Kindergarten - ELA
1: Letters
Unit 4: T - What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are prompted to look specifically at the pages about animals' tails in What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? and to talk about the purpose of that part of the animals' structure. The activity asks students to name what jobs tails do and why they are shaped that way, and provides explicit examples (e.g., whales use tails to move forward, squirrels use tails for balance and communication). Students match cut-out tails to animal pictures and glue them on, reinforcing the connection between an animal and the reason for its tail shape. Students design a new tail and then explain the purpose they intended for it.
Unit 5: L - We're Going on a Leaf Hunt
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson prompts the child to "look back through the story as you discuss it" and asks questions that require justification (e.g., "Do you think the children enjoyed their leaf hunt? Why or why not?" and "What clues give her that idea?"). The skills list includes "With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details," which directs students to identify and recount story details that could serve as reasons or evidence.
Unit 6: F - Fireflies
Lesson 1
Day 1
Questions 3 and 4 ask students to explain why the boy was both crying and smiling and why it was hard to let the fireflies go, prompting students to give reasons for a character's actions. Question 2 asks students to look through the book for evidence in the pictures of how the boy feels, which asks them to cite support for their explanations. The reading prompts ask students to describe what they see and what they know about fireflies, engaging them in discussing causes and motivations in the story.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked to look at the middle page of the book and discuss how the words around "soaring" help give clues about its meaning, practicing use of context. Students build a model firefly and review insect characteristics (three body parts, antennae, two pairs of wings, three pairs of legs), reinforcing factual claims about insects. Students examine pictures on the "Insects" page and are asked to determine whether each creature is an insect and to explain what clues they looked for when making that decision.
Unit 7: E - But No Elephants
Lesson 4
Day 4
In Activity 1 students are asked to look back at the first page of the story and answer "Why is she doing that?" with the expected response "so she will have something to eat," directly identifying a reason given in the text. Students examine each pet in the story and state what each provided (e.g., canary provided singing and company; beaver cut wood for warmth; woodpecker fixed the roof) linking those reasons to the point about wants and needs. Students sort household objects into wants and needs and then explain why they placed each item in a category, producing verbal reasons for their choices.
Unit 8: C - Millions of Cats
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to reread the story and respond to a question about the lesson or moral, with a prompted answer that the cat becomes pretty because he is loved by the old man and woman. The teacher prompts the child to point to and read the word "pretty" and to repeat key phrases about numbers of cats, focusing attention on textual language and a cause-effect observation about the character.
Unit 10: O - Owl Babies
Lesson 5
Day 5
The Reading Workshop asks the child to decide which of two owl books is fiction or non-fiction and to think about "what clues he can find to support his ideas." The lesson notes that the non-fiction book "teaches facts about owls" and "uses photographs to illustrate the facts." The Writing Workshop has the child record factual, non-fiction information about owls on one side of a journal spread.
Unit 12: D - Dinosaurs Big and Small
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked explicitly "Was the book fiction or non-fiction? How do you know?" which prompts them to provide evidence for the book's classification. Students are prompted to identify the author and illustrator and to answer how the author got information, asking them to consider sources (e.g., read other books, research online, talk with scientists). The skills list includes "With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text," which guides students to respond to textual details.
Unit 13: P - Harold and the Purple Crayon
Lesson 1
Day 1
Activity 1 asks students to recall specific predicaments Harold faced and the solutions he drew (e.g., drew a boat when water rose, drew pie when hungry, drew a balloon when he slipped), and it asks the question "How can using imagination help solve problems?" Students are prompted to offer other problems and propose imaginative solutions Harold could draw, connecting examples in the story to the general idea that imagination solves problems.
Unit 14: B - Blueberries for Sal
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson includes an explicit comprehension question asking, "Why did they each want blueberries?" with the answer that Sal's mother wanted jam for winter while Little Bear and his mother were eating to store up food before winter. The parent guidance directs an adult to read the book with the child and discuss those questions with prompting and support. Activity 2 connects the reason (preserving food for winter) to a real-world practice (making jam), reinforcing the cause/reason students identify in the story.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Activity 1 asks the child whether the book takes place in current times or the past and directs the child to look through the book to find clues from the pictures that show it took place in past times. The activity lists specific pieces of evidence for students to find (model of the car, clothing, hairstyle, cast-iron stove) and includes teacher prompts to support the child in locating those clues.
Unit 15: R - Rain
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 asks the child "why she thinks writers like to use color words in their writing" and provides the explicit reason "It helps the reader get a good description," which prompts the child to identify an author's reason for a writing choice. The Reading Workshop has the child practice reading a book that uses colors and encourages using the colors of the type and pictures as a guide, which connects reading text features to author choices about color words.
Unit 16: N - Night in the Country
Lesson 1
Day 1
After reading, students are asked QUESTION #2: "What does the author seem to think about nighttime? How can you tell?" The sample answer explicitly has students point to the author's words and pictures ("Her pictures and words are gentle and descriptive, not scary") as evidence supporting the author's view. The lesson repeatedly prompts students to discuss what they notice in the text and to explain their answers (e.g., "Ask him what he thought about the book" and follow-up discussion).
Unit 17: M - Marshmallow
Lesson 1
Day 1
The reading questions ask students to identify causes and explanations in the text (Question 4: "Why did Oliver hesitate before pouncing?" with an answer listing his instincts, Miss Tilly's warning, and curiosity/fear). Question 2 asks students to identify advantages and disadvantages Miss Tilly found in having a rabbit, which asks students to state reasons presented in the story. Question 5 prompts students to explain why Oliver decided to be friendly, asking them to provide a reason for a character's action based on the text.
Unit 18: U - Umbrella
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson includes explicit 'why' comprehension questions that require students to state reasons from the text, for example: 'Why couldn't she use them at first?' (answer: It didn't rain) and 'Why was this such an important day for Momo?' (answer: first day she walked without holding a parent's hand). The reading prompt asking children to 'recall some events from the book' and follow-up questions ask students to cite causes and motivations described in the story.
Unit 20: K - Kindness
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to discuss the acts of kindness in the story and answer Question #1, which identifies that the animals "show kindness to one another" and that "one act of kindness leads to another." Activity 1 has students identify and sequence the nine animal characters who helped one another, which makes them point to specific examples the author included. Question #3 asks students to name a favorite example of an animal helping another and explain why, prompting students to give reasons for why an example matters.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students locate and read the sentences where characters thank Harry and are asked to find the word "so," connecting events on the page. Students are asked which act of kindness they found especially thoughtful and how Harry helping the frog resulted in a series of kind acts. Students are prompted to discuss whether they agree with the author's idea that "a little bit of kindness can go a long way."
Unit 21: V - Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin
Lesson 1
Day 1
After reading, students are asked "Did the musicians seem to enjoy playing the music? How can you tell?" which asks them to point to text details (they answered that the musicians smiled and danced). Other comprehension questions (e.g., how the audience responded: they clapped and cheered) require students to identify specific text details that support a point about characters or events. The pre-reading prompt to pay attention to instruments and activities directs students to notice evidence in the pages.
Unit 23: W - George Washington's Birthday
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students read the book and the sidebars that give factual information about George Washington and explain which stories about him are true and which are not. Students are asked to decide whether the book is fiction or nonfiction and to explain why, and they are asked whether George's brother was a "tyrant" and to justify that judgment. The teacher prompts include asking what lessons George learned and what parts of his life were interesting or surprising, encouraging students to cite elements of the text in their responses.
Lesson 5
Day 5
The Reading Workshop asks the child why an author might include information in boxed text and points out that in this book the boxes contain real information that goes along with the story. The teacher is instructed to point out the words "FACT" and "MYTH" that help explain more information about the story. The child is asked to look for different places text appears on the page and to think about the purpose for different placements, then share observations aloud.
Unit 24: Q - The Quilt Story
Lesson 1
Day 1
After reading, students are asked how they knew the beginning of the story took place a long time ago and are prompted to cite specific clues (style of dress; sewing by candlelight; traveling by horse and wagon; building with a hatchet). Question #1 asks students to explain how they could tell the second part took place in more modern times and expects reasons (style of dress, modern buildings, traveling by car and truck, moving into an already-built house). Question #2 asks how the quilt helped both girls, prompting students to identify the supporting reason that the quilt was a familiar and comforting object.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked to go through the beginning pages of the book and identify the ways the family used natural resources to meet their needs (examples listed: wood for furniture/houses/wheels/toys; tea for drinking; beeswax/bayberries/animal fats for candles). Students are asked to identify landforms mentioned or shown in the story (hills, prairie, river). The activity also has the teacher show a map and explain that pioneers moved west looking for new land, which presents causes for movement that students discuss.
Unit 25: X - An Extraordinary Egg
Lesson 1
Day 1
Activity 2 asks the child to decide whether the book is fiction or non-fiction and to explain how she knows, prompting the child to give reasons. The child is directed to page back through the book and find examples where frogs act like real frogs and examples where they are given fictional qualities. The child records these examples on index cards labeled "Facts about Frogs" and "Fictional Frogs" and then sorts the cards, using those examples as support for the genre decision.
Unit 26: Z - Greedy Zebra
Lesson 1
Day 1
After reading, the parent is instructed to ask the child to explain how the zebra was greedy and what happened because of his greediness. The parent is also instructed to ask whether the child thought the zebra deserved that result and to explain why or why not. The lesson explains folktales give imaginative reasons for why something is the way it is, linking events to causes.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students read and discuss an informational passage about African savannah animals that includes explanatory statements (for example, zebra stripes blend in with grass because lions are color blind; elephants take mudbaths to protect their skin; hippos stay submerged to keep cool and avoid sunburn). The lesson directs students to color each animal cut-out the appropriate color based on what they learn about the animals' characteristics, requiring them to use the informational details. The text explicitly contains reasons (cause/effect-style explanations) about why animals have particular features or behaviors.
2: Holidays
Unit 28: Thanksgiving
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to read Thanksgiving Is... and then "summarize why a type of Thanksgiving has been celebrated in many cultures (to give thanks for the harvest and for food)," which prompts them to state a reason presented in the text. The skills list includes "With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text," which supports guided identification of text reasons. The lesson also has prompts to talk about what it means to be grateful, reinforcing the cause/reason for celebration described in the book.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students re-read the pages about the Pilgrims and are asked to recall details directly from the text. The lesson prompts students with explicit why-questions such as "Why did the Pilgrims leave England in search of a new home?" and "What was the reason for the first Thanksgiving?" Students are also asked to recall causes and effects (e.g., how the Indians helped the Pilgrims, what the first winter was like) that require identifying reasons for events.
Lesson 3
Day 3
The lesson asks the child to reread Thanksgiving Is... by Gail Gibbons and to talk about pages describing kinds of feasts, which exposes students to author explanations about Thanksgiving. Activity 2 directs students to read information about Pocahontas and discuss how her help differed from the Plymouth Native Americans, prompting comparison of causes and support. Activity 3 explicitly states that Native Americans taught the Pilgrims to plant and grow crops and that without that help the Pilgrims would not have survived, giving a clear reason connected to the point about thankfulness.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students hear a short informational passage about Abraham Lincoln that states reasons for honoring him (e.g., he kept the country together, worked to end slavery, gave speeches about freedom and unity, issued the Emancipation Proclamation). The lesson includes an explicit prompt asking the child to explain "why we still celebrate him today," which asks students to provide reasons based on the biographical text. The passage also labels Lincoln as "Honest Abe" and gives anecdotes (the borrowed book story) that support points about his character.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are asked to study book illustrations and consider how they help the author teach about Thanksgiving. The directions tell students to 'see how they help the author teach' and then 'point out some of her observations about the illustrations.' These prompts ask students to connect illustrations to the author's communication.
Unit 29: Christmas
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson directs the child to explore The Christmas Wish, predict the book's content, and consider illustrations and edited photographs while reading. The teacher text explains that "long before Christmas... people liked to bring evergreen plants..." and explicitly gives a reason: "Those green plants reminded people of the spring that was to come." Activity 2 asks the child to read an informational Conifers page and tell three things learned, which requires identifying points and supporting facts from an informational text.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are directed to look at the book page that explains the northern lights and are given an explicit cause-and-effect explanation (charged air particles interacting with gases) that presents a reason for the phenomenon. Students are told to read a linked article about reindeer and to click "Masters of a Cold World" to learn how reindeer are able to thrive in the cold, which presents reasons for an author's points about adaptation. Students are also asked questions about the reindeer (e.g., "Can a reindeer really fly?" and "What does it look like?") that prompt comparison of claims and observations.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 1 asks the child to explain why she thinks Anja wanted to be one of Santa's elves and how Anja showed the spirit and commitment of an elf. The activity also asks the child whether Anja's experience was a dream or real and to say "what makes her think that," prompting the child to give reasons or evidence from the story. These prompts require the child to produce reasons that support a claim about the character or events.
Unit 30: February Celebrations
Lesson 4
Day 4
After watching the Booker T. Washington storybook, students are asked why education is important, prompting them to give reasons (e.g., to read, write, think, get jobs). After viewing the Martin Luther King, Jr. video, students discuss how his words ("I have a dream") moved people and are asked how his life showed love, prompting them to explain reasons for his actions. Students are also asked to name similarities between Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr. and to judge whether their dreams made the country better, which asks students to articulate supporting reasons for a claim.
1: Environment
Unit 1: Habitats and Homes
Lesson 4
Animals Live and Grow
Students listen to a read-aloud of Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt and answer specific 'why' questions (Question #2, #3, and #5) that ask for reasons given in the text (e.g., wait for dirt to dry and warm so seeds grow best; give plants water because plants need water to grow; harvest because cold will kill plants and produce will rot). Students also answer Question #7 identifying how animals help plants (honeybees pollinate, worms stir soil, predators eat plant pests), which requires naming reasons the text gives for those interactions. The teacher prompts students to analyze examples from the book and discuss causes during guided questioning and activities.
Lesson 8
Animal Care
Students are read The Salamander Room and are asked follow-up questions that require explanation (e.g., "Could the boy give the salamander the kind of habitat it lived in when it was in the forest? Why or why not?" and "Do you think the boy should have kept the salamander in his room? Why or why not?"). The skills list includes "Answer questions about a text (LA)," and activities ask students to state what pets need and what would happen without a healthy environment, prompting students to give reasons. The text also presents explanatory statements (for example, "This is one reason why we do not have tigers or elephants in our homes"), which students can use when discussing why some animals should remain in their habitats.
Unit 3: Community
Lesson 1
On the Town
Students are asked directly after the read-aloud to answer questions such as "Why did Charlie write down the places he visited and the names of people who worked in each place?" and to discuss how a healthy community meets people's needs and how people help each other. The wrap-up asks students what a healthy community provides and how each place meets citizens' needs, prompting students to give reasons for community features. Activity 3 asks students to draw a new page and write or dictate a sentence about Charlie visiting a place, which asks them to explain the purpose or role of that place.
Lesson 8
Rules and Laws
Students read the story "The House with No Rules" and are asked questions such as "What kinds of things happen in the house with no rules?" and "Would you stay in the house with no rules? Why or why not?", which prompt them to state reasons based on the text. In Activity 1 students rank home rules and are asked to explain why each rule is most or next most important, requiring them to give reasons for their choices. The Wrapping Up prompts ask students to explain why homes have rules and communities have laws, encouraging students to articulate reasons for those claims.
2: Similarities and Differences
Unit 3: We're the Same, We're Different
Lesson 7
Different Homes
Students are asked to read pages 26–35 of A Life Like Mine and identify and describe the different homes shown in the book. Adults prompt students to answer why people have homes and to identify materials used to make homes; lessons explicitly state that homes protect people from weather and provide a place for families to come together. Activities also ask students to describe why homes look different and to find similar homes and note where they are found.
Lesson 8
Different Holidays and Traditions
Students are asked to read about holidays in encyclopedias or on websites and to discuss the importance of each holiday (Activity 1 and Activity 2). Students are prompted to answer why a family celebrates a holiday and to write three sentences explaining what they enjoy about their favorite holiday (Activity 3). In Activity 5 students are given sentence stems such as "___ is important because ___" and asked to write a sentence about each holiday, which requires producing reasons for a point.
Lesson 10
Wants and Needs
Students are instructed to read pages 46–51, 56–61, and 66–71 and discuss why children need an education, play, and love and care. Activity 4 has students gather responses from four people and then discuss the different items named and whether those items are truly needs or wants, rearranging items on webs based on that discussion. The introduction and wrapping up prompts ask students to explain what it means to want something and to name things that all people need.
4: Change
Unit 1: Changes on Planet Earth
Lesson 4
Changes in the Environment
Students are asked to read 'Part 2: Seasons Change' and to answer questions about the changes described on specific pages (e.g., water freezing/evaporating, pupa to butterfly, leaves making food). The Wrapping Up section asks students to explain what causes the changes and how those changes can cause people to change their activities. Activity 1 has students read scenarios about weather and explain how the weather would cause them to change their activities.
Lesson 6
Changes in the Sky
The lesson asks students to discuss why the Sun is important and explicitly tells them that "plants cannot grow without sunlight" and that "without plants we would not be able to eat or breathe since plants provide us with food and oxygen." The lesson also states that "the Moon does not produce its own light" and that "the Sun actually illuminates (or lights up) the Moon," and it prompts discussion and video viewing about these explanatory points. The Life Application asks students to observe the Moon and "discuss where the Sun is at different points in the day," reinforcing cause-and-effect explanations for day/night.
Lesson 7
Living Things Change
Students are asked to review pages 30–31 and 34–37 of Changes Happen All Around You, providing a reading reference. Students are asked how and why the lizard changed and are told that color change (camouflage) helps protect lizards from predators, and they are asked whether the rabbit's coat change happens quickly or slowly. Students are prompted to explain changes (e.g., why color change is helpful) and to describe examples of changes in animals.
Lesson 11
People Change the Environment
Students are asked to discuss why recycling helps the environment and to explain what practices (e.g., using reusable water bottles, shorter showers) do to reduce waste. Students watch a video titled 'What Can I Recycle?' and then sort pictured items into recycling or trash bins, prompting them to state reasons why some items are recyclable and others are not. Students describe illustrations of human activities and explain how each action changes the environment, then decide whether each change is positive, negative, or neutral and why.
Unit 2: Characters Change
Lesson 1
What's in a Name
Students answer explicit 'why' comprehension questions (Question #2 asks why Chrysanthemum changed her mind; Question #3 asks what can be learned about how words affect others). Activity 3 (Feeling Phrases) has students identify what the author is communicating through specific phrases, prompting them to connect author wording to character reactions. Activity 5 (Characters Change) asks students to complete 'Chrysanthemum changed because ______,' directly prompting students to state causes for the character's change.
Lesson 2
Why Worry?
Students watch a read-aloud of Wemberly Worried and then answer guided questions that ask, "Did she need to be worried? Why or why not?" (Questions 1–3). The provided answers model reasons from the text (e.g., "No… because a lot of kids came," "No… because she was the only butterfly," "No… because she met a new friend and had a nice teacher"). The wrap-up question "What can you learn from Wemberly?" also prompts students to state reasons or lessons that the story supports.
Unit 3: A First Look at History - Change Over Time
Lesson 7
People of the Past
Students read simple biographies and short descriptive passages about historical figures (Activity 1 and the People in History page) that state what each person did (e.g., Edison made the light bulb). Activity 1 asks students, "Did this person live in the past or is this person living in the present? How do you know?", prompting them to use textual clues. Activity 2 asks students to reread descriptions and point to the individual described, reinforcing use of text details to support identification.
Final Project
My Past, Present and Future
Several activity pages prompt students to explain differences using 'because' (e.g., 'My family was different in the past because ___' and 'I was different because ___'), requiring students to state reasons for changes. The Elements of Culture pages ask students to write 'In the past ___' and 'Today ___' for cultural elements, which invites students to provide explanatory sentences comparing past and present. The project prompts and the 'What I Do' and 'A Change in Me' organizers ask students to describe why and how things were different, encouraging written or dictated reasons.
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 3
Letter Sounds Review III
During Activity 5.2 students read the reader The Bug aloud and are asked comprehension questions such as "What does the bug want to be able to do?" and "Why can't he do that?" Students point to words as they read and are prompted to explain why the bug cannot do the requested action. The prompt to explain "why" asks students to identify a cause or reason described in the text.
Lesson 4
Letter Sounds Review IV
In Activity 5.2 students read Reader #4 (The Cat, the Pig, the Dog, and the Fox) and are asked two explicit 'Why' questions: why the dog and fox are napping (because they have been running) and why the cat and pig are not napping (because they have been sitting/not active). The instructions prompt students to read the book twice (once independently/silently and once aloud to an adult) before answering, providing prompting and support. The questions require students to identify reasons given in the text for characters' states.
Lesson 8
Blends with s
In Activity 4.3 students read Meg and Dan and the Sled and are asked comprehension questions that require giving reasons (e.g., "Near the end, why are Meg and Dan no longer on the sled?" with the expected answer that they fell off because they hit a spot and slid). The activity also asks "Why do you think they stop for a snack?" which prompts students to state a reason for a character's action based on the text.
Lesson 12
Double ll, ss, ff, zz (FLOSS)
Students read the reader Huff and Puff aloud and are asked comprehension questions including "Why do you think the insects are following the kids?" and "Why is everyone huffing and puffing at the end of the book?" The lesson prompts students to answer causation questions and provides an expected reason for the last question (from running around, because it's hot out).
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 10
Other Long Vowel Patterns
Students read Reader #10 — The Wild Colt on Day 5 and answer comprehension questions that ask for causes and explanations, e.g., "Why is the colt hard to find in the herd?" with the expected answer that the colts all look similar, and "How does the man stop the colt from bolting?" with the expected answer that he ties a rope to its neck and a post. Students are prompted to read the story on their own and then explain these plot-based reasons aloud to an adult.