Let’s face it—perspective and point of view walk into your classroom hand in hand…and immediately start causing confusion. Your students think they’re twins. They are not. Let’s face it—“perspective” can be one of those slippery ELA terms that makes kids (and sometimes teachers) go, “Wait, didn’t we just cover this with point of view?” Not quite! While they’re BFFs in the world of literary analysis, perspective and point of view aren’t twins—they’re more like siblings with wildly different personalities. So, are you wondering how to teach perspective?
In this post, you’ll find teacher-tested ideas (and some sneaky fun) to help your students finally get what perspective really is—and maybe even enjoy it along the way.
Lesson Handout
This handout includes printables and instructions for all activities listed in this post.
Wait, What’s the Difference Again?
We’ve all been there—trying to explain the difference between point of view and perspective, only to be met with a sea of blank stares or someone whispering, “Didn’t we do this last week?”
Let’s break it down.
Point of View = Who’s Telling the Story?
- Is the narrator inside the story (first-person) or lurking outside (third-person)?
- Can they read minds? Just one character? Everyone? No one?
Perspective = How the Story Gets Told
- What does the narrator think and feel about what’s happening?
- Are they biased? Clueless? Hilariously unreliable?
In short, POV is the camera angle. Perspective is the emotional filter.
📚 Common Core Standards Tied In
- RL.4.6: Compare and contrast narrators’ perspectives.
- RL.5.6: Explain how a narrator’s perspective influences events.
- RL.6.6: Analyze how authors develop narrators’ viewpoints.
Teaching Ideas and Printables
The “Disrupt the Classroom” Activity – A True Story
Okay, hear me out. Picture this: you’re teaching a normal lesson when—bam!—someone runs through the room acting completely bananas. Jumping, shouting, waving their arms. Total chaos (but in a controlled way… sort of).
That actually happened in one of my college psych classes. Turned out it was all a setup. The professor then had us write down what we saw. The results? Wildly different versions of the same 90 seconds.
Moral of the story: emotion + perspective = wildly different retellings.
👉 You don’t have to traumatize your class, but a silly version (parent volunteer in a banana costume, maybe?) would get your students thinking—and laughing.
“What Do You See?” Pictures
You know the ones: is it a duck or a rabbit? An old lady or a young woman? These optical illusions are perfect for launching a conversation about perspective.
Prompt your students:
- What do you see first?
- What does that say about how you process things?
- Could two people see the same thing differently—and both be right?
Deep thinking without the eye rolls. (Well, fewer eye rolls.)
Fractured Fairy Tales with Attitude
Bring on the sass with stories like:
- The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (from—you guessed it—the Wolf’s side)
- The Wolf Story: What Really Happened to Little Red Riding Hood
- Josh Funk’s “It’s Not…” series (It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk, It’s Not Hansel and Gretel, etc.)
These stories flip the script—and the kids LOVE them. Bonus: Josh Funk’s website even has printable coloring pages. Shrink ’em down, add writing space, and BAM—instant literacy center.
The Wolf Story: What Really Happened to Little Red Riding Hood by Toby Forward (The story is told from the perspective of the wolf.)
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka (The story is told from the perspective of the wolf.)
Josh Funk’s It’s Not a Fairy Tale Series
- It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk
- It’s Not Hansel and Gretel
- It’s Not Little Red Riding Hood
Picture Books That Prove the Point
Two words: Duck! Rabbit!
Add Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne, and you’ve got powerful picture books that show how two (or more) people can look at the same event and come away with totally different takes.
Great for mini-lessons, discussion groups, or a calming read-aloud that secretly teaches big stuff.
Novels with Multiple Narrators
When your students are ready to level up:
- Wonder by R.J. Palacio
- Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
These novels use alternating points of view to show how perspective can completely change how we see a character or situation. Perfect for close reading, character mapping, and deep discussions.
Rewrite a Fable: Same Plot, New POV
Fables offer simple narratives with room to explore how characters interpret events differently.
Ask students to rewrite:
- The Hare and the Tortoise from the hare’s dramatic perspective
- The Lion and the Mouse from a mouse with a chip on its shoulder
You’ll get hilarious takes—and some surprisingly insightful ones, too.
Perspective helps students go beyond “who said it” into “why they said it that way.” Through the activities above, your learners will begin to recognize bias, emotion, and deeper meaning in stories they once skimmed through.
From banana suit surprises to talking pigs, these lessons stick—and students start reading like real thinkers.
📥 Ready to get started?
Download the free handout packed with materials to bring these lessons to life.
See the product that inspired this post.
Our Story Elements Series offers engaging activities in both digital (Google Slides) and printable formats, easily convertible to PowerPoint for offline use. It includes a vocabulary list with definitions, a multiple-choice quiz, question stems by grade level, video lessons with organizers, and various activities. Check out the previews of each book in the bundle, covering Point of View, Characters and Settings, Plot Development, and Theme.
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