YOUR VIEW MATTERS–POINT OF VIEW

YOUR VIEW MATTERS–POINT OF VIEW

Learning Description

This interactive, energetic lesson helps students explore points of view through the lens of games, dialogue, and a story. Students will activate their bodies and minds as they express emotions on their feet while using props and dialogue to immerse themselves in someone else's shoes. They will improvise dialogue from well-known fairytale scenarios from all three points of view. Finally, they will apply their point of view knowledge to the enchanting book, The Tale of Two Beasts.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 24-5
CONTENT FOCUS: THEATRE & ELA
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"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can use my body to tell stories from several perspectives.
  • I can step inside someone else's shoes to learn more about them.
  • I can retell stories using freeze frames in a tableau.
  • I can create dialogue from several characters’ points of view.

Essential Questions

  • How does my point of view help others know my story?
  • What can I learn about others when thinking from their point of view?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 4:

4.P.ST.2.b Draw from knowledge of author, audience, and context to discern and establish a clear point of view or unique perspective when interpreting and constructing texts.

 

Grade 5:

5.P.ST.2.b Draw from knowledge of author, audience, and context to discern and establish a clear point of view or unique perspective when interpreting and constructing texts.

Arts Standards

TA.CR.1 Organize, design, and refine theatrical work.

TA.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

ELA.AOR.3: Evaluate how an author's choice of point of view or perspective shapes style and meaning within and across literary texts.

Grade 4:

ELA.4.AOR.3.1 a. Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first person and third person; and b. explain how different characters' perspectives impact a literary text.

 

Grade 5:

ELA.5.AOR.3.1 a. Explain how the point of view from which a story is narrated influences how events are described; and b. Explain how an author reveals one or more characters' perspectives in a literary text.

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 1: I can create scenes and write scripts using story elements and structure.

Benchmark T.CR NL.1 - I can identify basic story elements in simple stories, plays and scripts (e.g. plot, character, setting, theme, etc.).

Indicator T.CR.NL.1.2 - I can identify basic character qualities from a prompt.

Anchor Standard 3: I can act in improvised scenes and written scripts.

Benchmark T.P NL.3: I can use my body and voice to communicate character traits and emotions in a guided drama experience.

Benchmark T.P IM.3: I can use acting techniques to develop characters and create meaning in a simple theatrical work.

Benchmark T.P NM.3: I can make choices to change body and voice to portray differences between myself and characters in a guided drama experience.

Indicator T.P NM.3.1: I can make choices about using my body, and/or voice to imitate a variety of characters, conditions, and emotions.

Benchmark T.P NL. 3.1: I can experiment with a number of character choices in relation to other characters and conditions.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Character – A person, animal, or creature in a story
  • Story – A tale with a beginning, middle, and end that tells what happens to the characters
  • Problem – Something that goes wrong in a story that the characters need to fix
  • Solution – How the problem in a story gets fixed or solved
  • Point of View – The way a story is told and who is telling it
  • Perspective – How a character feels about what is happening in the story; different characters may see things in different ways
  • 1st person point of view – The story is told by someone in the story using "I" or "we."
  • 2nd person point of view – The story is talking to you, using "you", the reader (this is less common)
  • 3rd person point of view – The story is told by a narrator who is not in the story, using "he," "she," or "they”

Arts Vocabulary

  • Emotions – The feelings you have inside (happy, sad, scared, angry, calm, peaceful, joyful, embarrassed, etc.)
  • Facial expression – Using your face to show emotion
  • Body – Actors use their bodies to become a character through body posture and movement
  • Gestures – An expressive movement of the body or limbs
  • Posture – The position of one part of the body in relation to other parts
  • Gait – The way a person or animal walks or runs
  • Prop – Items that actors use in a performance to depict real-life objects
  • Dialogue – A conversation between two or more persons
  • Tableau - A frozen picture representing a scene or moment in a story that occurs during a theatrical performance
  • Freeze frame – A series of tableaux that tell a story

 

Materials

  • Feeling Wheels/Charts/Faces
  • Various props (for Step In My Shoes Relay–examples listed in Instructional Design)
  • POV sunglasses or headbands (for Whose Story Is it?)--two pairs of sunglasses or headbands needed–each one will have a character’s name taped to it
  • The book A Tale of Two Beasts by Fiona Roberton (A Tale of Two Beasts read aloud)
  • Four pieces of board or large paper (for Step In My Shoes Relay)

 

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

EMOTION FACES & WALKS

  • Show a Feeling Wheel or a visual of emotions (see Additional Resources).
  • Point to an emotion and ask students to make the facial expression associated with that emotion.
    • Point to an emotion.
    • Say "1, 2, 3….FREEZE".
    • Students show a facial expression.
    • Then, call out the emotion/feeling.
  • Tell students that actors use their facial expressions to help tell the story of how they feel.
  • Ask students how you can use your body to show emotions.
    • Some ways are using gestures, posture, and gait.
  • Have students stand up and fill in spaces around the room.
    • Tell students to:
      • Walk around the room without touching anyone.
      • You will call out an emotion.
      • Students need to walk like that emotion until you call out the next emotion.

STEP IN MY SHOES RELAY

  • Divide students into groups.
  • Set up the following four stations around the classroom with props and prompt questions.
    • 1) The teacher station:
      • Prop Suggestions: Oversized glasses, chalkboard pointer, hat, sweater, clipboard, stack of papers
      • Prompt questions written on a board or large paper
        • How do you feel about grading papers?
        • What is your favorite part of the school day?
        • How do you feel when students don't listen in class?
        • What do you wish students would do more of in class?
        • What do you do when a lesson doesn't go as planned?
      • 2) The student station:
        • Prop suggestions (backpack, school supplies, fidget toy or earbuds, textbooks or notebook)
        • Prompt questions written on a board or large paper
          • How do you feel about homework?
          • What's your favorite subject and why?
          • How do you feel when there's a pop quiz?
          • What's the hardest thing about school?
          • How do you feel when you finally finish a big project?
        • 3) The pet station:
          • Prop suggestions (leash or collar, toy bone or ball, stuffed animal (dog or cat), pet bed or blanket
          • Prompt questions written on a board or large paper
            • What do you think when you hear the sound of food being prepared?
            • How do you feel when you're left alone at home?
            • What do you do when your owner comes home?
            • How do you react when someone new enters the house?
            • What's your favorite activity to do with your owner?
          • 4) The parent/caregiver station:
            • Prop suggestions (apron or parental hat, child's drawing, family photo, grocery bag, car keys, phone)
            • Prompt questions written on a board or large paper
              • How do you feel when your kids don't listen to you?
              • What do you think about the way school is run?
              • How do you feel when your child gets a good grade?
              • What do you wish your children would do more at home?
              • What do you find most challenging about being a parent/caregiver?
            • Let each student take turns putting on the "perspective shoes" (props) at each station.
              • Have them pick up the props at each station.
              • Then they will answer the prompt questions from that character's perspective.
            • After each round, students can rotate to the next station and take on a new perspective.
            • After completing all stations, come together to discuss the following questions:
              • How did it feel to be in that character's shoes?
              • How did the perspective change the way you viewed the situation?
              • What did you learn about how people in different roles might feel or think?
            • Relay extensions:
              • Change the setting: Instead of a classroom, set the stations in different environments (e.g., home, park, school bus).
              • Add a time limit: Challenge students to answer the prompts in under a minute, encouraging quick thinking.
              • Make it competitive: Turn the relay into a friendly competition, awarding points for the most creative or thoughtful answers.
            • Relay reflection questions:
              • How did the props help you feel more connected to the perspective?
              • What were the most surprising things you learned while "walking in someone else's shoes"?
              • How can understanding different perspectives help us in real life?

Work Session

  • Imagine you and a friend see the same thing; you might describe it differently because each one of you is looking at the story from your own perspective or "point of view".
    • Point of view is like whose eyes are telling the story.
    • Point of view is like whose thoughts we are reading about.
  • Explore the details about Points of View: 1st, 2nd 3rd and associated pronouns.

 

WHOSE STORY IS IT?

  • Choose a simple, well-known fable or fairytale. See suggestions below.
    • The Three Little Pigs (characters – Wolf, Pigs, Narrator)
    • Goldilocks and the Three Bears (characters – Goldilocks, Baby Bear, Narrator)
    • Little Red Riding Hood (characters – Little Red, Wolf, Narrator)
  • Ask students to act out the story in three different ways or from three different sets of eyes.
    • First, give each person a pair of sunglasses or headband with their point of view (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) taped to it.
      • 1st person:
        • One student pretends to be a character and tells the story as "I”.
        • Pronouns - I, me, we, our
        • Examples -
          • Little Red Riding Hood:
            • LITTLE RED: “I'm going to Grandmother's house.”
          • Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
            • GOLDILOCKS: “I'm sleepy.”
          • 2nd person:
            • A narrator tells it using "You"—like a “choose-your-own-adventure” story.
            • Pronouns - you, your, yours
            • Examples -
              • Little Red Riding Hood:
                • NARRATOR: “You are walking to Grandmother's house.”
              • Goldilocks and the Three Bears:
                • NARRATOR: “You are sleeping in Baby Bear's bed.”
              • 3rd person:
                • A narrator describes the scene while others act it out.
                • Pronouns - he, she, him, her, they, them
                • Examples -
                  • Little Red Riding Hood:
                    • WOLF: “She has a basket of goodies!”
                  • Goldilocks and the Three Bears:
                    • BABY BEAR: “She is sleeping in Baby Bear’s bed!”
                  • After, facilitate a discussion around the following questions:
                    • How does the story change depending on who is telling it?
                    • Which POV makes the audience feel closest to the story?

 

POINT OF VIEW BOOK

  • Tell students that you can explore Point of View when reading a book.
  • Read the book, The Tale of Two Beasts, by Fiona Roberton.
  • After reading, discuss the following:
    • Did the Girl and Beast see things the same way or differently? (Differently)
    • When the Girl thought she was rescuing the little Beast, what was the Beast thinking? (That he was being captured)
  • Ask students to make a statue of the two characters: the Girl and the Beast.
    • Tell students to add posture, facial expression, and emotion.
  • Discuss Part 1 - Who is speaking in Part 1 of the book?
    • Whose point of view or eyes are we seeing the story through? (The Girl)
  • Tell students that they will Freeze Frame her side of the story.
    • Define the parts of her story.
    • Ask students to come up and freeze-frame each part.
    • Tap each student playing the Girl.
      • Ask the student to say what the Girl is thinking, speaking in the first person using "I".
    • Discuss Part 2 - Who is speaking in Part 2 of the book?
      • Whose point of view or eyes are we seeing the story through? (The Beast)
    • Tell students that they will Freeze Frame the Beast's side of the story.
      • Define the parts of his story.
      • Ask students to come up and freeze-frame each part.
      • Tap each student playing the Beast.
        • Ask the student to say what the Beast is thinking, speaking in the first person using "I".
      • Ask students to pick their favorite book character and write three sentences:
        • 1st person - from the character's point of view using "I".
        • 2nd person - from a narrator's POV addressing the reader using "you".
        • 3rd person - from the narrator's POV using "he, she, they".

 

Closing Reflection

  • Facilitate a discussion around the following questions:
    • How did we bring point of view to life today?
      • We used our bodies to become the characters and the points of view.
      • We also retold the stories using our bodies and faces in tableaux or freeze frames.
    • Is this a way for us to help people understand us?
      • By sharing and showing our emotions
    • Do you think the girl and the creature understood each other better at the end of their stories?
    • Can you “turn and talk" showing your partner what emotion you feel right now?
    • What did the Girl and the Beast feel at the end of their stories?

 

Assessments

Formative

  • The teacher will observe:
    • Are students engaged and on task?
    • Can students speak in the first person from the character’s point of view?
    • Are students engaging their voices and bodies?

Summative

  • Use the following checklist to assess students (can be projected on the board):
    • Did you use your face?
    • Did you use your voice?
    • Did you use your body?
    • Did you speak from the 1st-person point of view?
    • Did you speak from a 2nd-person point of view?
    • Did you speak from a 3rd person point of view?

Student’s sentences from each point of view

 

 

Differentiation

Accelerated: 

  • Advanced students write a diary entry from a character's perspective.
  • They can also identify points of view in written text.

 

Remedial:

  • Remedial students can write the three POV sentences as a group instead of each individual.
  • The student can also draw a picture and write the pronoun instead of writing out sentences.

 

Additional Resources

 

Credits

Ideas contributed by: Susie Spear Purcell. 

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Revised and copyright:  May 2025 @ ArtsNOW

 

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