English Language Arts — Grade 1

Surprise box descriptions

Students will learn to give oral definitions and descriptions. Each student will take a turn describing the contents of a plastic egg with a category plus attribute format. Other members in the group will have an opportunity to guess the contents of the egg after listening to the description.

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

By Susan Karcher.

Healthy foods = super kids

This lesson focuses on how the foods we eat affect our bodies in both beneficial and harmful ways. Students will learn that grains provide energy; vegetables are needed for healthy skin, hair and eyes; fruits help the body heal, milk builds strong bones and teeth; meat builds muscle and gives strength; and sweets, fats, and oils are high in calories and give few vitamins and minerals and do little to help our bodies grow.

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

By Phyllis Bass and Rubetta Carr.

Going batty: Part II

Students will apply the knowledge they've gained about bats to create bat poetry.

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

By DPI Integration Strategies.

Butterfly metamorphosis

This is an integrated lesson which is introduced using the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Butterfly metamorphosis is explored through art, math, and writing.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, and Science)

By Laura Byers.

Resources on the web

Writing workshop: Helping writers choose and focus on a topic

This lesson from ReadWriteThink helps young writers bring greater focus to their writing. Students use a timeline to break a larger topic into several events or moments. They then select an event to write about from the timeline. Students first work with... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

What's the difference? Beginning writers compare e-mail with letter writing

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students explore the differences between e-mail and letter writing by contrasting and identifying different forms, and experimenting with their own e-mail and letter compositions. This lesson incorporates an “E-Mail... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Telling a story about me: Young children write autobiographies

In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students learn to develop ideas collaboratively, plan writing projects before executing them, and compose sentences related to a specific topic. The lesson teaches these skills while drawing from the lives of first- and second-grade... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Teaching audience through interactive writing

This ReadWriteThink lesson supports young writers in learning about audience. Through interactive writing, students work together to create an invitation letter for a group of their peers. In addition, students work independently to create invitation letters... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Stop signs, McDonald's, and Cheerios: Writing with environmental print

Students read words found on everyday objects and use them to identify individual letters in this lesson that teaches alphabet recognition and initial reading skills. First, the teacher uses packaging and logos from common products to encourage students... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Rain, ice, steam: Using reading to support inquiry about the water cycle

This unit of study allows students to discover the repetitive cycle of water. Read-alouds introduce the topic of rain and hands-on experiments and classroom centers teach students about the water cycle and how it functions. After introducing the topic of... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Persuasive writing: What can writing in family message journals do for students?

This ReadWriteThink lesson shows children how they can use daily journal communication with families to serve their needs. By involving children in writing several messages with varied purposes, each related to school activities, this lesson helps students... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Our community: Creating ABC books as assessment

Students study the theme of community and collect vocabulary words and key concepts from areas they study in class. Using this information, they create alphabet books that relate each letter of the alphabet with a fact, keyword, or phrase from the unit... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Mail time! An integrated postcard and geography study

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students write to friends and family asking them to send picture postcards. This activity provides motivation for writing and reading and provides a wonderful opportunity to learn about maps as students discover where... (Learn more)

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

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

Launching family message journals

This lesson from ReadWriteThink introduces Family Message Journals, a tool for encouraging family involvement and supporting writing to reflect and learn. First and second graders are led into composing through demonstration, guided writing, and finally... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

It's too loud in here! Teamwork in the classroom

When you give students the opportunity to make personal connections with their learning, a deeper understanding will occur. In this ReadWriteThink lesson, first- and second-grade students have the chance to connect their prior knowledge with new knowledge... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

It's okay to be different: Teaching diversity with Todd Parr

After a shared reading of Todd Parr's It's Okay to Be Different, students work in small groups to discuss and write down what makes them diverse. The teacher introduces the topic of diversity by engaging students in an activity... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Introducing the Venn diagram in the kindergarten classroom

This ReadWriteThink lesson offers ideas for using Venn diagrams in the primary classroom. Choose among these ideas for using hula hoops and real objects to introduce the Venn diagram to young children as they sort, compare and contrast, and organize information... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Guess what's in the bag: A language-based activity

This ReadWriteThink lesson gives students opportunities to interact and play with language. Students will use their imagination to describe hidden objects, listen to clues, and tap prior knowledge while playing the game &;What's in the Bag.” This... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Get Writing with "Weekend News!"

In this lesson, from ReadWriteThink, students write about their weekends, using skills they have learned in writing workshop. Following the writing, students self-assess their work based on criteria developed in the classroom. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink