CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.6
The Standard
Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literature
What This Standard Means
Students need to tell who is telling a story and how that narrator shapes what readers know. They should recognize first person clues like I and we, and third person clues like he, she, and they. They also compare two stories by explaining how each narrator affects the reader’s view of events and characters.
Mastery looks like more than naming first or third person. Students can say what the narrator knows, what the narrator does not know, and how that changes the story. Common snags are confusing narrator with author, missing limited third person, and giving plot summaries instead of comparing viewpoints.
Ways to Teach It
- Give pairs two short story excerpts, one first person and one third person, and have them highlight narrator clue words in different colors.
- Ask students to write: How would this scene change if a different character told it?
- Use an exit ticket with three sentences from a story and ask students to identify the narrator type and prove it with one clue.
- Compare a diary entry and a news report about the same event to show how point of view changes what readers learn.
Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.6
Generate a complete lesson plan aligned to this standard, with objectives, activities, and materials. Free, no account needed.
Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.6
Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.6
Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.6
Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.6
Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their resp...