Subject: ELA (English Language Arts)

Lesson Length: 30 - 45 mins

Topic: Points of View (First and Third Person Narratives)

Grade Level: 4

Standards / Framework:

Brief Description: Students will learn about first and third person points of view by narrating comics of their own.

Know Before You Start: This lesson serves as an introduction to first and third person points of view.

Hook:

  • Read and discuss the sample comic.

    • Have students compare how each character in the comic is telling the story about the party.

    • What do they notice? 

  • Discuss that stories can be told from different points of view. Authors often use either first-person or third-person narrations to tell their stories. What is the difference?

  • In first-person narratives the narrator is a character in the story. They talk about themselves because the story is told from their own point of view. The pronouns "I" and "me" are often used. 

  • In third-person narratives the narrator isn’t a character in the story. They don’t talk about themselves. They talk about the events and characters like a storyteller, telling the story from afar. The pronouns he, she, them, they, it, etc. are used in this type of narrative.

Activity:

  • Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create an original comic showing both types of narration. 

  • Have students narrate the story they created using both first-person and third-person narratives in their comics.

Closure:

  • Share the comics with the class and continue to compare the types of narratives used in stories.

Differentiation:

  • Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
  • Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
  • Allow students to work in pairs or groups as needed.
  • Display visual references of first-person and third-person narrators.

  • Allow students to work with a peer model. 

  • Provide example scenarios for students to use in their comics as needed.

Resources:

  • Comic to print or display

Suggested Story Starters: