LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

What's the Point? A Lesson on Point of View

After reading Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day students will write the story from a chosen character's point of view. This lesson can be used with other wordless picture books.

A lesson plan for grade 4 English Language Arts and English Language Development

By Eileen Carter and Tracey Casto

Learn more

Related pages

  • Animal Adjectives: Students will describe animals as they review nouns and verbs associated with these animals. They will learn to use adjectives as they describe the animals. They will use this knowledge to write their stories about animals.
  • Who's Your Mama? A Family Who's Who: This is the first of two lessons that can be used with Cynthia Rylant's book, The Relatives Came. Students will read, draw, role-play and sing about family roles and titles.
  • Supermarket Sweep Day 1: Students will talk about choices that families make when purchasing groceries. Students will make a booklet of frequently purchased grocery items.

Related topics

Legal

This page copyright ©2008. Terms of use

Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • differentiate between first and third person point of view.
  • write an imaginative narrative.
  • use word processing skills to publish their narrative.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

5 hours

Materials/resources

Materials for teacher:

  • Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day
  • Big book version of Good Dog, Carl if available
  • Writing Scoring Rubric (see Attachment below)

Materials for each student:

  • Individual copy of the book
  • Scissors
  • Glue stick
  • Individual copy of writing checklist (See Attachment below)

Technology resources

Access to Word Processing Program

Pre-activities

Teacher will review the genre of imaginative narratives. Teacher will review necessary word processing skills to type their narratives.

Activities

Day 1:
The teacher will lead the class in a discussion about the differences between points of view.

Target students will be asked to physically demonstrate those differences within a play-acting experience of a family setting the table together. (For example, a student who will demonstrate first person point of view can narrate how their family set a table from a daughter/son’s point of view. A “guest”, who was observing this experience would then describe what they observed to indicate third person point of view.) The Attachments section of this plan includes the visual graphic organizer that the teacher can draw on the board/overhead or copy for the ELL student under the title “ELL graphic organizer.” Teacher will lead the class in a discussion about how the vocabulary used by the narrator reflected either the first person or third person points of view.
Note to Teacher: The son/daughter narrator should be using target vocabulary such as “I,” “we,” “my” etc. as compared to the vocabulary of the guest narrator who would use: “he,” “she,” “they” or the names of the various “actors.”

The teacher can share excerpts from texts to further illustrate how word choices reflect point of view.

The teacher will lead the class through the rich illustrations of the story, Good Dog, Carl in order to elicit student responses for each character’s point of view. For example, on one page the teacher could ask a student to “become” the character of the baby and describe the action on a particular page. Using that same page, the teacher could ask another student to describe the action on the page from the dog’s point of view. Finally, another student could act as the third person by becoming “a fly on the wall” in the illustration and depicting the scene.

Day 2 and 3:
Students will review their copy of the book and will choose which point of view they want to portray in their narrative: first person-Carl, the dog, first person-the baby, or third person-”the fly on the wall.” Students will plan their imaginative narrative on a graphic organizer and then write a rough draft. Students will edit and revise their story according to a writing checklist which is included in the Attachments section at the end of this lesson under the title, “checklist point of view.”

Day 4: Students will type their rough draft onto a word processing program. Once it’s published (printed), the students can cut-out the text to match/(glue)it to the corresponding illustrations on their individual copy of the book.

Day 5: Students will share their version of the book with either the class or in small groups.

Assessment

See Attachments section under the title, “Writing Rubric.”

Supplemental information

Attachments:

Other wordless texts such as:

  • Window by Jeannie Baker
  • The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher by Molly Bang
  • Tuba Lessons by T.C. BartlettClown by Quentin Blake

For descriptions of these wordless books as well as additional information see the Relevant Websites section.

Related websites

http://www.weberpl.lib.ut.us/booklists/books.php?BookListID=31&SortOrder=Author for a list and description of available wordless books.
See these websites for additional information and examples of a variety of graphic organizers http://www.graphic.org/goindex.html
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/learning/lr2grap.htm

Modifications

Teacher will draw a visual graphic organzier to illustrate the differences between first and third person point of view. This visual graphic organizer is found in the Attachments section at the end of this lesson plan under the title, “third person graphic” and “first person graphic.”

ELL students can dictate their imaginative narrative to a scribe (someone who will write their story for them).

Alternative assessments

ELL students will use a modified writing checklist found in the Attachments section at the end of this lesson under the title, “ELL modified checklist.” Teachers can modify the writing scoring rubric by considering the level 2 high - 3 as proficient.

Critical vocabulary

point of view, first person point of view, third person point of view, character, imaginative narrative

Comments

This lesson plan was developed during the English Language Development Standard Course of Study lesson planning institutes hosted by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and LEARN NC, June and July, 2004. It includes specific strategies, instructional modifications, and alternative assessments which make this lesson accessible to limited English proficient students. Please note that this lesson has been aligned with the goals and objectives of the N.C. English Language Development standards.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Computer Technology Skills (2005)

Grade 4

  • Goal 2: The learner will demonstrate knowledge and skills in the use of computer and other technologies.
    • Objective 2.07: Recognize, discuss, and use proper keyboarding techniques. Strand - Keyboard Utilization/Word Processing/Desk Top Publishing

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 4

  • Goal 2: The learner will apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
    • Objective 2.02: Interact with the text before, during, and after reading, listening, and viewing by:
      • setting a purpose using prior knowledge and text information.
      • making predictions.
      • formulating questions.
      • locating relevant information.
      • making connections with previous experiences, information, and ideas.
  • Goal 3: The learner will make connections with text through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
    • Objective 3.01: Respond to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluative processes by:
      • analyzing the impact of authors' word choice and context.
      • examining the reasons for characters' actions.
      • identifying and examining characters' motives.
      • considering a situation or problem from different characters' points of view.
      • analyzing differences among genres.
      • making inferences and drawing conclusions about characters, events and themes.
    • Objective 3.03: Consider the ways language and visuals bring characters to life, enhance plot development, and produce a response.
  • Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
    • Objective 4.01: Read aloud grade-appropriate text with fluency, comprehension, and expression demonstrating an awareness of volume and pace.
    • Objective 4.05: Use planning strategies to generate topics and organize ideas (e.g., brainstorming, mapping, webbing, reading, discussion).
    • Objective 4.06: Compose a draft that conveys major ideas and maintains focus on the topic with specific, relevant, supporting details by using preliminary plans.
    • Objective 4.08: Focus revision on a specific element such as:
      • word choice.
      • sequence of events and ideas.
      • transitional words.
      • sentence patterns.
    • Objective 4.09: Produce work that follows the conventions of particular genres (e.g., personal and imaginative narrative, research reports, learning logs, letters of request, letters of complaint).
    • Objective 4.10: Use technology as a tool to gather, organize, and present information.
  • Goal 5: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
    • Objective 5.01: Use correct capitalization (e.g., names of languages, nationalities, musical compositions) and punctuation (e.g., commas in a series, commas in direct address, commas and quotation marks in dialogue, apostrophes in possessives).
    • Objective 5.02: Demonstrate understanding in speaking and writing by appropriate usage of:
      • pronouns.
      • subject/verb agreement.
      • verb tense consistency.
      • subject consistency.
    • Objective 5.03: Elaborate information and ideas in writing and speaking by using:
      • simple and compound sentences.
      • regular and irregular verbs.
      • adverbs.
      • prepositions.
      • coordinating conjunctions.
    • Objective 5.04: Compose multiple paragraphs with:
      • topic sentences.
      • specific, relevant details.
      • logical progression and movement of ideas.
      • coherence.
      • elaboration.
      • concluding statement related to the topic.
    • Objective 5.06: Proofread and correct most misspellings independently with reference to resources (e.g., dictionaries, thesauri, glossaries, computer spell-checks, and other classroom sources).
    • Objective 5.07: Use established criteria to edit for language conventions and format.
    • Objective 5.09: Create readable documents through legible handwriting and/or word processing.

English Language Development (2005)

Grade 4

  • Goal 1. Listening: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
    • Objective IL 1.02: Understand and follow one-step and two-step directions when spoken distinctly at a normal speed.
    • Objective IL 1.03: Listen to a variety of stories told or read aloud and identify elements of a story following direct instruction.
  • Goal 3. Reading: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
    • Objective IL 3.03: Identify and interpret elements of fiction and non-fiction by referencing a text commensurate with the student's English language proficiency level (e.g., sequence, setting, characters, cause and effect).
  • Goal 2. Speaking: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
    • Objective IL 2.03: Use limited vocabulary to make oral presentations with moments of silence.
    • Objective IL 2.04: Begin to be understood when speaking in English with some inconsistent use of grammatical forms and sounds, as well as periods of momentary silence
  • Goal 4. Writing: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
    • Objective IL 4.01: Use correct capitalization independently with occasional errors.
    • Objective IL 4.02: Compose sentences with correct subject and verb agreement for regular verbs in the present tense.
    • Objective IL 4.03: Apply rules of spelling conventions independently in own writing (e.g., sound patterns, visual patterns, silent letters).
    • Objective IL 4.04: Compose one paragraph with topic sentence and supporting details with assistance and use of reference materials.
    • Objective IL 4.05: Write logical sentences in sequence using descriptive words and phrases.
    • Objective IL 4.06: Use focused review to edit correct use of plural forms of commonly used nouns and common contractions, sequence of events, and addition of descriptive words and phrases with some instructional support.