I love my small RTI pull-out groups, but I also enjoy the dynamic of an entire classroom of students. This year, with a combination push-in/pull-out program, I’ve been able to do both.
For part of my day, I have the pleasure of working with a third grade teacher who is just FABULOUS. She has great ideas and is always willing to try new things. A few of my RTI students are in her classroom, so I work with them during small group time and provide extra support for them during whole group mini-lessons and activities.
Last week, we explored perspective and point of view with our students. To kick off the week, we read I Am the Dog I Am the Cat – a great book for introducing perspectives. It’s a book with two voices and two characters, so the students can compare and contrast different perspectives within the same text. Since many students have pets, this is also a great book for them to relate to and make text-to-self connections.
On Tuesday, we spent time with one of my new favorite books, The Day the Crayons Quit. (Seriously, this book is the BEST for point of view, and it’s absolutely hysterical! If you’ve never read it, you need to… right now. Your students will love it, too!)
We read this book as a read-aloud, and then the students worked independently to further explore each crayon’s letter and unique point of view. I retyped the letters, and we put a basket of letters on each table. Students pulled out one letter at a time and recorded the character point of view on the graphic organizer.
The finished products were wonderful, and it was a great way for students to practice analyzing character point of view.
Want a copy of the graphic organizer we used? It is FREE for my email subscribers. If you’d like to download this poem, click here to subscribe and you will get the password via email. You will also receive exclusive access to my entire growing collection of free literacy resources! (If you’re already a subscriber, you may download the resource HERE.)
As an added bonus, some of the perspectives weren’t stated explicitly, so this allowed students to practice making inferences using text evidence. (I always love when we can embed and review past skills and strategies, don’t you?!) It was also a great way to bring in some problem-solving skills. We stopped before the last few pages and asked the students to brainstorm how the main character should solve the problem. We asked them what they would do if they were Duncan. The students did such a nice job with this, and some of their solutions were truly creative!
(UPDATE: There is a sequel that is JUST as perfect for point of view. The Days the Crayons Came Home. Check it out HERE! Now you can use one text for modeling and one for independent/small group practice.)
Throughout the week, we worked in small groups to further practice analyzing the point of view with instructional level texts. We used a combination of books, text passages, and poetry – including a few of my Partner Perspective Poems!
Check out the links below for a few of these partner poems:
(NOTE: In addition to my everyday poems that are perfect for teaching point of view, there are many seasonal partner poems in my store, as well. Check them out HERE. They are sold individually and are part of my Spring Bundle and MEGA Bundle.)
Additional Point of View Mentor Texts & Picture Books:
FRACTURED FAIRY TALES
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Honestly, Red Riding Hood Was Rotten!
OTHER PICTURE BOOKS
Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School
—
What resources do YOU use to teach point of view? I’d love to hear your ideas and add to my growing list of mentor texts for teaching point of view. Email me msjordanreads@gmail.com or comment below. 🙂
—
Happy Teaching!
Thank you! We used the POV sheet for The Day the Crayons Quit. Kids love that book!
This is great! could you please email/post the typed letters you created???
Thanks!
Hi, Brigitte! I’m glad you like this activity. Please email me msjordanreads@gmail.com! 🙂 I’d be happy to send you what I have.
Hi – I love this book and it’s sequel. I would like to do this activity with my third grade class. I hope I don’t sound stupid but exactly what are they recording on the graphic organizer? Its states to recored their views (crayons) but can you explain a little more?
Thank you!
Jennifer
Jennifer — Not a stupid question at all! I guess I should’ve included a student example. The directions are kind of vague! For my lesson, the students would read a letter and then record the crayon’s point of view. The point of view would essentially be the crayons’ feelings or attitudes and would explain why they’re quitting. For example, the red crayon’s point of view is that he believes he works harder than every other crayon. He’s overworked, tired, and thinks that he deserves a rest. — For some crayons the point of view is explicitly stated (like in the red crayon’s letter), but for others they have to make an inference using the clues from the letters. You can really do it however it makes sense for your students, but hopefully that helps! Let me know if you need additional examples or have any other questions.
—
Kristin