Point of View Experiments: Whose Eyes Are We Looking Through?

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English Language Arts · Creative Writing
SP-CWRIT-007  ·  Free to print and use in your classroom  ·  substituteplans.com
Page 2
Point of View Experiments: Whose Eyes Are We
Looking Through?
English Language Arts · Creative Writing · Grades 9-12 · 50 minutes
Time needed
50 minutes (one class period)
Prep
Copy the 2-page worksheet (one per student). Write I / YOU / HE-SHE on the board.
Technology
None.
Student
independence
High. Students work alone and then compare with a partner.
Copies to make
One 2-page worksheet per student
Materials
Pencils, Worksheet, Whiteboard or chalkboard
Goal for today: Students will identify the point of view of short excerpts and rewrite one scene from two different
characters’ perspectives.
Before the bell
☐ Copy the worksheet, one per student (2 pages).
☐ Write on the board: FIRST PERSON = I, me, my. SECOND PERSON = you, your. THIRD PERSON = he, she,
they, names.
☐ Keep the answer key on your desk.
Say this to start
Good morning! Today your class is experimenting with point of view. That means deciding who tells the story and how
much they know. You will look at the same moment told four different ways, and then write the scene yourself from
two perspectives. There is no single right way to write it. Just be clear and creative.


SubstitutePlans.com
English Language Arts · Creative Writing
SP-CWRIT-007  ·  Free to print and use in your classroom  ·  substituteplans.com
Page 3
Run of show
Minutes
What you do
What students do
0–5
Take attendance the way the school requires. Hand out the
worksheet.
Settle in and take out a pencil.
5–12
Read the Point of View Guide aloud. Point to the pronoun
list on the board. Explain that third person limited stays
inside one character’s mind and third person omniscient
can know what many characters think.
Follow along and ask questions.
12–22
Tell students to complete questions 1–4 (matching
excerpts to point of view).
Match each excerpt to its point of view.
22–27
Tell students to answer questions 5 and 6.
Answer the two multiple-choice questions.
27–42
Tell students to complete questions 7 and 8, rewriting the
Base Scene from two perspectives. Each rewrite must add
at least one thought or feeling that the original scene does
not include.
Rewrite the scene twice from two different
perspectives.
42–50
Tell students to answer question 9 and finish the exit
ticket. Let partners read a short section aloud to each other
quietly. Collect all worksheets.
Reflect on which version worked best, finish
the exit ticket, and hand in the worksheet.
If things go wrong
• If students confuse limited and omniscient, tell them: limited knows one character’s thoughts, omniscient
knows everyone’s.
• If a student says they cannot write from Luis’s view, tell them to imagine they are Luis and ask what he
already knows.
• If students want to change the scene, say a small change is fine as long as the same moment is told.
• If students finish quickly, point to the early finisher list.
Early finishers
• Rewrite the Base Scene in second person (you), then decide whether you like it.
• Write a version told by someone who is not in the room, such as the family dog.
• Write a one-sentence version in omniscient point of view that tells what both characters know.
Support and challenge
• Support: Let students complete question 7 only and write at least four sentences.
• Challenge: Ask students to write question 8 so that the reader can tell the narrator is hiding something.


SubstitutePlans.com
English Language Arts · Creative Writing
SP-CWRIT-007  ·  Free to print and use in your classroom  ·  substituteplans.com
Page 4
Notes for the teacher (you fill this in)
Jot a few lines before you leave. A full Daily Sub Report is in the free Sub Survival Kit at SubstitutePlans.com.
How far the class got / what to pick up next:
Students who were especially helpful:
Anything the teacher should know: