Lesson 34: A Different Perspective, Narrative Writing, Part I

Use this launch to activate students’ prior analysis of adult characters and ground the lesson in text-based character understanding. As students share, press for precise descriptions supported by details from Look Both Ways and begin orienting them to the idea that a character’s identity and experiences shape how they interpret events. This prepares students to shift perspective in their own writing.

Instruct students to take out their homework from the previous lesson.

• Lesson 33 Homework: Students were instructed to write in their Journal about which adult characters from Look Both Ways are the strongest and then describe the characters.

Have students share their answers and record them in a table where all students can see them. After each new character is added, ask whether anyone else has chosen that character and whether they have anything to add.

Say these Directions: Share the character you chose and one or two of your descriptions. Then, if anyone else chooses the same character, they can add to that description.

• I chose Ms. CeeCee, who sells the candy to the Low Cuts. She’s a no-nonsense businesslike woman. [Second student adds]: She’s a little tough with the Low Cuts, but she also respects their hustle.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, we’re going to start planning narratives that show an adult character’s perspective on an event from Look Both Ways. Understanding who those characters are and how they think will help you see the events from a new perspective.

Language Study

Setting:

Remind students of what a story’s setting is and why it is important.

• The setting of a story is the place and time in which the story happens. Everyone is affected by the world around them, so the setting affects all the characters. It shapes how they think and how they act. Different characters might view the same setting differently, while the same characters might act differently in a different setting.

Project or share the two paragraphs from Look Both Ways that introduce the setting of Placer Pool from the Low Cuts’ perspective. It begins with these sentences:

• “Silence, except for one pool ball smacking against another. Then total silence. Old men, like scraggly human cigarettes with non-human cigarettes dangling from their mouths, all turned and looked…”

Lead a brief discussion on how the setting is introduced, the impression it makes on the reader, and how it relates to the characters and their perspectives.

• Ask: How would you describe the pool hall in your own words?

  • It sounds like it’s really smoky. It’s a bit of a rough place; kids usually don’t go. It’s maybe a little scary.

• Ask: How do the main characters behave in this setting? How is it different from how they have behaved in the past?

  • The Low Cuts seem really uncomfortable. They don’t seem as confident as they have in the past. Bit understands how to act differently in a place like that.

• Ask: Whose perspective do we see this setting from? How might it be different from another perspective?

  • We see the pool hall from the Low Cuts’ perspective. It would be different from another perspective. I think the men who spend time there would feel comfortable. It’s their hangout, and they’re really used to it.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: “Today, we’re going to talk about how different characters might see the same settings from a different perspective. Then we’ll see how they might see other characters and events differently as well. We will use that understanding to plan how to write from other perspectives.”

Part A: Perspectives on Setting, Characters, and Events Text: “The Low Cuts Strike Again” (W.6.3a) (20 minutes)

Use this activity to guide students in analyzing how perspective shapes the meaning of setting, characters, and events. Move students beyond general observations to specific, text-based inferences about how their chosen character would interpret the same moments differently. Emphasize that effective narrative planning requires aligning details, tone, and reactions with the character’s point of view.

Return to the discussion of the perspective of the men in the pool hall. Allow students to brainstorm ways their perspectives on the setting might differ.

• Ask: What are some ways in which the men in the pool hall might have a different perspective on the pool hall than the Low Cuts do?

  • The men are not nervous to be in the pool hall at all. They know they belong there. They feel at home. They go there to see their friends and relax. Maybe they get to escape from something at home.

• Say: What if we were to imagine a paragraph in Look Both Ways written from the perspective of one of the men in the pool hall?

Display a model paragraph describing the pool hall from the perspective of one of the regulars, modeling how to use dialogue and internal thinking:

• I love the way that smoke hits me when I walk in the front door. It smells like the brand my Granddad used to smoke before Grandma made him give ‘em up. The clacking of the pool balls means my friends are already inside, having a good time. When I walk in, everyone shouts “Hey, Carl!” and I know I’m home, here with my best friends. The pool hall might look intimidating on the outside, but some dogs just have to bark a few times before they lick your face.

Lead a brief discussion on your model paragraph.

• Ask: What are some elements of the paragraph that make it strong?

  • • It has the following elements:

    • At least one sensory detail (smell and sound)

  • Description of how the character feels about the place or why it is important to them (feels like home)

  • Description of how it is different from how the Low Cuts feel about the place

  • At least one voice marker (When I walk in…)

• Ask: What do we learn about the setting that we didn’t know before when we see it from a new perspective?

  • We learn that this pool hall smells like an old, familiar kind of smoke. We learn that the sound of the pool balls means people are having a good time. The metaphor of the pool hall and the dog really made it seem like a friendly place.

• Ask: What do we learn about this character from hearing his perspective on the setting?

  • We learn that he cares deeply about the pool hall. It even brings back good memories from when he was younger. His closest friends are all there too. They have a good time playing pool together.

Transition from discussing perspectives on setting to perspectives in general.

• Say: Different characters have different perspectives on the same setting. They have different perspectives on other characters and events, too. You are going to retell one of the stories from Look Both Ways from the perspective of a different character.

Distribute a copy of the 3-Column Graphic Organizer to each student. Label (or have students label) the three columns “Setting,” “Other Characters,” and “Events.” Have students also write the name of their chosen characters at the top.

Give students a few minutes to fill out their columns with what they imagine their character’s perspective to be on the three story elements.

• Say: Think about who your character is and how their perspective is different from others as you fill out this chart. Include sensory details in column one to set the scene. Remember that those are details that appeal to the five senses. Also, think about the other characters in your new scene. What happens will help you write in this new character’s voice and make your story different from the original.

  • “Carl” from the pool hall

Setting: feels at home there; has good friends who gather there; makes him feel nostalgic for his past

Other Characters: cares a lot about his friends at the pool hall; thinks the Low Cuts are rude; respects the Low Cuts for their hustle; sees a little of himself in Bit

Events: these kids don’t belong in my pool hall; old candy reminds me of visiting my family; the price of the candy is worth it to help me relive some of my childhood

Prompt students to reflect on their exploration of their character’s perspectives and transition into pre-writing their stories.

• Say: Did this help you decide what to write about in your story? Did you learn anything about your character?

  • It helped me to remember what my character knows and doesn’t know about the other characters and events in the story. I can write about how that makes him look at everything in the story differently.

Part B: Pre-Writing with Perspective (W.6.3a) (10 minutes)

Display the model outline that you created in Lesson 27 and remind students of how they used their outlines to help plan and then guide the paragraph they wrote in that lesson.

I: Part I

A: Kenzi has a fitness test in gym.

• 1. The gym smells bad.

  2. The teacher’s whistle is really loud.

II: Part II

A: Kenzi is nervous about a test in gym that day.

1. His heart is beating fast.

2. Kenzi does not feel ready.

3. He trained for a long time, but then he stopped.

III: Part III

A: Kenzi is nervous because he misses his brother.

1. Kenzi’s brother was helping him practice.

2. After his brother went to jail, Kenzi just stopped practicing.

3. Kenzi decides to try his best anyway to make his brother proud.

• Say: Outlines help you plan the basic elements of your story, and they help you further organize the story by deciding which details will go where.

Write or display the prompt and sample outline. Instruct students to begin writing their own outlines for their narrative stories. Have them spend the rest of the class time on their outlines, finishing them for homework if needed.

• Say: Begin outlining your narrative story. Remember the prompt: ”Rewrite part of a story from Look Both Ways from the perspective of an adult character.” Make sure your outline has:

• A clear beginning, middle, and end

• One main event or interaction your story focuses on

• How your narrator’s perspective shapes what happens and what it means through dialogue or your narrator’s internal thought

• Transitions that show how events unfold (for example: at first, later, eventually)

A: Introduce the character and setting: Carl walks into the pool hall.

1: He describes what he sees, hears, and smells (lots of people, the pool balls clacking, the smoke that makes him feel nostalgic).

2: He describes how he feels (at home).

3: Lastly, he describes the other people who are there (his good friends).

B: The Low Cuts enter.

1: Carl is a little surprised by them at first.

2: He thinks they’re kind of rude.

3: Later, he’s curious about why they are there.

C: The Low Cuts hustle their candy.

1: The candy makes Carl nostalgic for visiting his family.

2: He respects the Low Cuts’ hustle.

3: He eventually decides to buy their candy.

By the end of this activity, students should have developed a clear, text-supported understanding of their character’s perspective across setting, characters, and events. These ideas should be organized in their graphic organizer and ready to support narrative planning in the next phase of the lesson.

Lesson 34 Writing Rubric: Narrative — Perspective Shift Draft, Part 1

Writing prompt: Write the opening of a personal narrative from a different character's perspective in Look Both Ways or another anchor text. Establish the character's voice, the setting, and the central moment in the first paragraph.

Turn and Talk

Use this reflection to reinforce the role of textual evidence in shaping perspective. Prompt students to articulate how specific details from Look Both Ways informed their understanding of their chosen character and supported their ability to write from that perspective. This prepares students to draft their narratives in the following lesson.

Transition students into pairs for a group Turn and Talk discussion of the following prompt. Choose 2–3 pairs to share out.

• Ask: What information from the novel helped you write from your new character's perspective?

  • • Optional Sentence Starter:

  • “One piece of information from the novel that helped me write from my new character’s perspective is ____. This helped me because ____.”

    • One piece of information from the novel that helped me write from my new character’s perspective is his story about eating old-fashioned candy when he visited his family down South. This helped me because I knew he felt nostalgic about that, and it made him identify with the Low Cuts and want to buy their candy.

Instruct students to complete their outlines in their Journal and to come to the next class session prepared to begin writing.