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Common Core ELA3rd GradeReading: Literature

RL.3.6: Your Point of View and the Narrator’s

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.6 · Cluster: Craft and Structure.

All 42 3rd Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 3, Reading: Literature · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RL.3.6 Means in Plain English

Third graders notice that the narrator or a character can see things one way while they, the readers, see them another. When a magpie narrator calls a lost ring a present, students can say what the magpie believes, what they believe, and which clues back them up.

In 2nd grade (RL.2.6) students noticed that characters see things differently, voicing each one when reading aloud. Third grade adds the reader’s own view. In 4th grade (RL.4.6) students compare stories told in first person and third person.

RL.3.6 I Can Statements

  • I can tell what the narrator thinks about what happens.
  • I can tell what I think, even when it is different.
  • I can use clues from the story to explain my view.

RL.3.6 Worked Example

A narrator who is sure of something the reader can see isn’t true.

Read the Story
Every morning the woman in the yellow house leaves presents for me on her garden table. Today it was a silver ring, shining in the sun.I carried it straight to my nest. It looks wonderful next to my bottle cap and my gum wrapper.Later the woman came out and searched under every flowerpot. She shook out the doormat. She looked in the grass for a long time, and she did not look happy.Poor thing. She must think I didn’t like her present. Tomorrow I will sing extra loud so she knows I did.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: The magpie is sure the ring was a present. Do you agree? Explain the magpie’s point of view and your own.
Not Yet“The woman gave the magpie a ring, and the magpie liked it.”It repeats the narrator’s view as if it were true. The reader’s own view never shows up, so there is nothing to tell apart.
Meets the Standard“The magpie thinks the woman ‘leaves presents for me’ and is upset because he didn’t like the ring. I don’t agree. I think she set her ring down and the magpie took it. She ‘searched under every flowerpot’ and ‘did not look happy,’ which is what people do when they lose something, not when they give a gift.”It states the narrator’s view and the reader’s view separately, and backs the reader’s view with clues the narrator misreads.
Question Stems to Use
What does the narrator believe happened?What do you think really happened?Which clues did the narrator miss or misread?Do you agree with this character? Why or why not?How would the woman tell this story?

Common Mistakes with RL.3.6

Taking the narrator’s word for it

“The woman gave the magpie a present.”

Try this: Ask two separate questions every time: “What does the narrator think?” and “What do you think?” Answer them in separate sentences.

An opinion with no clues

“I think the magpie is wrong.” and nothing more

Try this: Require a because after every “I think,” pointing to a detail the narrator described but misunderstood, like the search under the flowerpots.

Disagreeing about the wrong thing

“I don’t agree because I don’t like magpies.”

Try this: Keep the disagreement about the story’s events: students argue what really happened, using details, not whether they like the character.

Where RL.3.6 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.2.6Notice how characters see things differently, using a different voice for each when reading aloud.
AlongsideRI.3.6Tell their own view apart from an author’s in nonfiction.RL.3.3Describe characters’ traits, feelings and motivations.
Comes NextRL.4.6Compare stories told in first person and third person.

Practice RL.3.6

Quick Check

  1. Who is telling this story?
  2. What does the woman do after the ring disappears?
  3. Why does the magpie plan to sing extra loud tomorrow?

RL.3.6: Other Names

RL.3.6CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.6

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.