English Language Arts — Grade 1

My favorite women: My Great Aunt Arizona

These three (or four) 45-minute lessons will introduce kindergarteners and first graders to Women's History Month. The students listen to the story of author Gloria Houston's great-aunt, Arizona Houston Hughes. During and following the listening and viewing experiences, the students will discuss their experiences with women in their own history who are helping them become good citizens and grow up well.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

By Floanna Long.

Marc Brown author study: Arthur's Nose

Using the book Arthur's Nose by Marc Brown students will respond to the story through art, music, and in written form.

Format: lesson plan (grade K–1 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts)

By Kathy Palmore.

Grocery store matter

The lesson stimulates students' thought processes and makes students aware of the things around them by teaching them about the three kinds of matter and their properties.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts and Science)

By Indiana Jennette.

Features of print

In this lesson, the teacher introduces the concept of gathering information from chapter headings, bold type and other organizational features of print (such as tables of contents) in non-fiction texts in print and online.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

By Gail Goodling, Susan Lovett, and Sue Versenyi.

Fairy tales: Another point of view

This lesson is on comparing and contrasting (alike and different) two different versions of The Three Little Pigs. Students will use the original fairy tale The Three Little Pigs previously learned in the lesson Fairy Tales and compare it to the story The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. This story gives the wolf's point of view.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts, English Language Development, and Theater Arts Education)

By Audra Penrod and Vivian Lages.

Fairy tales

This lesson will begin a unit on fairy tales for young learners. It will begin with assessing what first graders know about fairy tales. Children will learn about the original version of The Three Little Pigs.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts and English Language Development)

By Audra Penrod and Vivian Lages.

The emperor's prize egg

This lesson will introduce students to the life of a penguin. They will explore penguins' habitats, eating habits, and other unique adaptations that they use to survive in Antarctica.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Computer/Technology Skills, English Language Arts, and Science)

By Betty Burleson.

Bugs, bugs, bugs

This lesson integrates writing and the study of insects by creating an innovation to the text of the book How Many Bugs in a Box? by David A. Carter

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Computer/Technology Skills, English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science)

By Vicki Rivenbark.

Three Cool Kids

After reading Three Cool Kids by Rebecca Emberley, students will discuss literary elements: characters, setting, problem and solution. The teacher will record using the Inspiration software what students say, making a web that shows the different elements of the story.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts)

By Genevieve Kiser.

The Little Yellow Chicken

The students will be following an integrated unit on "Helping." They will use reading, math, social studies, science, technology, and other areas of study. Students will read, as a group, the book The Little Yellow Chicken by Joy Cowley. The students will be incorporating prediction, prior knowledge, comprehension skills, and language skills for the word family "-ook", the vowel sound "e", and the exclamation mark. The technology to be utilized by the students consists of use of the HyperStudio for math review, Math Software, Graph Club to create a graph of favorite party foods, Inspiration to guide and create graphic organizers for writing, and the Ultimate Writing Machine to create their own version of The Little Yellow Chicken. They will also incorporate color words to practice the Spanish Language.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Computer/Technology Skills and English Language Arts)

By diane williams.

Resources on the web

The wonder of Leo Lionni: Increasing comprehension with prediction statements

This lesson uses picture books by Leo Lionni to engage students in predicting and questioning text. The teacher introduces Swimmy by Leo Lionni and models how to make “I wonder” prediction statements about the text.... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Weather: A journey in nonfiction

This ReadWriteThink research project is designed for primary students to engage in nonfiction text, in both print and digital format. Students begin by formulating questions on a subject (in this case, weather). They then classify questions into topic areas.... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Under the deep blue sea

In this lesson, students have the opportunity to explore oceans and ocean life. Through creative writing and research projects, students will learn about the ocean and the creatures that live there. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: EDSITEment

A Trip to Wonderland: The Nursery "Alice"

This lesson, found on the EDSITEment website, is part of a unit that explores elements of wonder, distortion, fantasy, and whimsy in The Nursery “Alice,” Lewis Carroll's adaptation for younger readers of his beloved classic Alice's... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provided by: EDSITEment

Text Talk: "Julius, the Baby of the World"

This lesson from ReadWritethink helps young readers interact with and interpret text using Julius, the Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes. The text talk strategy provides students with open-ended questions, which allow them to interpret the... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Shhh! Bear's sleeping: learning about nonfiction and fiction using read-alouds

The teacher introduces students to many different genres of literature in this lesson that explores the differences between fiction and nonfiction. After reading “Big Paws,” the teacher engages students in a discussion about bears and creates... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts and Science)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Reading informational texts using the 3-2-1 strategy

After teacher modeling, students read a magazine article independently and use the 3-2-1 strategy to comprehend what they read. As an introduction to this lesson, the teacher engages students in a brainstorming activity that challenges them to list things... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Reading and writing about whales using fiction and nonfiction texts

This lesson from ReadWriteThink teaches students how to formulate research questions and write letters. The lesson uses the nonfiction picture book Big Blue Whale by Nicola Davies to present factual information about blue whales and the fiction... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Readers theatre with Jan Brett

In this ReadWriteThink lesson, first- or second-grade students interact with the book Hedgie's Surprise by Jan Brett and create a Readers Theatre experience that is performed for other groups of students. Students make predictions about the... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Listen, look, and learn: An information-gathering process

In this lesson, primary students will work together as a class to seek information on the sloth. A variety of resources and formats will be used with notes recorded on an information wheel graphic organizer. Guiding the listening, looking, and learning... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink