English Language Arts — Grade 1

What's happening now?

This comprehension and writing lesson helps the student develop skills in predicting what will happen next and sequencing. It also develops the ability to answer what, where, when, and how questions. It can also include a writing activity that teaches writing in a newspaper format by answering the "W" questions and creating a class newspaper book.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts)

By Nancy McGowan.

Oh, the places I will go!

Students will listen to the story by Dr. Seuss Oh, the Places You'll Go! The students will brainstorm a list of places they would like to go. Places such as nouns and proper nouns will be separated during the listing process. The students will write a response to: "Oh, the places I will go! I will go____________." and illustrate their responses. Each student response will be collected for a class book entitled "Oh, the Places We Will Go!"

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts)

Mixing colors with Little Blue and Little Yellow

This is an integrated lesson based on a French book entitled Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni. Within the lesson, students will experiment with various colors to create new colors and eventually write their own version of this story.

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

By Lisa Tartaglia.

Leapin' leprechauns

This lesson will allow first graders to use their imagination while practicing newly learned writing skills. The end product will be wonderfully creative leprechaun stories.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts)

By JoAnn Lazaro.

I spy nouns

This lesson will introduce students to nouns. The lesson will begin with a game of "I Spy." This game will help students to understand that nouns are things that can be seen and touched. Then the students will make lists of people, places, and things.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts)

By Beth Edmonds.

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.

Habitat happenings

During this lesson students will demonstrate their understanding of what a habitat is through a creative writing assignment. The students will choose an animal to be and will describe themselves and their living environment.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts)

By Kelly Stewart.

Getting down & dirty with soils

In this lesson, we will explore different kinds of soil (humus, sand, clay). The students will plant seeds in the different soils as part of further exploration.

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

By Amy Rhyne, Paulette Keys, and Sarah Carson.

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 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, English Language Development, and Theater Arts Education)

By Audra Penrod and Vivian Lages.

Digging up discoveries

The students will study archaeology, practicing their knowledge of spelling patterns and capitalization and punctuation skills along the way. The students will go to a teacher-created excavation and discover a surprise in a “rock” from the excavation. The students will then write about their experience.

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

By Alyssa Slater.

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

This lesson plan focuses on a English Language Arts objectives: similarity and difference. Students compare the story The Three Little Pigs and The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas. Students will work collaboratively in small heterogeneous groups to apply strategies for comprehension and vocabulary.

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

By Betty Coleman-Canty and Michelle Swain.

The Alphabet Tree

After reading The Alphabet Tree by Leo Lionni to students, the students will retell the events on a flow map. Then using Kid Pix software, each child will choose an event, illustrate it, and write a caption for it. The students will then put their events in order in a Kid Pix Slide Show they can present to the class.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts)

By Jody Shaughnessy.

Tacky the Penguin

After reading the story, Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester, the students will write their own Tacky story. The students will brainstorm ideas before getting started. Next each student will write a rough draft. After the rough draft, the students will proofread and edit their work. Then the students will type their story and illustrate the pictures.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts)

By Tonya Williams.

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

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 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