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Lesson Plan: Point of View

Subject:  ELA- Reading

Grade: 4

Lesson Objective: To compare and contrast first- and third- person views of the Erie Canal

Common Core Standard:  CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.6- Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.

Materials:

Starter:

Say:

  • Have you ever heard a story about someone and then heard the same story from the person the story happened to?  What were the differences?  (Allow the students to answer.)

Main:

Say:

  • When you hear a story from the person that it happened to, you hear details and the feelings behind what happened.
  • When you hear a story from someone who was not there, you only hear what that person has been told.
  • Hearing a story from the person that it happened to is called a first-person account.
  • Hearing a story from someone who was not there is called a third-person account.
  • When do you think hearing a third-person account would be helpful?  (Allow the students to answer.)
  • When you read or hear a third-person account, you know that it is objective.  That means that there are no opinions and it is just facts.  Third-person accounts are helpful when you want to learn information.
  • When do you think hearing a first-person account would be helpful?  (Allow the students to answer.)
  • When you read or hear a first-person account, you will hear someone’s feelings and opinions.  First-person accounts are helpful when you want to hear a good story or learn how someone feels about something.
  • Now, you are going to be reading a first-person and a third-person account of the Erie Canal.  Then, you are going to answer questions about what you just read and the similarities and differences between the accounts.
  • Does anyone have any questions?

Feedback:

Say:

  • Who would like to share your answers?  (Allow the students to share and go over the answers.)

Written by Kimberly Greacen, Education World® Contributing Writer

Kimberly is an educator with extensive experience in curriculum writing and developing instructional materials to align with Common Core State Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy.

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