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First Person Point-of-View in Literary Text or Fiction

110.18. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 6, Beginning with School Year 2009-
2010
(6) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students are expected to: (C)
describe different forms of point-of-view, including first- and third-person.

Resources

Three Aprons - one with I, Me, one with He, Him, and one with She, Her

Class of iPads

The Web2.0 app Storybird - https://storybird.com/

Class set of Plicker Cards

Learning Objective

The students will be able to describe and create first person point-of-view in literature.

Time

This first person literature lesson will take approximately thirty to forty-five minutes.

Introduction

To build on prior knowledge the librarian will ask the students to remember their writing
assignment earlier in the year: Write about a time when they did something fun with a friend.
Then as a hook the librarian will ask a student to wear an apron that says - I, Me and to describe
that time in a couple of minutes,pretending another student who is wearing an apron that says -
She, Her or He, Him is the friend. This is an impromptu storytelling session. After the first
student tells about their good time, the librarian tells the class to pay attention to the story from
the narrators point of view. If they are telling the story using I and me, it is a first person point-
of-view. If the story is told from anothers point of view it is called the third person point-of-
view. The librarian has a couple of more students tell their story and then she asks questions
such as, Who is this story about? Is it told in the first person or third person? When you tell a
story about yourself, that story is in first person. So, if you pretend you are someone else and
write the story using I and me, is that also first person?

Learning Outcomes
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The learning outcomes are the students will learn how to describe and create a story told in the
first person point-of-view. The activities are all related to first person, as that is the focus of the
lesson. Third person point-of-view is explained to make it clear what the difference is.

First students will learn about the first person point-of-view, read a story in the first person point-
of-view, and then write a story in first person. The prior knowledge schemata that students will
build upon is the assignment written in first person earlier this year. Although they might not
have realized it they were writing in the first person point-of-view. Today they will describe first
person point-of-view and write a story in first person pretending they are another person or a
fictional character.

Pre-Activity

In the pre-activity, the librarian will remind students of a story they wrote earlier in the year
about a friend for their journals. To jog their memory, the librarian can use a three minute
Think, Pair Share for students to turn to a neighbor and tell the student what story they wrote.

The librarian will then demonstrate or model the storytelling pre-activity by putting on the apron
that has I, Me on it and enunciate I and me as she tells about a time she went to the beach and
tried surfing with her sister. This will be a two minute storytelling. Then she will ask a student
to do the same in a quick two minute impromptu storytelling with the I, Me apron. She will also
has a student play the part of the friend from their story and puts the She, Her apron on the
friend.

At this point the librarian explains they just told a story in first person. She explains anytime we
tell a story using the words I or me, it is in first person point-of-view. The first person point-of-
view can be achieved when telling a real or make believe story. The key to true first person
point-of-view is telling the story as if being behind the characters eyes.

Activity

Direct Instruction

After the students are hooked with the pre-activity, the librarian builds on their prior knowledge
schemata by telling them they have always told stories in first person. Young children usually
tell stories about themselves. I and me are very popular words with younger children. Now we
are going to take a step further by reading and creating a story in first person today.

The next step is to have the students read on their iPads The Underachievers Give the students
ten minutes or less to read this story.

https://storybird.com/chapters/the-underachievers/1/
BOOK SUMMARY:
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(Six middle school students find themselves in Saturday detention to literally clean up their
actions. Can painting a simple mural actually bring about positive changes to themselves and
their school?)

After reading this story, the librarian will ask some questions about the story which will serve as
the guided practice. The students will hold up their Plicker Cards for the librarian to adjust the
lesson. If the majority of the students have mastered the main concept, it is time to proceed to
the authentic assessment phase. If the majority has not mastered the concept from the scores on
the Plicker Cards, she will need to reteach the learning objective by going over the first
paragraph of the reading in detail, paying attention to each reference to first person point-of-
view.

Guided Practice

1. Who is telling this story?

A. The Principle
B. The Best Friend
C. The Student Himself

2. What point-of-view is this story written in?

A. First Person Point-of-View

B. Third Person Point-of-View
C. Second Person Point-of-View

3. Which keywords did the author use to identify who was telling the story or what person
was it written in?

A. I, Me
B. He, Him
C. She, Her

4. Can you write in first person and pretend you are someone or something else?

A. Yes
B. No

5 This is true first-person: being behind the characters eyes.

A. True
B. False

Modification of the Lesson

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To adjust if the time is running short, the librarian could take out the students storytelling in the
pre-activity and she could just tell her first person story. She could also ask the students to read
The Underachievers for five minutes rather than ten minutes.

In the event that there is more time left in the lesson, the librarian could let the students finish
their authentic first person story in Storybird.

Assessment

The librarian will know if the students have mastered the learning objective of describing a first
person point-of-view perspective from the Plicker Cards, When the students begin to create their
stories in Storybird, the librarian will walk around and look at their devices or computers. After
reading the first few lines of the students stories, she will have a good idea if they can create a
fictional character using the first person point-of-view.

To begin the assessment, librarians will have their classes logged into Storybird.
f.https://storybird.com/create/
Storybird is a fantastic way to get a quick sample of writing as the students can quickly pick a
picture with a character and begin to write. If they have someone or something in mind, they can
search for it. The librarian can give the students a two minute limit to search for their picture and
begin writing. When the students have finished their writing, they share it with their neighbor.
This is a fantastic site as students can invite other students to collaborate if the librarian would
like the students to work in pairs.

An example of student work.

https://storybird.com/create/
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References

Abeyta, Linda. The Day I Became Rich by labeyta on Storybird. Storybird, Storybird
studio: creative tools for educators,
storybird.com/books/the-day-we-became-rich/?token=vtg7my8b9z. Accessed 24
Apr. 2017.

Drool, Braeden. The Underachievers by figment68 Chapter 1 on Storybird. Storybird,

Storybird studio: creative tools for educators,
storybird.com/chapters/the-underachievers/1/. Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.

Haven, Kendall F., and MaryGay Ducey. Crash course in storytelling. Westport, CT, Libraries
Unlimited, 2007

Plickers. Plickers, Plickers, 2017, www.plickers.com/. Accessed 23 Apr. 2017.

Storybird. Storybird - Create, Storybird studio: creative tools for educators,

storybird.com/create/. Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.

"Think-Pair-Share." Reading Rockets. WETA, 13 Apr. 2017. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.