Grade 4 English Language Arts | FL B.E.S.T. Standard: ELA.4.R.1.3
Identify the narrator's point of view and explain the difference between a narrator who is a character in the story and a narrator who is not.
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
| Term | Definition | Student-Friendly Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Point of View (POV) | The perspective from which a story is told | WHO is telling the story and what they can see/know |
| Narrator | The voice telling the story | The "speaker" who tells us what happens in the story |
| First Person | Story told by a character using I/me/my | A CHARACTER is telling their own story - uses "I" |
| Third Person Limited | Story told by an outside narrator who knows only one character's thoughts | Someone OUTSIDE tells the story but only knows what ONE person thinks |
| Third Person Omniscient | Story told by an all-knowing narrator who knows everyone's thoughts | An all-knowing narrator who can see into EVERYONE'S mind |
| POV Type | Pronoun Clues | What We Know | Example Signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Person | I, me, my, we, our | Only the narrator's thoughts/feelings | "I walked into the room." |
| Third Person Limited | he, she, they + names | Only ONE character's thoughts | "Maya wondered if her friend was upset." |
| Third Person Omniscient | he, she, they + names | MULTIPLE characters' thoughts | "Maya was worried. Meanwhile, Jade felt excited." |
| Day | Focus | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Person POV | Introduce first person using pronoun hunt. Complete Student Concept Worksheet section 1. |
| 2 | Third Person POV | Contrast third person with first person. Introduce limited vs. omniscient distinction. |
| 3 | Limited vs. Omniscient | Deep dive into how much the narrator knows. Practice Worksheet passages 1-2. |
| 4 | POV Affects Meaning | Explore how POV changes what readers know. Complete Practice Worksheet. |
| 5 | Assessment | Administer FAST Format Quiz. Review and reteach as needed. |
Give students highlighters and have them highlight all pronouns in the first paragraph of a text. First person = yellow (I, me, my); Third person = blue (he, she, they). The color that dominates reveals the POV!
For third person texts, ask: "Whose thoughts can we hear?" If we only hear ONE character's thoughts = Limited. If we hear MULTIPLE characters' thoughts = Omniscient. Create a class chart tracking whose minds we can access.
Read a familiar story (like The Three Little Pigs), then rewrite a scene from different POVs: first person as the wolf, first person as a pig, third person limited following the wolf. Compare what information changes!
Compare POV to a camera: First person = camera attached to one character's head (we see and know only what they do). Third person limited = camera following one character. Third person omniscient = security cameras everywhere, seeing everyone.
Correction: Third person can be LIMITED (only one character's thoughts) or OMNISCIENT (multiple characters' thoughts). Check: whose minds can we see into?
Correction: The narrator could be a side character telling someone else's story. The "I" just means a character is narrating - not necessarily the hero.
Correction: First person stories also use names! The key is whether "I/me/my" appears. "I saw Maya walk by" is still first person.
Correction: While pronouns help identify POV, the deeper understanding is about WHAT INFORMATION readers can access. Focus on what the narrator can and cannot know.
On the FAST assessment, point of view questions typically ask students to:
Key Strategy: Teach students to check pronouns first, then ask "Whose thoughts can I hear?" to determine limited vs. omniscient.