Who Is Talking Now Worksheet

Every story has a voice behind it, and part of becoming a strong reader is noticing whose voice it is. The Who Is Talking Now Worksheet asks third grade students to read three short stories and decide whether the storyteller is a character inside the story or someone standing outside of it. One story follows a boy carrying seeds to a school garden, one is told by a girl on an early morning fishing trip, and one comes from a younger brother learning to ride a bike. Each story hides a different kind of clue.

Students read each story in its own box, write down who is telling it, and then explain what words helped them decide. That second question is where the real thinking happens. The words I, my, and we outside of quotation marks point to a narrator who is part of the story, while character names and the words he and she point to a storyteller outside of it. One story sets a friendly trap by placing the word I inside quotation marks, so readers have to notice that a character is speaking rather than telling.

What’s Included

• One printable page with three original short stories, each in its own box
• Two response questions for every story: who is telling it, and what words prove it
• Writing lines sized for third grade handwriting, with room for text evidence
• A complete answer key with a model answer and the supporting words for each story

Three Reasons This Helps Kids

• Point of view is a tested reading standard, and this point of view worksheet turns it into something students can see and underline rather than memorize.
• Asking for evidence builds the habit of going back into the text instead of guessing from memory.
• Three short stories keep the reading load light, so attention stays on the thinking rather than on stamina.

Ideas for Teachers and Parents

Read the first story aloud together and think out loud as you circle every pronoun, then let students work through the last two on their own. In small groups, have partners trade papers and argue for their evidence before checking the key. The Who Is Talking Now Worksheet also makes a quick exit ticket after a read aloud, or a warm up before students draft a story of their own and choose which voice to write it in. Ask writers to rewrite one of the three stories from the other point of view and compare what changes.

Related Resources

• Author’s Purpose Worksheet
• Identifying Author’s Purpose Worksheet
• Why Was it Written? Author’s Purpose Activity
• Author’s Purpose Song