Vermont Grade 3 English

Separate Your View from the Narrator’s View

Distinguish a reader’s view from the narrator’s. Use the original reading below to discuss a particular skill, then apply that reasoning to a fuller classroom text.

Curriculum reference: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy, June 2010 edition, from the Vermont English language arts standards page.

Vermont Grade 3 references for this activity

The Vermont Agency of Education identifies the Common Core State Standards for K–12 English language arts. The linked CCSS edition lists separate grade reading requirements, including Grade 3. The agency also identifies Vermont Early Learning Standards for prekindergarten through Grade 3. Read the complete standards and the school’s curriculum sequence. This original example selects one reading focus; it does not fulfill the complete curriculum.

These selected reference labels identify an activity focus, with the correct grade and PDF page linked separately. Read the complete standards selected by the school and its learning sequence, including reading, writing, language, speaking, and listening. This short original example does not fulfill the entire curriculum or establish a student’s grade-level proficiency.

An empty page

This original classroom example is separate from official assessment questions.

I stared at the blank page while my partner arranged her pencils. To me, starting a new story was the worst part of writing. I wanted the teacher to give us an opening sentence. My partner grinned at her page. “We can invent anything,” she said. I picked up my pencil but had not written a word yet.

Try the activity

Explain the narrator’s view of beginning a story with a detail. Then state your own view and distinguish it from that narrator’s view. Does the partner’s sentence prove that the narrator now agrees?

Follow the reasoning

The first-person narrator sees beginning a story as difficult and undesirable, calling it “the worst part” and wishing for an opening sentence. A reader might instead enjoy choosing an opening, or might share the narrator’s difficulty; either view needs to be identified as the reader’s own. The partner’s comment presents enthusiasm for the freedom to invent. Picking up the pencil shows a new action, but the passage does not say the narrator has changed an opinion or begun writing. A useful response names whose view is being described and keeps an imagined later change separate from the supplied ending.

Notice what needs more practice

The invented narrator is not automatically the author. A personal preference does not replace the narrator’s stated attitude, and disagreement with the narrator does not make a reading inaccurate. Use the text to explain the narrator and your own words to identify your response.

Grade 3 English worksheets

Choose printable practice that matches the skill being taught. Check the task, reading difficulty, and directions before assigning it; the collection is independently published.

Browse Grade 3 English worksheets

Use the next session to build independence

1. Identify the narrator’s attitude through a particular phrase.
2. State your own view separately.
3. Explain a similarity or difference without changing the narrator’s words.

Read a classroom story with a clear narrator. Distinguish your own view from the narrator’s and from any character’s spoken view. Discuss how later details might support a change, rather than assuming every new action changes an opinion.

For more general reading and writing resources, visit the Grade 3 English Online Center.

Vermont Grade 3 English: useful planning questions

Does the reader have to agree with the narrator?

No. A reader can disagree while accurately explaining the narrator’s view through details from the story.

Which standards does the school use?

The Vermont Agency of Education identifies the Common Core State Standards for K–12 English language arts. The linked CCSS edition lists separate grade reading requirements, including Grade 3. The agency also identifies Vermont Early Learning Standards for prekindergarten through Grade 3. Read the complete standards and the school’s curriculum sequence. This original example selects one reading focus; it does not fulfill the complete curriculum. The school’s sequence also includes reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language work beyond this example.