📖 Part 1: Read and Notice

Learning intention: I can identify a narrator’s perspective and explain how it shapes the reader’s understanding.

Vocabulary Support

perspective: the way a person sees, thinks about, or feels about an event

evidence: a detail from a text that supports an idea

claim: an idea or opinion that you can support

inference: an idea you figure out by combining text details with your thinking

reliable: trustworthy or likely to be accurate

bias: a preference that may make a person or account unfair or one-sided

Two Views of the School Garden

Maya stood beside the school garden and counted the green shoots. Only half of the seeds had grown, and the wooden sign had fallen during the last storm. She remembered how carefully she had planned the planting day. To Maya, the garden looked unfinished, but it also showed that the class had worked hard. She felt proud when she saw the first pea flowers.

Jordan carried a watering can past her. “We spent weeks on this,” he said. “The vegetables are still too small to eat, and we had to replace the sign twice.” Maya heard disappointment in his voice. She wondered whether he had noticed the flowers. When the principal arrived, Jordan pointed to the empty spaces, while Maya pointed to the new shoots.

Important: This is a third-person limited narrator. The narrator shares Maya’s thoughts and feelings, but not Jordan’s private thoughts.

Support: Use this sentence frame: The narrator focuses on ________. This is shown when the text says ________.

✏️ Part 2: Claim, Evidence, and Explanation

Word bank: Maya’s feelings • Jordan’s observations • unfinished • successful • disappointed • proud • limited narrator • details • reader

______ The garden had empty spaces and new shoots.

______ The mixed details make the project seem partly successful.

______ Jordan pointed to the empty spaces.

______ Maya’s focus on the flowers encourages the reader to notice progress.

Support frame: The narrator’s perspective shapes the reader’s understanding by ________. For example, the text says, “________________________.” This shows ________.

Challenge

✅ Part 3: Check Your Learning

Success criteria: Check each statement you can do.

I can identify the narrator and describe the narrator’s perspective.

I can support my thinking with a relevant detail from the text.

I can explain how a narrator shapes what the reader knows or feels.

I can organize a paragraph with a claim, evidence, and explanation.

I used complete sentences, correct punctuation, and careful spelling.

Differentiation: You may discuss your answer with a partner, use the sentence frames and word bank, or dictate your response to a partner or teacher. A shorter response with one strong piece of evidence is acceptable.

Extension: Add a second piece of evidence to your paragraph. Explain how a word or phrase creates a hopeful, disappointed, or mixed tone.

Teacher Answer Key

1. The narrator focuses on Maya. The narrator shares Maya’s thoughts and feelings, such as her pride and wondering whether Jordan noticed the flowers.

2. Half of the seeds had grown.

3. Maya sees the project as partly successful or promising. She notices the new shoots and flowers and feels proud, even though the garden is unfinished.

4. The narrator does not share Jordan’s private thoughts or feelings. This may lead the reader to understand Maya more clearly than Jordan and may make Maya’s view seem more important.

5. Answers may vary. A strong response could be: Claim: The garden project was partly successful. Evidence: “Only half of the seeds had grown,” but there were “first pea flowers.” Explanation: These details show both problems and progress.

6. S, A, S, A.

7. Answers may vary. Look for a clear claim, relevant evidence, and an explanation connecting the evidence to Maya’s limited perspective.

8. Answers may vary. A strong rewrite should use Jordan’s point of view and include his concerns about the small vegetables, empty spaces, or damaged sign.

9. Answers may vary. Students should compare Maya’s hopeful focus on flowers and new shoots with Jordan’s focus on empty spaces and unfinished work.

10. Answers may vary. Accept a response explaining that the narrator controls which details, thoughts, and feelings the reader receives.