viewpoints)
How they feel (emotions shape perspective)
Their experiences (what they've been through before)

The Surprise Party

Mia noticed that her friends were acting strange. They whispered to each other and stopped talking whenever she came near. At lunch, they sat at a different table. Mia felt hurt and confused. "Why are my friends ignoring me?" she wondered sadly.

Meanwhile, Mia's best friend Sofia was so excited she could barely keep the secret. She and the others had been planning a surprise birthday party for Mia for weeks! They had to pretend to ignore her so she wouldn't find out. Sofia thought, "This is so hard! I can't wait to see Mia's face when she walks into the party!"

Analyzing Perspectives

Use the story above to complete this chart:

	Mia's Perspective	Sofia's Perspective
What does she KNOW?
How does she FEEL?
Why does she feel this way?

Questions About the Story

From what point of view is this story told? How do you know?

Why do Mia and Sofia see the same situation so differently?

Find ONE sentence from the story that shows Mia's perspective. Write it below.

Find ONE sentence from the story that shows Sofia's perspective. Write it below.

Think About It: How would the story be different if it were told from first-person point of view by Mia? She wouldn't know about the party—so readers wouldn't either!