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Who Is Telling the Story

A 40-minute Grade 1 lesson on identifying who is speaking at each point in a story, and telling the narrator from the characters.

Who Is Telling the Story is a free 40-minute Grade 1 English lesson plan for Common Core standard RL.1.6 — work out who is speaking at each point in the story. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the meaning, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.

Grade:
Grade 1
Length:
40 minutes
Standard:
RL.1.6

Grade 1 · Reading: Literature

RL.1.6

Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.

Objective

Students will be able to say who is speaking at a given point in a story — the narrator or a named character — and how they know.

Students are successful when they can

  • Says Ava says "Only if you carry the bag," and points to "said Ava" as the clue.
  • Says the narrator tells "It was very heavy," because there are no quotation marks.
  • Colors the narrator's words and each character's words in different colors.

What you need

  • The "Ice Lollies" story (text in the Teach section) on chart paper
  • Three colors of crayon or highlighter per pair
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — read it in two voices

5 min
  1. Write: "The cat sat by the door. 'Let me out!' said the cat."
  2. Read the first sentence in your normal voice and the speech in a squeaky cat voice.
  3. Ask: "Why did I change my voice?" Fish for: "The cat was talking." Ask: "Who said the first part?" Leave it open.

Teach — inside and outside the marks

13 min
  1. Read: "The sun was hot. Ben and his big sister Ava walked to the store. 'Can we get ice pops?' asked Ben. 'Only if you carry the bag,' said Ava. Ben picked up the bag. It was very heavy. 'This is the heaviest bag in the world!' he groaned."
  2. Point to the quotation marks around "Can we get ice pops?" Say: "These are quotation marks. They hold the words someone says out loud." Ask who said it. Point to "asked Ben."
  3. Do the same for Ava's words: "said Ava" tells us.
  4. Point to "The sun was hot." Ask: "Who is saying this? Ben? Ava?" No quotation marks. Say: "This is the narrator — the storyteller. The narrator tells us what happens but is not one of the characters here."
  5. Color the story with the class: narrator's words in yellow, Ben's in blue, Ava's in green.
  6. Point to the last line: "he groaned." Ask who "he" is. Ben. Explain that "he" and "she" can tell us who is speaking too.
“Inside the quotation marks, a character is talking. Outside the quotation marks, the narrator is telling the story. Look for "said" to find out who.”

Guided practice — color a page

12 min
  1. Give pairs a new story: "Mom and Leo went to the park. 'Push me on the swing!' said Leo. Mom pushed him high. 'Hold on tight,' said Mom. Leo laughed. 'I can touch the sky!' he shouted."
  2. They color narrator words yellow, Leo's words blue and Mom's words green.
  3. Then one partner reads the narrator's lines and the other reads the characters' lines, changing voices.
  4. Circulate and ask about "Leo laughed." "Is Leo talking here?" No — the narrator is telling us what Leo did.
  5. Check how they colored "he shouted": only the words inside the marks are Leo's.
“When it says "Leo laughed," is that Leo talking or the narrator telling us? Look for the quotation marks.”

Independent practice

8 min
  1. Students complete the who-is-telling page, reading the stories and answering the questions.
  2. Remind them to look for quotation marks and "said" before answering.
  3. Sit with children who colored whole sentences and show them where the marks start and stop.

Close

2 min
  1. Read "Ben picked up the bag." Ask: "Who is telling us that?"
  2. Fish for "The narrator, because there are no quotation marks."

What goes wrong, and why

Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.

Thinks the character named in a sentence is the speaker: "Ben picked up the bag" is Ben talking.

Why: When a character's name is in the sentence, it feels like the sentence belongs to that character. They do not yet see the narrator as a separate voice.

Fix: Ask "Are there quotation marks?" If not, it is the narrator telling us about Ben. Act it out: you narrate, a child plays Ben and only says his speech-mark words.

Colors the "said Ava" part as Ava's words.

Why: "Said Ava" is right next to Ava's words, so it feels like part of what she said.

Fix: Read Ava's words in Ava's voice, then read "said Ava" in your narrator voice. Ask "Would Ava say said Ava?" Show that the quotation marks are the edges.

Thinks the narrator is the author, or "the person reading it."

Why: Someone has to be telling the story, and the author or the reader are the people they know about.

Fix: Call the narrator "the storyteller voice" and practice with you as the storyteller. Keep it simple: the narrator tells us what happens, and is not one of the characters talking here.

If they are not there yet

  • Use stories with just one character who speaks, so there are only two colors.
  • Put a colored box around each set of quotation marks before the child starts.
  • Do the two-voice reading with the child first, then they color.

If they finish early

  • Find a page in a class book where the speaker is not named and work out who is talking from the clues.
  • Rewrite "Ben picked up the bag" as something Ben says, with quotation marks.
  • Read a story told by "I" and say how it is different from a story with a narrator outside.

Exit ticket

"Hold on tight," said Mom. Who says "Hold on tight"? How do you know?

What to look for: "Mom, because it says said Mom after the quotation marks." "The narrator" means they are not yet separating the quotation marks from the words around them. "Leo" means they are guessing from the story — point to "said."

Printable practice for RL.1.6

Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.

Questions about Who Is Telling the Story

How long does the Who Is Telling the Story lesson take?

40 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 13 min, guided practice 12 min, independent practice 8 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.

Which standard does Who Is Telling the Story teach?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6 — RL.1.6, Reading: Literature for Grade 1: “Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.” In plain terms, work out who is speaking at each point in the story.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

The "Ice Lollies" story (text in the Teach section) on chart paper, three colors of crayon or highlighter per pair and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.

What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?

Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: thinks the character named in a sentence is the speaker: "Ben picked up the bag" is Ben talking; colors the "said Ava" part as Ava's words and thinks the narrator is the author, or "the person reading it.". The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.

How do I know whether the lesson worked?

The exit ticket asks: “"Hold on tight," said Mom. Who says "Hold on tight"? How do you know?.” "Mom, because it says said Mom after the quotation marks." "The narrator" means they are not yet separating the quotation marks from the words around them. "Leo" means they are guessing from the story — point to "said.". That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.

Is there a worksheet to go with Who Is Telling the Story?

Yes — 1 printable RL.1.6 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.

Is Who Is Telling the Story free to use?

Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on October 8, 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-10-08. Aligned to RL.1.6 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.