From “Little House” to my house: Exploring history and family roles
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=879
A lesson plan for Grades 1–2 English Language Arts
In this lesson, students learn about historical fiction, memoirs, pioneer life in the United States, and family roles by reading a picture book adaptation of Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. After a read-aloud, first and second graders practice literary analysis by drawing connections between a text and their own experiences, comparing and contrasting ways families are alike and different, and categorizing information using a graphic organizer. By engaging students in an activity where they complete T-charts comparing a character from the book to a member of their family, the teacher helps students make connections with the literature. Readwritethink provides several options for extensions to this lesson and opportunities for student assessment and reflection.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 1
- Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
- Objective 2.02: Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of texts (storybooks, short chapter books, newspapers, telephone books, and everyday print such as signs and labels, poems, word plays using alliteration and rhyme, skits and short plays).
- Objective 2.03: Read and comprehend both fiction and nonfiction text appropriate for grade one using:
- prior knowledge.
- summary.
- questions.
- graphic organizers.
- Objective 2.07: Respond and elaborate in answering what, when, where, and how questions.
- Goal 3: The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
- Objective 3.01: Elaborate on how information and events connect to life experiences.
- Objective 3.04: Share personal experiences and responses to experiences with text:
- publishing non-print texts.
- discussing interpretations.
- recording personal responses.
- Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
- Objective 4.02: Use words that name characters and settings (who, where) and words that tell action and events (what happened, what did ___ do) in simple texts.
- Objective 4.03: Use specific words to name and tell action in oral and written language (e.g., using words such as frog and toad when discussing an expository text).
- Objective 4.04: Extend skills in using oral and written language:
- clarifying purposes for engaging in communication.
- using clear and precise language to paraphrase messages.
- engaging in more extended oral discussions.
- producing written products.
- completing graphic organizers.
- Objective 4.06: Compose a variety of products (e.g., stories, journal entries, letters, response logs, simple poems, oral retellings).
- Goal 5: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
- Objective 5.02: Apply phonics to write independently, using temporary and/or conventional spelling.
- Objective 5.03: Write all upper and lower case letters of the alphabet, using correct letter formation.
- Objective 5.05: Use basic capitalization and punctuation
- first word in a sentence.
- proper names.
- period to end declarative sentence.
- question mark to end interrogative sentence.
- Objective 5.07: Use legible manuscript handwriting.
Grade 2
- Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
- Objective 2.02: Use text for a variety of functions, including literary, informational, and practical.
- Objective 2.06: Recall main ideas, facts and details from a text.
- Objective 2.07: Discuss similarities and differences in events, characters and concepts within and across texts.
- Goal 3: The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
- Objective 3.01: Use personal experiences and knowledge to interpret written and oral messages.
- Objective 3.02: Connect and compare information within and across selections (fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama) to experience and knowledge.
- Objective 3.04: Increase oral and written vocabulary by listening, discussing, and composing texts when responding to literature that is read and heard. (e.g., read aloud by teacher, literature circles, interest groups, book clubs).
- Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
- Objective 4.05: Respond appropriately when participating in group discourse by adapting language and communication behaviors to the situation to accomplish a specific purpose.
- Goal 5: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
- Objective 5.01: Spell correctly using:
- previously studied words.
- spelling patterns.
- analysis of sounds to represent all the sounds in a word in one's own writing.
- Objective 5.02: Attend to spelling, mechanics, and format for final products in one's own writing.
- Objective 5.06: Use correctly in written products:
- letter formation, lines, and spaces to create readable documents
- plural forms of commonly used nouns
- common, age - appropriate contractions.
- Objective 5.07: Use legible manuscript handwriting.
- Objective 5.01: Spell correctly using:



