Looking After Goats

Learning Intention:

I am learning about point of view so that I can identify the point of view in a text, compare it with my own and then write imaginatively from a particular perspective.

 

 

Success Criteria:

• I can identify the point of view in a text
• I can gather evidence from a text proving different points of view
• I can discuss my own point of view in comparison to that of a character in a text
• I can write a third person narrative showing a particular character’s point of view.

 

 

Essential knowledge:

Find more information on the Department of Education’s page about the English Concept Point of View.

Alternatively, you can view the video on The School Magazine website.

 

Understanding text:

Prior to reading the story, view the video about Point of View as a class.

If you have a digital subscription, complete the interactive ‘First or Third person?’

Now that students have been introduced to the idea of point of view in a text, read the story as a class or listen to the audio.

After reading, ask students the following questions:

• Who is telling the story?
• Whose point of view has the author chosen to highlight in this text?
• Why has this point of view been chosen?
• How does this point of view influence readers when telling the story?
• How is this similar to the example of Cinderella in the video viewed earlier?

Re-read the section of text from ‘He thought back to a week ago, in Sydney…’ until ‘We came to Lebanon so I could look after goats.’

 

Complete the two columns below showing what Khalil feels about coming to Lebanon compared with what his father thinks about the experience.

Khalil's Point of View	Khalils Father's Point of View

 

Discuss the following question:

• The narration is in third person but focuses on Khalil’s point of view. How are we shown Khalil’s father’s point of view? (The reader is shown Khalil’s point of view through dialogue.)
• Can you identify a specific example of this in the text? (‘You’ll be free to roam around the mountains with your cousins,’ he said. ‘A whole term off school,’ he said. ‘Imagine that, just fresh mountain air, fresh food and surrounded by your cousins.’)

 

Ask students to think about their own perspective. They can write down what they think about Khalil and his dad spending a whole term in Lebanon. Display the following questions to guide them in their response:

• Looking at Khalil and his father’s points of view regarding time spent in Lebanon, who do you think has the right point of view?
• Why do you agree more with that character?
• If you could have a conversation with Khalil and/or his father, what would you say to them about being in Lebanon?

Creating text:

Retell the beginning of the story from the perspective of Mohammed. Use
third person narrative, but tell the story through what Mohammed sees, thinks and feels about Khalil.

 

You may like to use the following scaffold to assist students in following the same structure as the original story:

Mohammed drinks water as Khalil catches up, then throws the empty bottle at him.   What is Mohammed thinking?   Why isn’t he being kind to Khalil?
As Mohammed walks back, he thinks about his father’s words when her found out Khalil was coming to stay. What did Mohammed think about having a cousin come?   Why might he not have been excited for that to happen?   Why might he have taken a dislike to his cousin?
Mohammed thinks about the goats and how Khalil refused to learn how to milk them. How does Mohammed feel about the goats? Why?
Mohammed is told by his father he must go with Khalil to find the lost goat. How does Mohammed feel about taking Khalil? Is Mohammed worried about the lost goat?

 

Assessment for/as learning:

 

Students complete a self-assessment of their writing by using the following checklist:

• Used third person narration
• Mohammed’s perspective is clear
• Used descriptive language to show Mohammed’s point of view
• Includes Mohammed’s thoughts and feelings.