How do second graders tell first person from third person?

They look at the telling sentences. If the teller says I, me, and my, a character in the story is telling it. If the story uses he, she, and names, the teller is outside the story. Words inside quotation marks don't count, because characters talk about themselves too.

What does it mean that characters have different points of view?

It means two characters feel differently about the same thing. A long car ride can be fun for one child and dull for another. Second graders learn to spot that difference from what each character says and does, and every story on these sheets has two characters who see one thing in different ways.

2nd grade point of view

2nd grade point of view worksheets

Second grade point of view worksheets pair a short story with four questions: who is telling it, which words prove it, and how two characters feel about the same thing. Half the stories are told by a character who says I, and half by a narrator outside the story, so the same guess will not work twice.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core RL.2.6.

Each click picks one of the 15 passages written for this grade. Every sheet comes with its answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of passages you'll get

Read the passage. Then circle the letter of the best answer for each question.

The Worm Rescuer

After a rain, I rescue worms on our block. They wiggle up out of the wet dirt and onto the sidewalk, where people could step on them. My cousin Yara is visiting from the city with Aunt Delphine. I showed Yara my rescue bucket. "You…

Who is telling this story? Tariq, Yara's cousin · Yara, Tariq's cousin · a narrator who is not in the story · Aunt Delphine, who is visiting too
Answer: Tariq, Yara's cousin
Which words show who is telling the story? I, me, and my · she, her, and Yara · worms and dirt · they and them

Each print picks one of the 15 passages written for this grade, and its questions come with it. With 15 to pick from, a second print can land on one you've used, so check the title before you hand it out.

What's on a 2nd grade sheet

2nd grade sheets draw from 15 passages, 123 to 147 words long. None of these passages are on 3rd grade sheets.

Some of the titles: Bathtub Puddles, Snow on Bus 4, Boom and Bump, Mushroom Night, Squeak Squeak, The Weekend Hamster.

Reading passage. Read the passage. Then circle the letter of the best answer for each question. One passage per sheet, with its own question set.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Start with the teller. Read the first few sentences together and ask: is someone saying I, or is the story talking about her and him from the outside? Then put a finger over the words in quotation marks. Characters say I when they talk, but the telling sentences decide. For the feelings questions, ask what each character did, then let your child name the feeling that fits. Someone who hides under a blanket is not feeling proud.

Watch for: Pronouns in dialogue fool everyone. A third-person story can be full of characters saying I; the point of view lives in the telling sentences, outside the quotation marks. First person is not just a pronoun choice. It limits what the story can know: an I-narrator cannot report another character's private thoughts, and the best questions test exactly that.

Common questions about 2nd grade point of view

How do second graders tell first person from third person?: They look at the telling sentences. If the teller says I, me, and my, a character in the story is telling it. If the story uses he, she, and names, the teller is outside the story. Words inside quotation marks don't count, because characters talk about themselves too.
What does it mean that characters have different points of view?: It means two characters feel differently about the same thing. A long car ride can be fun for one child and dull for another. Second graders learn to spot that difference from what each character says and does, and every story on these sheets has two characters who see one thing in different ways.

Related worksheets

Ready to print one?

Want a different passage? Print again. Each print picks one of the 15.

Aligned to Common Core RL.2.6. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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