Skip to main content
Common Core ELA5th GradeReading: Literature

RL.5.6: How Point of View Shapes the Story

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6 · Cluster: Craft and Structure.

All 43 5th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 5, Reading: Literature · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RL.5.6 Means in Plain English

Fifth graders notice that who tells a story changes how the events sound. A narrator who lost the front seat to a sister makes her sound like a cheat. Students point to the words that show the narrator’s slant and imagine how the sister would tell it.

In 4th grade (RL.4.6) students compared first-person and third-person narration. Fifth grade asks what the narrator’s view does to the events. In 6th grade (RL.6.6) students explain how an author builds a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view across a whole text.

RL.5.6 I Can Statements

  • I can tell who is narrating a story and what they want.
  • I can point to words that show how the narrator feels.
  • I can explain how another character would tell the same events.

RL.5.6 Worked Example

A narrator with a grudge. The question is not who tells the story, but what that does to it.

Read the Story
Everyone knows the front seat goes to whoever touches the car door first, and I touched it first. Everyone knows that.Priya says she called it at breakfast. Calling it at breakfast doesn’t count. That’s not a rule, that’s just talking.So now I’m in the back with the dog, who is sitting on my homework, and Priya is up front picking the music like a queen.Mom says I’ll survive. Mom doesn’t understand how serious this is.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: How does the narrator’s point of view change the way the car ride is described?
Not Yet“It’s told in first person because the narrator says I.”It names the point of view and stops. The standard asks what that view does to the events, and this answer never reaches the car ride.
Meets the Standard“The narrator lost the front seat, so the whole ride tilts against Priya. Her claim is ‘just talking,’ and she sits up front ‘like a queen.’ Priya would tell it differently: she called the seat at breakfast. Even Mom treats it as small, while the narrator calls it ‘serious.’”It names who is telling, quotes the words that show the slant, and imagines how another character would tell the same moment.
Question Stems to Use
Who is telling this story, and what do they want?Which words show how the narrator feels about another character?How would another character tell the same event?What does the narrator leave out or wave away?Can you trust this narrator? Why or why not?

Common Mistakes with RL.5.6

Stopping at first or third person

“It’s first person.”

Try this: Follow every point-of-view label with “So what?” and ask how the same event would sound if another character told it.

Trusting the narrator completely

“Priya cheated and stole the seat.”

Try this: Have students list what the narrator says beside what actually happened, then circle the places where the two lists disagree.

Mixing up the author and the narrator

“The author thinks Priya is spoiled.”

Try this: Name the narrator by role, like “the sibling in back,” in every sentence about whose feelings color events, never “the author.”

Where RL.5.6 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.4.6Compare the point of view of different stories, including first person and third person.
AlongsideRI.5.6Compare several accounts of one real event and how the writers’ views differ.W.5.3Write a story whose narrator shapes what the reader sees.
Comes NextRL.6.6Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker.

Practice RL.5.6

Quick Check

  1. What rule does the narrator say decides who gets the front seat?
  2. Why does Priya think the seat is hers?
  3. Find one phrase that shows how the narrator feels about Priya.

RL.5.6: Other Names

RL.5.6CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6

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.