• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Point of view and narrator). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. I don't think my sister likes me. She slammed the door again today, but maybe she just had a bad day at school. Why might this narrator be unreliable? (We only see events through the narrator's guesses and feelings. / The narrator knows everything. / The narrator is a talking animal. / The story uses 'you'.) → We only see events through the narrator's guesses and feelings.Prompt: Who is telling the story? Look at the pronouns (I, we, he, she).
2. Jake thought the test was easy. Amira, sitting next to him, was sure she had failed. Neither of them knew the teacher had lost the papers. What kind of narrator is this? (third-person omniscient (knows everyone's thoughts) / first person / third-person limited to Jake / second person) → third-person omniscient (knows everyone's thoughts)Prompt: Who is telling the story? Look at the pronouns (I, we, he, she).
3. You turn the key and push open the creaking door. You step inside and the air is cold. What point of view is used? (no narrator / second person / first person / third person) → second personPrompt: Who is telling the story? Look at the pronouns (I, we, he, she).

• Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
• Share the objective: First, second or third person narrators. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: What point of view is this extract written in? We had never seen snow before, so we pressed our noses to the window.
• Step 1: First person uses I/we; second person uses you; third person limited follows one character's thoughts; third person omniscient knows everyone's.
• Step 2: 'We' and 'our' are first person plural.
• Step 3: So the answer is: first person
• Answer: first person
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. What point of view is this extract written in? The captain feared the storm; the young sailor secretly enjoyed it; and the ship's cat simply wanted to be dry. (first person / second person / third person limited / third person omniscient) → third person omniscientPrompt: Look at the pronouns: I/we (first), you (second), he/she/they (third).
2. Read the question and choose. What can a third person omniscient narrator do that a first-person narrator cannot? (reveal the thoughts of many different characters / include dialogue / use the word 'I' / describe a setting) → reveal the thoughts of many different charactersPrompt: Think about how much each type of narrator knows.

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. What point of view is this extract written in? We had never seen snow before, so we pressed our noses to the window. (first person / second person / third person limited / third person omniscient) → first personPrompt: Look at the pronouns: I/we (first), you (second), he/she/they (third).
2. Read the question and choose. Why might a writer choose a first-person narrator for a mystery? (it lets the reader know every character's secrets / it means there can be no dialogue / it makes the story less personal / the reader learns clues only as the narrator does, which builds suspense) → the reader learns clues only as the narrator does, which builds suspensePrompt: Think about how much each type of narrator knows.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-6.