Kindergarten · English Language Arts and Reading
Quarter 3 · Week 7 · TEKS
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This kindergarten English Language Arts lesson focuses on helping students listen to and experience texts told from first-person and third-person perspectives. Students will engage with stories and oral texts to recognize the difference between these points of view and understand how authors use them to tell stories. The lesson supports development of listening, speaking, and comprehension skills aligned with TEKS.ELA.K.09E.
Students should be familiar with listening to stories read aloud and basic story elements such as characters and events. They should have experience with speaking in complete sentences and sharing ideas in a group setting.
First-person perspective means the story is told by a character inside the story, using words like "I" and "me." The narrator shares their own thoughts and feelings. For example, a story might start with "I went to the park today." This perspective helps readers hear the story directly from the character's point of view.
Third-person perspective means the story is told by a narrator outside the story. The narrator uses words like "he," "she," or "they" to describe what happens to the characters. For example, "She went to the park today." This perspective gives an outside view of the story and the characters.
Listen for pronouns: "I" and "me" usually indicate first-person, while "he," "she," and "they" indicate third-person. Also, notice if the narrator is part of the story or telling about others. First-person narrators are characters telling their own story; third-person narrators tell about other characters.
Authors choose first- or third-person to help tell their story in a certain way. First-person can make the story feel personal and close to the character's feelings. Third-person can give a broader view of what happens to many characters. Understanding this helps readers enjoy and understand stories better.
Use read-alouds and audio stories to let students hear different perspectives. Pause to ask questions about who is telling the story and how they know. Encourage students to share their ideas and explain their thinking. Use drawings or simple sentences to help students express their understanding.
Listen to this sentence: "I went to the park and saw a bird." Is this first-person or third-person? How do you know?
The sentence uses "I," which means the narrator is talking about themselves. This is first-person perspective because the story is told by a character inside the story.
This is first-person because the narrator says "I." The story is told by someone inside the story.
Listen to this sentence: "She went to the park and saw a bird." Is this first-person or third-person? How do you know?
The sentence uses "she," which means the narrator is talking about someone else. This is third-person perspective because the narrator is outside the story telling about another character.
This is third-person because the narrator says "she." The story is told by someone outside the story.
Read aloud a short first-person story or passage, emphasizing the narrator's use of "I" and "me."
Listen carefully to the story and raise their hand when they hear the words "I" or "me."
This activity introduces students to the first-person perspective by focusing their attention on the narrator's pronouns and point of view.
Read aloud a short third-person story or passage, emphasizing the narrator's use of "he," "she," or "they."
Listen and point out when the narrator talks about other characters using "he," "she," or "they."
This activity helps students experience third-person narration by focusing on pronouns that show the narrator is outside the story.
Use a chart to compare first- and third-person perspectives. Write examples of pronouns and narrators from the stories.
Help fill in the chart by giving examples and explaining which perspective each story used.
This phase clarifies the difference between first- and third-person by organizing observations and examples visually.
Ask students to draw a picture or tell a short story from either a first-person or third-person perspective.
Create a drawing or tell a story using "I" if first-person or "he/she/they" if third-person.
This activity allows students to apply their understanding by creating their own first- or third-person narratives.
Ask students to listen to a short passage and identify if it is first- or third-person.
Listen and respond by saying or showing which perspective the passage uses.
This assessment checks students' ability to recognize and explain the narrator's perspective in new texts.
Listen and point out when the narrator talks about other characters using "he," "she," or "they."
What word in this sentence shows it is first-person? "I like to play with my dog."
The word "I" shows it is first-person.
Listen to this sentence: "He is running fast." Is this first-person or third-person?
This is third-person because it uses "he."
Tell if this sentence is first- or third-person: "We went to the zoo." Explain your answer.
This is first-person because "we" includes the narrator as part of the story.
Compare these two sentences: "I am happy." and "She is happy." How do the perspectives change the story?
The first sentence is first-person because the narrator talks about themselves. The second is third-person because the narrator talks about someone else. The perspective changes who is telling the story and how close the reader feels to the character.
Create a short sentence from a first-person perspective and another from a third-person perspective. Explain how you know which is which.
Example: First-person: "I like ice cream." Third-person: "He likes ice cream." The first uses "I" so the narrator is telling their own story. The second uses "he" so the narrator is telling about someone else.
Provide sentence frames to help students identify pronouns (e.g., "The narrator says ___."). Use visual aids like pictures of characters pointing to themselves for first-person and pointing to others for third-person. Repeat read-alouds and use gestures to emphasize pronouns.
Pre-teach pronouns "I," "me," "he," "she," and "they" with pictures and examples. Use bilingual books or translations if available to support understanding. Encourage students to repeat sentences aloud to practice pronunciation and comprehension.
Ask students to explain why an author might choose first-person over third-person for a story. Have students compare how feelings are shared differently in first- and third-person texts. Encourage students to create longer stories or role-play narrating from different perspectives.
Encourage families to read stories at home and talk about who is telling the story. Ask students to share examples of first- or third-person stories they hear at home.
In this lesson, students learned to listen to and experience stories told from first-person and third-person perspectives. They practiced identifying pronouns that signal who is telling the story and discussed how the narrator's point of view changes the way a story is told. Through listening, discussion, and creating their own stories, students developed an understanding of author’s craft related to point of view, building foundational skills for reading comprehension and storytelling.
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