Teaching Point of View

Point of view can be a tricky skill for students.  We want to make sure that we are teaching point of view in a very explicit, yet memorable way.  I decided to revamp my whole point of view unit with a fun, retro theme which is sure to be engaging and unforgettable for students.  In this post, I will share some teaching tips, my favorite mentor texts for point of view, and some groovy activities for point of view with a fun room transformation idea!  Before teaching point of view, look at your standard.  In first grade, students have to be able to identify who is telling the story at different points, while in second grade, students should be able to determine when characters have different points of view.  All of these activities can be used for first and second grades!

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Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

Point of View Room Transformation


You do not have to go all out on a huge room transformation.  Just by simply having a theme and printing these decorations I have included will be enough to get your students super excited to learn all about point of view.  If you want to do a room transformation, I am including links to some fun items that you could use with your students.  Families are always willing to contribute or purchase room transformation items for my classroom.  So it doesn't hurt to ask if anyone wants to donate!  I just send a wishlist on Dojo.





Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

Mentor Texts


You can see below some of my favorite mentor texts to use when teaching point of view.  All of the activities can be used with any text, passage, or even with your basal. 

Point of view mentor texts









Introducing Point of View


Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

Even if you teach second grade, you should still cover this part of point of view.  I have found that students need review of what different points of view a story can be told.  A story can be told from a character's, the narrator's, or from the author's point of view.  I then go into first, second, and third person points of view using these posters.  

Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

Give students key words that they can look for in the text to determine from whose point of view a story is told.  We then do this sort together, which I leave up during the unit for student reference.

If you teach second grade, you will also need to teach that characters can have different points of view on a situation or event from the story.  I then go into what perspective means.

Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

Craft


If you teach first, you might want to do this craft at the end of your unit.  Second grade will want to do this on the first day of your unit.  Students will make this fun VW bus craft, including from whose point of view the story is told on the bumper and two pieces of text evidence to prove their thinking.

Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

Point of View Activities


We want students to be able to provide text evidence that helps determine from whose point of view the story is told.  You can do this activity with groups and then can use it as a center for further practice.

Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

The graphic organizers go in a progression from identifying point of view of a whole text to identifying when point of view changes in a story.  Some stories provide different points of view.  I also included a Venn diagram to compare and contrast when characters have different points of view or perspectives.

Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

Of course, you always want to do some sort of exit ticket at the end of a lesson.  I like to just grab a quick passage and have them tell me from whose point of view it was told or the perspective of the speaker.

Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

When I teach point of view, I ask students to think about it as if we are seeing the story through someone else's eyes.  So I made these retro Point of Viewers glasses that students can wear when they are identifying and describing point of view.

Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

I always give my students bookmarks that go along with our standard, because I want them to apply that skill to their independent reading.  By having these in their book bins, it reminds them that applying this skill is important to their comprehension of texts.

Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

A fun little activity that you can do at the end of your unit is Brown Bag Book Club.  They can fill out the graphic organizer over the text you use that day and glue it to a brown bag.  Then, you fill the bag with popcorn.  They get into groups to discuss the text and their thinking.  There are also discussion questions that I include.  This is a great little assessment to use that students will love!

Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

If you do a room transformation with this, you have to tell me!  I cannot tell you how excited I am about the new retro look!  The clip art is so cute and fun!  Not only will this unit be engaging for students, but it's really fun for the teacher, too.  You can grab the pack by clicking any of the photos or by clicking HERE.  Happy reading!!!

Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.

Save BIG on all of my comprehension units by grabbing the bundle below!  So many fun themes!

Point of view anchor chart, activities, posters, crafts, and more for first and second grades by Tiffany Gannon.


















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