7th Grade Narrative Perspectives Lesson Plan Example

Topic: Narrative perspectives, contrasting different points of view, and character development

Objectives & Outcomes

• Students will be able to identify and define the three narrative perspectives: first person, third person limited, and third person omniscient.
• Students will be able to analyze and compare the use of narrative perspectives in different stories.
• Students will be able to develop and characterize their own characters using the techniques of different narrative perspectives.

Materials

• Copies of "In the Wild Light" by Jeff Zentner
• Pencils and paper for note-taking

Warm-up

• Begin the class by asking students to think about a time when they witnessed or experienced something firsthand. Have them write down a brief description of the event in their own words, using the first person perspective.
• Next, have students think of a fictional character they are familiar with and describe their personality and traits using the third person omniscient perspective.
• Finally, have students think of a new fictional character they would like to create and describe their appearance, personality, and traits using the third person limited perspective.

Direct Instruction

• Introduce the concept of narrative perspectives by explaining that different perspectives provide different points of view on events and characters.
• Use the handouts to review the different perspectives: first person, third person, and third person limited.
• Have students read "In the Wild Light" and identify the different narrative perspectives used.
• Discuss how the use of different perspectives can affect the reader's understanding of events and characters.

Guided Practice

• Divide the class into small groups and assign each group one of the perspectives from the previous activity.
• Have the groups re-read the sections of the text using their assigned perspective and discuss how it affects their understanding of the events and characters.
• Lead a class discussion about the different perspectives and how they affect the reader's understanding.

Independent Practice

• Have students choose a passage from "In the Wild Light" that includes more than one character.
• Have them re-read the passage using different perspectives, and write a short paragraph describing how each perspective affects their understanding of the events and characters.

Closure

• Review the different narrative perspectives that were discussed in the lesson.
• Ask students to share their paragraphs and discuss how they used different perspectives to understand the events and characters in their passage.

Assessment

• Collect the paragraphs and approve them for accuracy and use of narrative perspective.
• Use a rubric to assess the students’ understanding of the different narrative perspectives and their ability to use them in their own passage.