First Grade - ELA
1: Environment
Unit 1: Habitats and Homes
Lesson 1
My Environment
Students label rooms on illustrated house pages and circle items in the pictures that relate to water, food, or shelter. Students draw and write about their most important room, filling in prompts that ask what the room is used for and why it is important. Students walk through real rooms while referring to the pictures and discuss which items support a healthy home environment.
Lesson 3
Guide to Animal Habitats
Students are asked to stop during the read-aloud and point out the animals and plants living in each habitat, and to count how many animals they find (Activity 1). Students chart Crinkleroot's course or cut and paste habitat pictures in the order visited, directly using story illustrations to sequence events (Activity 2). Students examine the pages that illustrate a chosen habitat and answer descriptive prompts ("What do you see in the habitat?" "What would it feel like?") or draw a picture or tell a story about visiting it (Activity 5). The cover activity asks students to identify and make predictions about Crinkleroot from the illustration (Introduction cover questions).
Lesson 4
Animals Live and Grow
Students are asked directly to use the picture on the first page to identify the season and cite visual clues (snow, dead plants, coats) as evidence. During the read-aloud of Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt, students answer questions about events (when to plant, why Nana tells the boy to water) that require using story details. In Activity 1 students draw or list plants and animals they recognize from the book's habitat illustrations, and in Activity 3 they match animals to shelters using pictorial cues. Activity 2 has students analyze organisms in each habitat to identify consumers and energy sources using the representations they recorded from the book.
Lesson 5
Discovering Animal Habitats
Students examine multiple habitat illustrations and are asked to identify and describe the animals and features they see (Activity 1 options). They draw additional animals, label habitats, and explain what the animals eat and where they get water (Activity 3 and Let's Create a Habitat activities). Students match pictured animals to their correct habitats and complete pictorial graphs, using picture details to categorize and describe settings.
Lesson 6
Exploring Animal Habitats
Students draw and label the habitat they observe (Activity 1), documenting plants, animals, insects, water, and land and answering questions about what the animals are doing and where plants are. In Activity 2 students place a picture of a chosen animal in a box and are prompted to dictate and write a short story using sentence stems such as "I am a ___. I live in the ___. One day I ___." Students compare predictions to their illustrations and are encouraged to include details about what the animal eats, drinks, and does in its habitat.
Lesson 8
Animal Care
Students listen to or have The Salamander Room read to them and answer targeted questions about the story (e.g., what animal the boy found, where he found it, and what environment the salamander needed). Students create a shoebox habitat and a clay salamander, which requires them to use story details about the animal's needs and setting to design a home. Students draw pictures of a domestic animal and a non-domesticated animal, linking visual representation to descriptions of animals and their habitats.
Lesson 9
Animal Designs
Students name animals and habitats using illustrated panels and read captions (Activity 1), analyze how each animal moves in its pictured setting, and circle the body parts that enable those movements. In Option 2 students paste or draw pictures into habitat boxes and write habitat names, using images to support their written responses. In Activity 4 students create and orally tell a creative story about an animal in the wrong habitat, describe what happens and how it gets home, and draw pictures of the animal in both the correct and wrong settings.
Lesson 10
Amazing Animals
Students are shown illustrated pages (Amazing Changes) and asked to analyze each animal and read about how the animal changes to live in its habitat. In Activity 2 students hear short narrated situations (starfish in the deep ocean; lizard on a green leaf) and are asked to explain what they would do, how they would feel, and what will happen to the animal's arm or how the lizard can hide. In Activity 3 students use illustrations in math problems and are encouraged to draw missing body parts, connecting pictures with events like a starfish losing legs or a shark losing teeth.
Lesson 11
Amazing Me
The lesson's skills list includes "Illustrate a story" and "Read or attempt to read own story." In Activity 3 students are asked to think of a time they changed, have their ideas recorded on paper, read the ideas aloud, and then illustrate those ideas. The student activity pages (Options 1 and 2) ask students to look at pictures and respond about feelings, showing practice in using illustrations to express meaning.
Final Project
Animal Research / My Environment
Students create a multi-page book (Option 1) with pages titled Me, What I Eat and Drink, My Home Environment, Things I Do in My Environment, and A Change in Me, and are instructed to draw illustrations that match each page's description. In Option 2 students draw the animal (character), shade where it lives and draw its habitat (setting), draw what it eats and drinks, and add pictures for interesting facts, with directions to label pictures. The wrapping up step asks students to explain each page of their book, encouraging them to use their illustrations and labels to describe the subject.
Unit 2: Weather
Lesson 2
Types of Precipitation
After reading Oh Say Can You Say What's the Weather Today?, students are asked, "What habitats did you see in the pictures? Can you find each picture of a habitat and describe its weather?" and "What did the characters in the book look like when they were hot…cold?" which has students use illustrations to describe setting and characters. Activity 2 has students reread specific pages and discuss types of precipitation shown on the pages, then look closely at three pictures and decide which precipitation is falling, labeling and drawing raindrops, snow, or hail. Option 2 asks students to label picture columns for precipitation and then draw outside scenes of what a child might be doing in each type of precipitation, using illustration details to describe events.
Lesson 3
Measuring and Charting Weather
In Activity 4 students are asked to look at the book Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats and describe what the weather can be like in different habitats. The activity prompts students to discuss temperature, precipitation, and sky conditions and to discuss animal features that allow them to survive in those climates.
Lesson 5
Fall
Students are shown an autumn illustration and asked direct comprehension questions such as "What are the people wearing?", "What do the plants and trees look like?", and "What are the people doing?" Students are asked to circle three favorite things in the picture, write the names of those items, circle the beginning letter of each, and use each word in a sentence on the provided lines. Follow-up prompts ask students to compare the pictured environment to their own and to explain what happens to the weather in fall, tying illustration details to setting and events.
Lesson 6
Winter
Students are asked to find winter pages in a book and describe what they see in the pictures, including how those pictures are similar to or different from the winter where they live. Students dictate a winter story and then illustrate that story in the provided box on the "Let It Snow" page, using vocabulary (cold, snow, freeze) in their writing. The wrapping-up prompt asks students to describe what a winter environment can be like, reinforcing use of picture-based details about setting.
Lesson 7
Spring
Students are asked to read short poems and then match each poem to the illustration that best tells the poem's story (Option 1), which requires using the picture to identify events and characters. In Option 2, students are asked to draw their own illustrations in blank boxes and are reminded that the picture should help tell the story, prompting them to create images that depict characters, setting, or events. The poems themselves contain clear characters and events (a chick hatching, rain, flowers growing), giving students text details to connect with the illustrations.
Lesson 8
Summer
Activity 1 asks students to look at a pictured scene and answer questions about the environment, what is happening, and how the kids feel, prompting description of characters, setting, and events from an illustration. Activity 2 presents picture-word prompts that students use to fill blanks in a short story about Jessie, requiring students to use illustrations to select words that describe the story's setting and events. Option 2 asks students to illustrate the completed story, having students produce and use pictures to represent story events and setting.
Final Project
Weather Games
Students are asked to look through the book Whatever the Weather and pick the page that looks most similar to the weather outside today, directly using book illustrations to represent setting. In the Weather Memory activity students match season names and weather words with pictures, practicing using illustrations to identify seasonal/weather concepts. The Weather Forecast graphic organizer prompts students to describe the sky, precipitation, temperature, and appropriate clothing, which requires them to use visual and observational details to report a setting-like description.
Unit 3: Community
Lesson 1
On the Town
Students are prompted to look at the cover of On the Town and predict what the book might be about, and after reading they answer questions about what places Charlie visited and what his favorite place was. In Activity 2 students use pictures (illustrations) to complete sentences about community places, tying visual details to text. In Activity 3 students draw a new page for the book and write or dictate a sentence about Charlie visiting that place, using illustration and written detail to represent setting and an event.
Lesson 2
My Community Environment
Students are asked to read Me on the Map and to examine the page showing the map of the town, identifying streets, buildings, and the river (Activity 1). Students look through books and describe the communities found in the illustrations, select three books with different types of communities, copy titles, and draw simple illustrations of each community (Activity 3). Students take photos or pictures of real community places and label and write or dictate brief descriptions of how each place serves the community (Activity 2).
Lesson 3
Jobs in the Community
Students view labeled illustrations of community workers and workplaces in Activity 1 and are asked to name what each worker does and draw a line from the worker to the place where they work. In Option 2 of Activity 1 students are encouraged to draw a symbol to represent each worker above the name. In Activity 4 and Activity 3 students observe a community worker, describe what they saw, and dictate or write a paragraph and draw a picture of themselves in the worker role. Activity 6 directs students to read books about community workers, which provides story texts and accompanying pictures for discussion.
Lesson 6
A Good Community Citizen
Students sort and place illustrated scenarios into "Good Home Environment" and "Not a Good Home Environment" (Activity 2 Option 1), using picture details to decide category. In Option 2 students draw three things family members might do in each home and label each picture, tying illustrations to descriptions. In Activity 3 students draw or paste photos of family members and write or dictate observations about examples of good citizenship beneath each picture, using images to describe people and actions.
Lesson 7
A Citizen with Character
In Activity 5 (The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Option 1) students draw an illustration for the beginning, middle, and end of the story and write or dictate a sentence to accompany each drawing, using pictures to retell events. In Activity 3 (Kindness Award) students view pictures of children in situations, assign kindness scores, and explain why they chose each score, using illustrations to describe characters' actions or traits. In Activity 6 students read books with characters exhibiting traits and record actions and resulting consequences, using story details to connect actions and events.
Lesson 8
Rules and Laws
The lesson includes a short narrative, "The House with No Rules," that students listen to or read and then answer questions about what happens there (e.g., "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?"). Activity prompts ask students to make a list of 3–5 rules that would improve the house, and to explain which rules they think are most important and why, requiring use of story details and reasons. Students also read and sort concrete statements (e.g., "Don't take things that aren't yours," "Stop at a red light") into categories, practicing use of textual details.
Lesson 9
Caring for Our Communities
Students study the "When One Person Cares" activity sheet illustration while an adult reads the story and answer questions about the beginning, middle, and end (events) and what Katy does to help (character actions). Students are asked explicit questions about where Katy lives and what she likes about her community, directing them to use details to describe the setting. In Activity 2, students mark X's and circles on two contrasting community pictures to identify poor and positive setting features, and an extension asks them to examine picture books and discuss how settings portray safe or unsafe communities.
Final Project
I Can Make A Difference
Students are prompted to draw or illustrate their plans in a large blank box on the activity page, and to paste a photo of themselves carrying out the project. Sentence starters and reflection prompts ask students to write who they helped, what they did, how they felt, and how their plan made the community better. The Skills list includes sequencing events and using action words, and the plan requires students to list steps (first, next, finally).
2: Similarities and Differences
Unit 1: Amazing Attributes
Lesson 4
How Does It Feel?
Students are prompted to select and describe pictured objects by texture (Activity 1 and Activity 2), including circling, cutting, pasting, or copying texture words beneath pictures on the "Describing Texture" pages. Students practice using only feeling words to describe items and then match texture adjectives (fluffy, sticky, gooey, wet, rough, soft, hard, cold) to illustrations of a pillow, soap, juice box/milk, and a brick. Students write a sentence about an object's texture ("______ feels _________") and discuss how authors use texture words to help readers picture objects, with an example comparing "We jumped in the lake." to "We jumped in the icy, cold lake and got wet."
Lesson 5
How Old?
Students look at and sort pictures of people by age (Activity 1) and cut out or paste images from magazines to order youngest to oldest, using visual attributes such as height and size. In Activity 2 students use a Student Activity Page with illustrations of eight people to assign names, match ages, and write questions about each illustrated person. Students examine tree rings and pictures of trees to infer age from visual details and draw or label animals with life spans, using illustrations to represent and compare living things.
Lesson 10
Earth Materials: Rocks, Soil, and Water
Students are asked to find animals and rocks in the book illustrations and to locate glossary entries by matching illustrated animals (Activity 2 and Activity 4). Students are prompted to compare the two book covers and to "describe the habitat of the pond" with concrete descriptions of what is shown and talked about in the book (Day 2 questions). Questions ask students to describe how solids and liquids are pictured and what role they play in the story and to describe "what is happening in the dirt," encouraging use of illustrations and details to explain events and settings (Reading and Questions; Activity 1).
Unit 2: Senses
Lesson 2
Senses and Body Parts
In Option 1 students listen to the story "Jackie's Day at the Pet Store" and, when Jackie uses a sense, pick up and glue the corresponding body part onto Jackie's illustrated face, linking text details to a picture. In Option 2 students plan a story (including where it takes place and beginning/middle/end), tell it aloud, and pause to glue sense organs as Jackie uses senses, connecting narrative details to the illustration. The Student Activity Pages provide an illustrated Jackie and cut-out sense organs that students manipulate to represent characters' actions described in the text.
Lesson 4
Hearing and Seeing
Students are asked to look at the cover of The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses and then listen as the book is read aloud. After reading, students answer explicit questions about story events (e.g., "What happened when the bus driver flipped the green switch?") and describe a character ("How would you describe Ms. Frizzle?").
Lesson 6
Experimenting With Our Senses
The lesson asks students to tell a story about a time they ate or drank their favorite flavor and records it as they tell it (Activity 3), which asks for narrative production and recounting events. The Skills section includes 'Use descriptive words in speech and writing,' and Activity 4 has students write or dictate a sentence about something they smelled or tasted, prompting use of sensory details in writing and speech.
Lesson 7
Using All of Our Senses
Students are asked to read pages of My Five Senses and answer which senses the boy used and how he used each sense, prompting them to use story details to describe a character's actions. In Activity 1 students view illustrated scenarios (playing in the sand, eating dinner, playing an instrument) and identify/circle which senses are used, using the pictures to describe the events. In Activity 3 students look through books and identify ways characters in stories are using their senses, directing them to use book details and illustrations (e.g., Brown Bear, What Do You See) to note character behavior.
Lesson 8
Writing About Our Senses
Students are asked to illustrate a memorable event and then write one sensing word, phrase, or sentence for each of the five senses on the "Sensing My Day" activity, which connects drawings with descriptive details about an event. In "A Sensible Report" students draw popcorn before and after popping and complete sensory fill-in-the-blank sentences (felt, sounded, smells, tastes), linking pictures and written details about the popping event. The "Sensing Logic" activity has students use pictured illustrations and descriptive clues to identify objects, requiring them to match details to images.
Unit 3: We're the Same, We're Different
Lesson 1
You're Special
Students complete a fill-in-the-blank personal paragraph ("You Are Special") using answers to prompts about name, where they live, hair and eye color, likes, and skills, then read and share that story. The lesson lists an objective to "Discuss, illustrate, and dramatize stories," and includes a handwriting page and activity prompts that encourage students to describe personal characteristics and settings (e.g., house number, where you live).
Lesson 2
Physical Characteristics
Students listen to and retell the illustrated story "Different Friends," answer comprehension questions about beginning/middle/end, and cut apart illustrated event boxes to place events in order, using pictures to sequence events. Students are asked to describe the physical characteristics of Susan and Casey after reading, and the activity page includes three panels showing scenes from the story that students reference. In Activity 1 and Activity 3, students add or draw facial features and other physical traits on figures and create/illustrate their own three-part friendship story, linking their illustrations to story sentences.
Lesson 3
Different Personalities
Activity 3 asks students to record and illustrate the main characters in a favorite movie or cartoon and then write two words to describe each character's personality. Activity 3 also has students paste a picture of a favorite book or movie character and record personality words around the picture. Activity 2 has students draw a self-portrait and a friend's portrait and write or paste personality words, then circle and describe words they have in common.
Lesson 5
Shapesville
Students are asked to look at the book cover and identify the shapes and features shown, using the illustrations to predict the story. As the story is read, students identify each character's shape, count sides and angles, and describe physical characteristics (color, eye color, sides, angles) based on the pictures. Students review and state each shape-character's personality and interests after reading and then draw, color, and write or dictate descriptions of a chosen shape character on the activity page. Students also select shapes for family members and explain how the illustrated features and described traits match each person.
Lesson 6
Different Families
Students are directed to look through A Life Like Mine and identify pictures of families, then describe the clothing, physical characteristics, activities, and interactions of the people shown. The lesson asks students to talk about the different foods and homes shown in the book and to locate each child's country on the map, tying illustrations to setting. In Option 1 and Option 2 students draw or illustrate their own family and a family from another country and complete comparison sentences or a Venn diagram using details from the pictures.
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, using the pictures to note materials and features. Students examine materials used to build homes and connect those illustration details to why people build different homes (stones, mud, wood, environment). Students look through the book or online to find photos of similar homes, add details around puzzle homes (grass, people, trees), and sketch/construct a dream home based on illustrated examples.
Lesson 8
Different Holidays and Traditions
Students look at pictures of holidays from scrapbooks, encyclopedias, and websites and answer guided questions about what people are celebrating, what activities they do, what clothing is worn, and what foods are eaten (Activity 2). Students match symbols/images to specific holidays on the "American Holidays and Traditions" page, using illustrations to identify and associate holiday events (Activity 1). Students draw a picture of themselves celebrating a holiday and write or dictate three sentences explaining what they enjoy about the holiday, linking their illustration to descriptive text (Activity 3).
Lesson 9
Different Modes of Transportation
Students are asked in Activity 3 to draw a picture of themselves taking a chosen mode of transportation to a destination and then tell a story about the trip, using their drawing as a prompt. The introduction directs students to look through a picture book (A Life Like Mine) and find examples of transportation in the illustrations. In Activity 2 (Option 2) students draw and write the mode of transportation for pictured scenarios, linking images of places to travel events.
Lesson 10
Wants and Needs
Students read specified pages (46–51, 56–61, 66–71) and discuss why children need education, play, and love, which involves talking about details in those pages. Students use pictured items on multiple activity pages (e.g., images of a boy, water, food, house, pool, computer, love, education) to categorize and represent wants and needs. In Activity 5 students draw shelter, food, water, clothes, education, and love for a pictured boy, using illustrations to show aspects of a character's life.
Lesson 11
Being Part of a Group
Students read pages 98–113 of A Life Like Mine and discuss the identities, nationalities, and religions of the children in the book, connecting book details to group membership. In Activity 1 students cut out illustrated children, sort them into groups by attributes (age, height), and answer questions about which group has the most people and which group is shortest/tallest. In Activity 2 students draw members of a group and complete a prompted paragraph describing the group's members and similarities.
Final Project
Differences Make the World Go 'Round
Students are prompted to research a chosen country (locate it on a map and read about its food, clothing, activities, transportation, and environment) and then create a book comparing themselves and a child from that country. Students complete sentence prompts for location, food, hobbies, homes, clothing, transportation, and holidays, and are encouraged to write the sentences themselves. Students are instructed to illustrate each page by drawing or pasting pictures (or printing/cutting images) to represent the sentences.
3: Patterns
Unit 2: Patterns in Sounds, Words, and Actions
Lesson 1
Word Patterns
Students are asked to reread Bear Hugs, copy or dictate animal names from the text, and identify the habitat where each animal lives (Activity 4), which has them use story content to link characters to settings. Students are invited to make habitat pictures and draw the animals from the book in the picture (Activity 4 extension) and to act out or illustrate a chosen nursery rhyme (Activity 2), which has them use illustrations/details to represent events. Several activity pages ask students to label pictures and match words to images (Activity 1 and Option 2), giving practice reading illustrations alongside words.
Lesson 3
Poetry Patterns
Students read short poems and are asked what each poem is about, identify rhyming words, and circle those words on the student activity pages. Students write another verse for a song and are prompted to illustrate the new verse in the provided drawing box. The activity pages include clear illustrations (a box of books, Sammy Square, a log and bucket, a fox in a box) that accompany the text.
Lesson 5
Story Patterns
Students are asked to use pictures to represent and sequence story events (Activity 2: cut apart pictures, glue them in order, label beginning/middle/end, and dictate a sentence for each event). Students are prompted to identify and describe what happened at the beginning, middle, and end after reading a story and to predict events before reading the ending (Activity 1). Students create their own stories and are asked to think about who will be in the story (characters) and to illustrate their story boxes or act out the story (Activity 3).
Unit 3: Patterns in Your World
Lesson 3
Night and Day
Students label and color illustrated pictures of the Sun, Moon, and Earth on the activity page. Students use a globe and a flashlight as visual models and are asked to describe when it is daytime and when it is nighttime. Students draw pictures and record or dictate sentences about activities that occur during the day and activities that occur at night, using their drawings to support their explanations.
Lesson 4
Daily Routines
Students cut apart and reorder labeled pictures on the "My Morning Routine" page to represent and sequence morning events. Students break another routine into four steps and illustrate each step or choose objects/gestures to represent those steps. Students record a daily schedule using icons and times for events and write or dictate a sentence describing one of their routines.
Lesson 9
Counting Patterns
Students cut out clown faces and place them in the car as the story is read, keeping track of how many clowns enter and filling blanks in the story. Students retell or create their own clown stories (adding or removing pairs of clowns) and record the numbers as the story continues. Students also look at activity pages showing clowns with different facial expressions/accessories and write or dictate a sentence about the clowns in the car.
4: Change
Unit 1: Changes on Planet Earth
Lesson 1
What Causes Change?
Students look closely at picture pairs and match before-and-after images (tree with leaves → bare tree; intact ice cream → melted) and decide what changed, which requires using illustrations to identify events. In Activity 2 students observe sequences (young boy → old man; light off → on) and label changes as fast or slow, using picture details to describe the nature and timing of events. In Activity 3 students draw a before-and-after picture of a change they have seen and complete sentences about what changed and why, then attempt to read their paragraph aloud, connecting their illustrations to written descriptions of the event.
Lesson 3
Changing Position
The lesson asks students to look at the cover of Zoom! Zip! Whoosh! and to say what is happening in the picture and what they think the book will be about, prompting use of an illustration to infer events. In Activity 2, students cut apart illustrations of actions and sort them into push vs. pull groups, using pictures to identify and describe physical actions (events). The closing prompt asks students to explain some ways that objects on Earth change position, which can draw on illustrated or observed events.
Lesson 4
Changes in the Environment
Students read Part 2: "Seasons Change" in Changes Happen All Around You and are prompted to answer questions about the changes described in the book, using the book's pictures (e.g., the tree in each season) to discuss seasonal changes. Students label and color the four-season tree diagram and assemble a spinning wheel to observe how the pictures show the setting changing over time. Students are also asked to illustrate or write two sentences about a time when weather caused them to change an activity, using their own drawings to describe an event.
Lesson 5
Changes in Location
Students complete the 'Where Did He Go?' wheel by filling blanks beneath pictures of a cat and surrounding objects, using prepositions from a word box or writing full prepositional phrases. Students cut out and move a mouse on the 'Mouse in the House' page as they place it in front of the TV, on top of the couch, under the coffee table, and between the pillows while reading or responding to sentences. Students go outside (or look out a window) and write sentences in the Nature Relations activity describing the relationship of one object to another and follow spoken directions to change their own location in relation to objects.
Lesson 7
Living Things Change
Students look closely at paired illustrations (e.g., lizard on leaf vs. branch; rabbit in summer vs. winter) and are asked to explain how and why the animals changed. On the "Changes in Living Things" page, students observe picture pairs and answer whether the change is in number, size, shape, or place and whether it was fast or slow, circling words that describe the change. In Activity 3 students create four-box sequences (before/after) by drawing or cutting pictures to illustrate specific changes, and in Activity 4 they write a sentence describing a change in size.
Lesson 8
Plants and Change
Students cut out pictures from the "Plants Change" activity and glue them in order to show how a plant changes over its life cycle (Activity 4). Students assemble or draw and label plant diagrams using pictured parts (Activity 2) and create a five-fold collage that shows sequential stages (Activity 3 and the provided step-by-step image). These tasks require students to look at and use illustrations to represent events in sequence.
Lesson 11
People Change the Environment
In Activity 3, students are asked to look at a series of illustrations (e.g., a person riding a bicycle, a bulldozer removing trees, children planting a tree, a house being built in a forest) and describe what is happening in each illustration. Students must explain how each illustration shows a change to the environment and decide whether the change is positive, negative, or neutral, using details from the pictures. In Activity 2, students sort pictured items into a recycling bin or trash can, using the images to make categorization decisions.
Unit 2: Characters Change
Lesson 1
What's in a Name
Students are instructed to "pay close attention to the illustrations as the narrator reads," which directs them to use pictures while listening. In Activity 3 (Feeling Phrases), students read author phrases that convey emotion and then illustrate the face Chrysanthemum might have at that moment, linking textual details to illustrations. In Activity 5 (Characters Change) students list three words/phrases describing Chrysanthemum at the beginning and end of the story and write short sentences about how she changed, using story details to describe the character.
Lesson 2
Why Worry?
Students are asked to describe how Wemberly changed from the beginning to the end on the "Characters Change" activity page, with prompts such as "At the beginning of the story Wemberly was..." and "At the end of the story Wemberly was..." and a sentence frame "Before Wemberly was ____, but now she is ____." The Characters Change page includes illustrations of Wemberly looking worried and then relaxed, and the Using 'And' activity includes illustrations (swing, clock, sun) paired with sentences drawn from the story for students to combine. The lesson also asks students to compare Wemberly and Chrysanthemum and to identify conjunctions in their character-change pages, which requires attention to story details and events.
Lesson 3
Is It a Problem?
Students are asked to look through the book and talk about how the author represents the problem as a cloud and how that image grows and changes in the illustrations. On the activity page "THE PROBLEM," students illustrate the problem at three different points in the story, matching images to text. The "Beginning, Middle, and End" activity has students use storyboard panels and pictures to identify the sequence of events in What Do You Do With a Problem? and other stories. The "Characters Change" page prompts students to use pictures and descriptive prompts to explain how the boy changed from the beginning to the end.
Lesson 4
Comparing Characters
Students are prompted to compare characters using Venn diagrams and are explicitly told they can think about "their personalities, their situations, their families, the illustrations in the books, etc." The Two Stories, Same Problem page includes labeled illustration boxes ("Illustrate Wemberly," "Illustrate the boy") that require students to use pictures to represent characters. Students dictate three-sentence summaries (beginning, middle, end) for stories and answer questions about how characters' situations are similar and what can be learned, and the Cause and Effect activity has students match story events with their outcomes.
Lesson 5
The Raft
Students are asked to examine the book cover and pages (show the cover of The Raft and read through the discovery page) and answer detail questions about what is in Grandma's living room and what animals the boy sees, prompting use of story details. Activity 4 directs students to discuss the pictures painted on the raft and to paint symbols that represent meaning, requiring students to interpret illustrations as representing events or character experiences. Activity 7 (Story Elements) has students identify and glue the character, setting, problem, and solution for each story using provided illustrated frames and setting images. Student activity pages include labeled illustrations of settings and scenes to support students in describing settings and events from the stories.
Lesson 6
Positive and Negative Change
In Activity 2, students read a description of the rat and answer questions about how the rat feels, how other animals respond, and how the rat could change; they dictate an ending and discuss how and why the rat changed. Activity 3 asks students to recall characters' responses in familiar stories and discuss how choices and circumstances produced positive or negative changes. The Skills section explicitly lists comparing illustrations and descriptions between texts, and Activity 3 has students draw and write sentences describing a change they experienced.
Final Project
My Own Story
Students are asked in Part 2 to illustrate each of 2–3 characters and write three traits for each, and the Student Activity Page provides frames and lines for character drawings and descriptions. In Part 3 students are asked to illustrate the story setting on a blank sheet of paper and to keep the story to one or two places. The Problem and Solution activity (Part 4) and Part 6 (online publishing) have students plan events, explain how the character changes, type the text, and arrange images/backgrounds to match story pages.
Unit 3: A First Look at History - Change Over Time
Lesson 1
People and Families Change
Students examine and sequence personal photographs of themselves and their family (Activities 1 and 4), answering questions about how people have changed, which requires using picture details to describe people. In Activity 5 students dictate or write about how the family has changed and then illustrate those changes in provided boxes on the "Writing About Change" page. Activity 6 has students draw and label future family scenes, and the lesson repeatedly asks students to describe differences seen in images and to read or share those descriptions aloud.
Lesson 3
Communities Change
Students examine the book cover and pictures, describe what they see, and answer questions about where the story happened and who the characters are (Activity 1). Students use illustrations to sequence events by cutting, numbering, and pasting picture cards on a vertical timeline to place story events in chronological order (Activity 2). Students compare pictures of different communities, point out differences in transportation, clothing, homes, and activities, circle animals from the story, and identify artifacts from illustrations (Activities 3, 4, 6).
Lesson 4
Past and Present
Students are asked to examine the book illustrations and explicitly "point out differences in the setting, the people's clothing, and any other differences she sees in the illustrations" (Activity 3). Students draw themselves living in a chosen time period and "tell a story about an adventure" using people, places, and things from the period, with a reminder that the story should have a beginning, middle, and end (Activity 2). Students cut out and place labeled historical illustrations on a timeline and order images of homes, transportation, clothing, and school while discussing the visual clues used to determine order (Activities 1 and 5). Students also dictate five clues about a time period based on reading and pictures (Activity 7).
Lesson 5
Exploring the Past
Students are instructed to look through the book's "Culture" pages (Homes and Houses, Clothes and Fashion, Food and Eating, Travel and Transport) and to draw and write or dictate descriptions of information found on those illustrated pages. Student Activity Pages are provided for Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, and Medieval Europe with illustrations (pyramids, Colosseum, castle) organized by Homes, Clothes, Food, and Travel that students fill in. In Activity 4 students write one sentence about each element of culture and draw an accompanying illustration, then assemble and present a book about a chosen culture.
Lesson 6
Predicting Future Change
Students view pictured scenarios (cityscape, ear with sound waves, toothbrush, toys, children) and answer questions about how the change will affect people or things in each scenario (Activity 1 and two-column 'What Will Happen?' pages). Students write sentences describing positive and negative results of changes (Activity 2) and draw a before-and-after picture to show a personal change and dictate a description of that change (Activity 3).
Lesson 7
People of the Past
Students read a simple biography and are asked "How would you describe this person?," prompting them to use details from the text to describe a character. Students view the Student Activity Page with sketches and short descriptions and are asked to point to the individual described, cut the squares apart, and glue each description beneath the person's picture, requiring them to use illustrations to identify characters. Students also write a sentence about a historical person, which asks them to produce a description based on what they learned.
Final Project
My Past, Present and Future
Students create a Past, Present, and Future book with pages like "Picture of Me," "My Family," "My Home," and "What I Do" that pair written prompts (e.g., "I was different because," "Now I am") with boxes for drawings or photographs. Option 2 asks students to write "In the past __________" and "Today __________" for chosen cultural elements and to illustrate each side. The activities require students to use illustrations alongside written details to describe themselves, family members, homes, actions, and cultural elements across time.
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 1
Letter Sounds Review I
Students are prompted to look at the book cover and answer "What else do you see on the cover?" and to point to each word as they read the Tap and Pat reader. Students are encouraged to use the pictures provided to figure out words and to do the action shown on each page as they read, linking illustrations to events/actions. The teacher model asks students to start reading at the first page and to refer to pictures when they struggle with words.
Lesson 2
Letter Sounds Review II
Students are asked to read the title of The Pig Can and describe what is on the cover. Students are prompted to predict the book's content by answering "What do you think this book is about?" and to explain their thinking. After reading, students are asked whether the pig and the cat can fit in the box and to explain their reasoning, which asks them to use story details and illustrations to support an answer.
Lesson 3
Letter Sounds Review III
In Activity 5.2 students are asked to read the title and describe the cover of the reader The Bug, which directs them to use an illustration to talk about the book. After reading, students answer questions about what the bug is able to do, what the bug wants to do, and why he cannot, which requires using story details to describe events. In Activity 5.3 students use pictures next to sentences to identify missing words, requiring them to use illustrations to determine story content.
Lesson 4
Letter Sounds Review IV
On Day 5 (Activity 5.2) students read The Cat, the Pig, the Dog, and the Fox independently and aloud, pointing to each word as they read. After reading, students are asked comprehension questions about characters and events (e.g., "Why are the dog and the fox napping at the end of the book?" and "Why aren't the cat and the pig napping?"). The Getting Started section also suggests re-reading the previous lesson's reader (The Bug), which prompts repeated engagement with story events and characters.
Lesson 5
Adding s, More Word Families, Ending with ck
In Activity 4.3 (Reader #5 — Ducks Are Fun), students are asked to read the book and then answer the question, "Which duck do you think is having the most fun? Why?", prompting them to use story details and illustrations to support their answer. The same activity asks students to look at the picture on page 2 to infer the meaning of the word "don," explicitly instructing them to use the illustration to derive meaning. In Activity 3.2 students match words to pictures and are directed to pay attention to how many objects are in each picture, requiring them to use illustrations to identify events/quantities in the images.
Lesson 7
Consonant Digraphs ch, sh, wh, ph
In Activity 3.3 students read the reader They Get Wet and are asked comprehension questions that target setting and events (e.g., "Where is the ship at the beginning of the book?" and "Why are the rat and the cat wet at the end?"). The activity asks students to read the book on their own, take their time, and answer questions about what happens and why, which requires describing events and locations in the story.
Lesson 9
Blends with l
The reader activity (Activity 4.3: Reader #9 — The Club) has students read The Club on their own, point to words as they read, and then answer comprehension questions. Questions ask students to use picture details ("What color are the flags that are flying above the club?") and story details about events ("What do the kids do at the club?"). The activity also asks a follow-up prompt that asks students to imagine activities at the club, linking illustrations/text to events.
Lesson 10
Blends with r
Students read the leveled reader One Can on their own and aloud (Activity 4.2). After reading, students answer specific comprehension questions that ask about story details — e.g., "Where are the ducks swimming to?" and "What are the kids running on?" The lesson also encourages re-reading a previous reader (The Club), providing additional opportunities to work with story details.
Lesson 11
Ending Blends
Students read the reader "At Camp" independently and then answer questions such as "What do the kids do at camp?" and "What are the kids hunting for?", which requires them to describe events and setting from the story. Students also name and cut out pictures on several activity pages and say the words for those pictures, showing they can use illustrations to identify items and events. These tasks ask students to refer to story content and pictured scenes when responding.
Lesson 12
Double ll, ss, ff, zz (FLOSS)
In Activity 4.3 students read the reader Huff and Puff and are asked, "What insects are shown in the book?" which requires noticing illustration details. The follow-up questions ("Why do you think the insects are following the kids?" and "Why is everyone huffing and puffing at the end of the book?") ask students to use story details to explain events.
Lesson 13
Glued Sounds ng and nk
Students read Reader #13 — King Hank on their own and then read it aloud while pointing to each word. After reading, students answer direct comprehension questions that require identifying story details and setting (for example, "Where do the king and his friends sleep?" and "What color drinks do the king and his friends drink?").
Lesson 14
Three-Letter Beginning Blends
Students read the reader Spring Has Sprung and are asked comprehension questions about events (e.g., "What do the kids do at the track?" and "What do the kids do at the pond?"). Activity 4.1 instructs students to know what each picture is showing when completing Fill in the Blanks, requiring them to use pictures to identify the correct blend for each pictured word. Several activities prompt students to point to and read words while referencing accompanying images on activity pages.
Lesson 15
More Ending Blends
In Activity 5.2 students read Reader #15 — The Raft Trip on their own and then answer targeted comprehension questions such as "What animals are on the bank of the river?" and "Which animals nap on the raft?" that require identifying characters and events from the story. The directions ask students to take their time and point to each word as they read, and then to read the book aloud and respond to questions about its content.
Lesson 17
Semester Review
Students read leveled readers and are asked to point to or name characters and to talk about the different things the characters do (Activity 4.1). Students plan and write their own small reader using a "Planning My Reader" page that includes a "Characters:" box and a "What Characters Do:" section, and they may add pictures and draw scenes on blank drawing/writing pages. Students are prompted to make each page show something different happening, which connects illustrations (their drawings) with events described in text.
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 1
Long Vowels a and i with Silent e
Students read the reader In the Fall on their own and then answer comprehension questions such as "What are some of the things that Lin and Dev like to do in the fall?" and "What does Lin do while Dev makes cakes?" Students are instructed to take their time and point to each word as they read, and to reread the Weekly Message identifying words with long a or i.
Lesson 2
Long Vowels o, u, and e with Silent e
On Day 5, Students read the reader They Chose To Doze and answer comprehension questions such as "What did the family do on their trip?" and "Who fell off of the mule?", which require recalling events and characters. The teacher points to an illustration beside page 6 to explain the vocabulary words dome and slope, connecting the picture to the setting. Students are asked to read the story aloud and then discuss whether they would prefer to ride mules up the dome or slide down using ropes, prompting them to use story details to form a response.
Lesson 3
Hard and Soft c and g
On Day 5 Activity 5.2 students read the reader "These Mice" and then answer comprehension questions such as "What do the mice use to make beds for their home?" and "What do the mice sit on to eat cake?" The activity also asks "Why do you think the mice like their home?" which requires students to use story details to explain characters' preferences or events. The directions require the child to read the story on her own and then read it aloud, providing opportunities to refer to the text when answering.
Lesson 4
More R-Controlled Vowels (er, ir, or, ur)
Students are asked to read Reader #4, The Bird Is Third, on their own and then answer comprehension questions such as "Who won the race?" and "Which animal came in last?" They are also asked to reflect on their expectations with "Are you surprised that the cat won the race? Who did you think would win? Why?", which requires them to describe events and characters' outcomes.
Lesson 5
Long a Spellings ai, ay
On Day 5 students read The Gray Day on their own and then answer specific comprehension questions such as what the boys play with indoors (train set) and what animal they see on the drain outside (snail). Follow-up prompts ask students to predict what the boys would do if they went outside and to explain whether they like rainy days, which requires students to describe events and aspects of the setting.
Lesson 7
Long i Spellings y, igh, ie
Students read The Dark Night independently and aloud and then answer targeted comprehension questions such as "What do Tom and Val see in the sky?" and "What do Tom and Val dream about?" (Activity 5.1). The Fill in the Blanks and reader activities require students to use story details to complete sentences about events (Day 3 Fill in the Blanks and Day 5 reading questions).
Lesson 8
Long o Spellings ow, oa, oe
On Day 5 (Activity 5.1) students read The Slow Boat and answer questions that require using story details (e.g., "How many boats are in the race?" and "What color is the boat that wins the race?"). Activity 3.1 asks students to identify pictures before writing the corresponding oa words, which requires using illustrations to support meaning. Several activities ask students to refer to pictures (e.g., writing pages with images) when producing words and sentences.
Lesson 9
Long u Spellings ue, ew, ou
On Day 5 students read the reader "Would You Eat It?" and are asked comprehension questions such as "What does Tom add to the stew?" and "What color does Val add to the stew?", which require them to use story details to identify events and elements. Several student activity pages include pictured scenes (for example, the "ew as Long u" page with illustrations of a cake and wind/cloud) that students read along with while pointing to spelled words and underlining the correct word in sentences.
Lesson 12
Other Vowel Sounds oi, oy
Students read The New Toy independently and then answer comprehension questions that ask them to identify story details (e.g., "What sound does the toy make?" and "What do you think Dan's new toy is?"). Students also compose and read sentences using words from the story (Making Sentences activity) and rehearse orally describing toys (life application silly sentences), which requires using story details and events to generate responses.
Lesson 13
Other Vowel Sounds ou, ow
On Day 5 (Activity 5.1) students read The Hound and the Owl on their own and then answer comprehension questions such as "What does the hound do during the day?," "What does the hound do at night?," and "Why do you think the hound howls at the owl?". Students also reread the Weekly Message and are asked to point to words with the /ou/ sound, indicating practice in locating textual details.
Lesson 15
These Make More Than One Sound: oo and ea
On Day 5 students read Reader #15, The Bad Bear, on their own and then aloud to an adult. After reading they answer comprehension prompts such as "What are some of the naughty things the bear does?" and "What happens when the bear's mom finds her?", which require students to describe the character's actions and events from the story. The activity also asks students to think of additional things the bear might do, prompting them to use story details to support their answers.
Lesson 16
Silent Starts: kn, wr, gn
In Activity 5.2 students read the reader The Gnats and answer direct comprehension questions about story events (e.g., "What do the gnats do to the kids at the playground?" and "What do the gnats do at the picnic?"). Activity 1.2 displays an image of a garden gnome and asks the child to connect the picture to the written word "gnome." The lesson also references using books (Where the Wild Things Are) while pointing out vocabulary in context.
Lesson 17
Year-End Review
Activity 2.2 (Sentence Writing) asks students to look at provided pictures (e.g., ducks on a dock, children playing soccer) and write one or two sentences about each image, with example sentences such as "The ducks are on the dock." The Student Activity Page descriptions show concrete illustrations that students must observe and then read their written sentences aloud, which requires using picture details to produce descriptive sentences about scenes or events.