First Grade - ELA
1: Environment
Unit 1: Habitats and Homes
Lesson 3
Guide to Animal Habitats
Students are asked to identify the sequence of events in the story and to sequence events in the correct order (skills list). In Activity 1 students listen to the story and point out animals and plants in each habitat, and in Activity 2 students cut and paste or chart the habitats in the order Crinkleroot visited them. Activity 5 asks students to tell a story about visiting a habitat, and the introduction explains that habitats provide everything animals need to live and grow.
Lesson 4
Animals Live and Grow
Students read Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt aloud (Day 2) and answer a set of targeted comprehension questions (Q1–Q7) that ask about setting, sequence (when to plant), reasons for actions (why water, why harvest quickly), and how animals help plants. The lesson prompts students to tell what they learned about how animals survive and grow and to discuss what plants need, requiring them to summarize key details. Activity prompts and wrap-up questions ask students to explain relationships (animals provide food/shelter; animals help plants), which connects story details to the story's larger ideas.
Lesson 6
Exploring Animal Habitats
The lesson lists 'Demonstrate a sense of story (beginning, middle, and end)' as a language arts skill and Activity 2 ('A Habitat Story') asks students to choose an animal, draw it, and dictate a short narrative using prompts (e.g., 'I am a ___. I live in the ___. One day I ___'). The activity directs an adult to record the child's dictated story and then read it back with the child, encouraging the child to sound out or read the story.
Lesson 8
Animal Care
Students listen to a read-aloud of The Salamander Room and are asked specific comprehension questions such as: What kind of animal did the boy find? Where did he find it? What kind of environment did the salamander need? Students are also asked evaluative questions about whether the boy should have kept the salamander and whether the salamander would rather live in the boy's room or the forest. After reading, students create a habitat shoebox and answer what the salamander would need to live and grow, and they draw pictures of domestic and non-domestic animals.
Lesson 9
Animal Designs
Activity 4 asks students to tell a creative story about an animal that ends up in the wrong habitat, describing how the animal gets there, what happens to it, and how it gets back home. Students record the story, read it aloud, and are invited to add or change parts, and then draw the animal in its correct and wrong habitats. These tasks require students to produce a sequenced narrative that includes key events and details.
Lesson 10
Amazing Animals
Activity 2 has students pretend to be animals in narrated situations (starfish and lizard) and answer questions about what happens and how they would feel. The lesson's skills list includes "Listen critically to text read aloud," "Respond to critical questions about a text," and "Present dramatic interpretations of stories," which supports oral comprehension and dramatization practice. The Wrapping Up prompts students to tell what they learned about some animals, encouraging verbal summary of content.
Unit 2: Weather
Lesson 1
Reading the Skies
Students hear or read the book Whatever the Weather (Activity 1) and answer comprehension questions about the story and characters' feelings (e.g., "What type of weather is best for playing outside?" and "How does it make you feel when it rains?"). The Skills list explicitly includes "Listen critically to text read aloud," "Respond to text read aloud," and "Make predictions about a story," indicating students practice listening and answering questions about a read-aloud. Activity 3 asks students to tell or dictate a story about their favorite kind of weather, which gives practice in orally producing a narrative.
Lesson 2
Types of Precipitation
After reading Oh Say Can You Say What's the Weather Today? students are asked to locate pictures of habitats and describe each habitat's weather, and to describe what characters looked like when hot or cold. The lesson asks students to reread specific pages and discuss different types of precipitation and to answer "Did you learn anything new?" The wrap-up asks students why precipitation is important and where our water comes from, prompting students to explain key information from the readings.
Lesson 7
Spring
Students are asked to attempt to read three short poems (e.g., "Hatch!"), to answer "what the poem was about," and to draw a line from each poem to the picture that best tells the story. In Option 2 students are prompted to illustrate each poem themselves and to explain how their picture helps tell the story; a language arts extension invites students to compose their own spring poem. These activities require students to identify the main idea of short narrative texts and create visual representations that reflect story content.
Lesson 8
Summer
Students read a short passage titled "A Summer Story," choose appropriate picture-word prompts to complete fill-in-the-blank sentences, and read the completed story aloud (Option 1 and Option 2). Students can also illustrate the story and advanced students are encouraged to write their own summer story. In Activity 1 students describe a pictured scene and explain what is happening and how the characters feel, which asks them to notice story-like details.
Unit 3: Community
Lesson 1
On the Town
After listening to On the Town, students are asked specific comprehension questions (e.g., "What places did Charlie visit?", "Why did Charlie write down the places he visited?") that prompt them to recall and describe story details. Students are asked to compare Charlie's journey to their own community and to draw and write or dictate a new page about Charlie visiting a place in their town, which asks them to extend and apply story information. Students also discuss that "a healthy community meets the needs of the people who live there," linking story events to a central message about community.
Lesson 7
A Citizen with Character
Activity 5 (The Boy Who Cried Wolf) asks students to divide a page into beginning, middle, and end, illustrate each part, and write or dictate a sentence for each section, which requires retelling the story and sequencing key events. The same activity asks students to state what the story teaches and discuss its moral, directly prompting them to demonstrate understanding of the story's central message. Activity 4 (A Lesson in Honesty) and Activity 6 (Actions and Consequences) ask students to answer comprehension questions, predict outcomes, and map characters' actions to consequences, further supporting identification of key details and the lesson.
Lesson 8
Rules and Laws
Students are read the story "The House with No Rules" and are asked specific comprehension questions such as "What kinds of things happen in the house with no rules?" and "What would you not like about the house?" which prompt them to recount events and details. Students are asked whether they would stay in the house and to explain why or why not, requiring them to state the story's consequences and the central message about rules. Students are asked to make a list of 3–5 rules to improve the house and to discuss those rules with family, which requires applying the story's lesson to real-life situations.
Lesson 9
Caring for Our Communities
Students are asked explicitly to identify what happens at the beginning, middle, and end of the story (Questions: "What happens at the beginning of the story? In the middle? At the end?"). Students answer targeted questions about setting, character actions, and outcomes (Where does Katy live? What does Katy do to be a good citizen? Does Katy help the people in her community? How?). Students are prompted to explain why caring for the community matters (Wrapping Up: Ask your child why it is important for people to care for their communities), supporting understanding of the story's central message.
Final Project
I Can Make A Difference
Students are given sentence starters that prompt sequential retelling: "The first thing I will do is __," "Next I will __," and "Finally I will __." Students carry out their plan and check off each step, then write about their experience at the bottom of the plan sheet. Reflection prompts ask students to state what they did and why it helped (e.g., "I helped __ with __," "I made my community a better place because __"), which requires including key details and explaining the project's outcome.
2: Similarities and Differences
Unit 1: Amazing Attributes
Lesson 10
Earth Materials: Rocks, Soil, and Water
Students reread Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt and Over and Under the Pond and answer guided comprehension questions about pictured details, liquids/solids, and the role of those materials in the books. The Skills list and question sets ask students to identify who is telling the story and to compare and contrast the characters' experiences. Activities require students to describe habitats, locate rocks in illustrations, and provide concrete descriptions of what is shown in the texts.
Unit 2: Senses
Lesson 2
Senses and Body Parts
Students listen to the read-aloud "Jackie's Day at the Pet Store" and, on the second reading, pick up and glue sense-organs when Jackie uses a sense, which requires attending to story events and sensory details. In Option 2 students are asked to make up and tell a story about Jackie with a beginning, middle, and end, pausing to glue sense organs as sensory events occur, which practices oral story structure and sequencing. The lesson's skill list also includes listening responsively to text read aloud and identifying title and author, supporting attention to story elements during listening.
Lesson 4
Hearing and Seeing
Students are read The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses aloud and are asked specific comprehension questions (e.g., what happened when the bus driver flipped the green switch; whose nose and mouth the bus traveled into). The listed skills include "Listen responsively to text read aloud" and "Attempt to read written text," indicating students listen and respond to story content. These activities require students to recall key story details and describe characters (e.g., describing Ms. Frizzle).
Lesson 6
Experimenting With Our Senses
Activity 3 asks the child to tell a story about a time he ate or drank his favorite flavor (real or made up) and records his story as he tells it. The activity then encourages the child to read the recorded story aloud. Activity 4 asks the child to write or dictate and copy a sentence about something he smelled or tasted, providing written practice recounting a sensory event.
Lesson 7
Using All of Our Senses
Students are read pages from My Five Senses and are asked which senses the boy in the story used and how he used each sense, which has them recall and describe details from a text. Activity 3 asks students to look through books and identify ways characters use their senses (e.g., Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See), prompting students to find and state story details. The listed skills include "Listen to stories and text read aloud" and "Interact with reader when text is read aloud," which requires students to engage with and respond to story content.
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") and are asked to read their story aloud and share it with others. The skills list includes "Discuss, illustrate, and dramatize stories (LA)," and the Wrapping Up prompts ask students to discuss what makes them unique. Activities ask students to answer specific personal-detail questions (name, favorite color, what makes them happy/sad, talents) that they then use to compose and read a short narrative about themselves.
Lesson 2
Physical Characteristics
Students are asked to retell the "Different Friends" story in their own words and to identify what happened at the beginning, middle, and end. Students cut the event boxes apart and put them in the order in which they occurred, practicing sequencing and recalling key story details. Students answer comprehension questions that probe the lesson (e.g., "Are the caterpillar and the ladybug friends? How do you know?" and "Is it okay to be friends with people who are different from you?"), which targets understanding of the central message.
Lesson 5
Shapesville
Students are asked while reading to identify the shape of each character and describe physical characteristics (color, sides, angles, eye color) and to review each shape's personality and interests. After reading, students answer comprehension questions such as "What doesn't matter in Shapesville?", "How are the shapes' personalities different?", and "What are some of the interests of the shapes?", which target understanding of the story's central message. Activities have students select a shape they are like, explain their choice, dictate a short description, and share their shape design with family, providing opportunities to express story-based understanding.
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, naming materials and features of each home. Students answer questions about why people have homes and how homes provide shelter and places for families to come together, connecting details from the text to real-life examples. Students write a sentence about their home and discuss whether they would enjoy living in a different type of home, reinforcing comprehension of the book's ideas about homes.
Lesson 11
Being Part of a Group
Students are asked to read pages 98–113 of A Life Like Mine and discuss what it means to have an identity, nationality, and religion, linking those ideas to the children in the book. The lesson lists a skill to "Read or attempt to read own story or simple text" and asks students to attempt to read the paragraph they complete in Activity 2. Multiple discussion prompts ask students to talk about why groups form and how group members are similar or different, which engages with the text's ideas.
Final Project
Differences Make the World Go 'Round
Students create a book titled "A story about (name) and (name)" and complete pages that describe location, food, hobbies, homes, clothing, transportation, holidays, and similarities between two children. Students are prompted to write sentences about each topic and illustrate or paste pictures to represent those details. Students share their finished book with family and are encouraged to meet and ask questions of a person from the chosen country, which supports oral recounting of the book's content.
3: Patterns
Unit 2: Patterns in Sounds, Words, and Actions
Lesson 3
Poetry Patterns
The skills list asks students to "Discuss, illustrate, or dramatize a story or poem," and Activity 1 directs students to read each poem at least twice and asks the child "what each poem is about." The introduction and wrapping up ask the child to explain what poems are about and how to find rhyming words, and Activity 2 has students recite words and create new verses, encouraging verbal responses about content.
Lesson 5
Story Patterns
Students are asked to identify and describe what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of a story (Activity 1 questions and Activity 2 boxes). Students sequence story events by cutting/gluing pictures, illustrating and writing beginning/middle/end descriptions (Activity 2 Option 1 and 2). Students create and dictate their own stories with explicit planning of beginning, middle, and end and act out or illustrate them (Activity 3).
Final Project
Patterns Video
Students are asked to locate or create a "story" pattern and complete a Story Pattern activity page that prompts them to list what the pattern is made of and to sequence events using "First comes... Then... Then...". Students write or dictate video scripts that record the type of pattern, where it was found or made, the parts of the pattern, and how the parts create each pattern. The directions encourage students to use books and to read words from a book or poem and explain the pattern as part of their video.
Unit 3: Patterns in Your World
Lesson 9
Counting Patterns
Students listen to a short clown story and fill in blanks while placing clown faces in the car, tracking how many clowns enter at each step (Activity 3). The lesson asks students to tell their own version of the clown story, changing numbers and continuing the sequence, and suggests acting out the story and answering questions about it (skills: Listen to a story read aloud; Answer questions about a story read aloud; Act out a story). Students are also asked to write or dictate a sentence about the clowns and identify the subject and verb (Activity 4).
4: Change
Unit 2: Characters Change
Lesson 1
What's in a Name
Students answer specific comprehension questions (QUESTION #1-#4) that ask them to recall how Chrysanthemum felt, why she changed her mind about her name, what the story teaches about how words affect others, and how Mrs. Twinkle changed opinions. On the "Characters Change" page students identify three characteristics of Chrysanthemum at the beginning and three at the end and write short sentences explaining how she changed. In "Feeling Phrases" students interpret author phrases to identify character emotions and illustrate Chrysanthemum's face, connecting details to the character's feelings and development.
Lesson 2
Why Worry?
Students watch a read-aloud of Wemberly Worried and answer targeted comprehension questions that ask whether Wemberly needed to worry and why (Questions #1-#3) and what lesson can be learned from her (Question #4). Students complete a "Characters Change" activity page that requires them to describe how Wemberly was at the beginning and at the end, fill in "Before Wemberly was ____, but now she is ____," and explain "Wemberly changed because...," directly prompting retell and interpretation of the story's message.
Lesson 3
Is It a Problem?
Students identify the beginning, middle, and end of What Do You Do With a Problem? and two other stories by cutting and pasting story parts (Activity 4). Students answer specific comprehension questions about how the author illustrates the problem, how it grows, how the boy tackles it, and what he learns (Reading and Questions Q1–Q4). Students illustrate the problem at three points in the story to show its progression (Activity 1) and complete a "Characters Change" page describing how the boy changes and why (Activity 5). Students also apply the story's lesson to their own lives by analyzing a personal problem, identifying opportunities, and planning steps to tackle it (Activity 2 and Wrapping Up).
Lesson 4
Comparing Characters
Students are asked to dictate three- or four-sentence summaries that include one sentence for the beginning, one for the middle, and one for the end of each story. Students complete Venn diagrams comparing character traits and situations across stories and match cause-and-effect pairs drawn directly from story events. Students answer questions such as "What can we learn from both characters?" and illustrate/describe favorite parts, which require them to state lessons and key details.
Lesson 5
The Raft
Students answer targeted comprehension questions across three days that ask about who, what, where, and why (e.g., why the boy didn't want to stay, what he found at the river, animals he saw, and how he felt at the end). Students complete a Story Elements graphic organizer where they identify characters, setting, problem, and solution for The Raft and other unit stories. Students complete a Characters Change page and participate in a wrap-up discussion that asks them to explain how the boy changed and what caused that change.
Lesson 6
Positive and Negative Change
Students read a character description (the rat in the barn) twice and then dictate a new ending, explaining how and why the rat changed, which requires them to describe character actions and outcomes. Activity 1 asks students to identify cause-and-effect examples from stories they read and to label scenarios as positive or negative effects. Activity 3 prompts students to discuss how characters in named books responded to events and to consider alternative outcomes, and asks students to illustrate and write or dictate sentences describing a personal change and its cause and effect.
Final Project
My Own Story
Students complete a "Problem and Solution" activity that asks them to describe the character at the beginning, identify the problem and solution, state what caused the problem, explain how the character gets to the solution, and describe how and why the character changes. Students dictate their story while an adult records it and are prompted to keep the story focused on the problem and how the character comes to a solution, using language to show the character's change. Students read their dictated story aloud and discuss which parts belong on each page when publishing the story digitally, practicing oral recounting of story events.
Unit 3: A First Look at History - Change Over Time
Lesson 3
Communities Change
After reading The House on Maple Street, students answer who the characters are, where the story happened, and how the environment changed (Activity 1). Students put story events in chronological order by numbering and pasting events on a timeline (Activity 2) and number pictures of different communities in the order they lived on the land, pointing out differences in transportation, clothing, homes, and activities (Activity 3). Students identify animals and artifacts from the story and sequence nature scenes (Activities 4 and 6), and write a sentence about the book (Activity 7).
Lesson 4
Past and Present
Students read short first-person "day in the life" sections about historical children (Activity 3) and are asked to discuss differences and similarities with their own lives. Students are asked to tell a story about an adventure they had living in a chosen time period and the teacher records their dictation; they are reminded that a story has a beginning, middle, and end (Activity 2). The skills list also includes identifying the sequence of events in a story and using time-sequence vocabulary.
Lesson 7
People of the Past
Students read a simple biography and answer guided questions that ask when the person lived, how to describe the person, and what the person did to make a positive change (Activity 1). Students cut apart short descriptions, reread them, point to the individuals, and place figures in chronological order (Activity 2). Students write a sentence about a historical person (Activity 4) and are asked which lessons they could learn from a person and how they might make similar positive changes (Activity 2 extension and Activity 3).
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 2
Letter Sounds Review II
Students read the reader The Pig Can, read the title and describe the cover, and are asked to predict what the book is about. Students are prompted to read each page, point to each word as they read, and to answer the question "Do you think the pig and the cat can fit in the box?" and explain their thinking. Students are encouraged to read The Pig Can to others to build fluency and confidence.
Lesson 3
Letter Sounds Review III
Students read the reader The Bug aloud, point to the title and describe the cover, and answer targeted comprehension questions about the character (e.g., what the bug is able to do, what the bug wants to do, and why he can't do that). The activities require students to read the story and recall specific events and details from it.
Lesson 4
Letter Sounds Review IV
Students read Reader #4 (The Cat, the Pig, the Dog, and the Fox) independently and then read it aloud a second time while pointing to each word. After reading, students are asked two comprehension questions about the ending: why the dog and fox are napping and why the cat and pig are not. The activities require students to recall events from the story and give reasons for characters' actions.
Lesson 5
Adding s, More Word Families, Ending with ck
Students read Reader #5 "Ducks Are Fun" independently and then read it aloud to an adult (Activity 4.3). After reading, students are asked a comprehension question—"Which duck do you think is having the most fun? Why?"—which requires them to refer to story details and explain their reasoning. The lesson also encourages re-reading prior readers (e.g., "The Cat, the Pig, the Dog, and the Fox") to build familiarity with story content.
Lesson 7
Consonant Digraphs ch, sh, wh, ph
The lesson has the child read Reader #7 — They Get Wet on their own and then aloud, with the prompt "What do you think will happen in this book?" and follow-up comprehension questions. After reading, the child is asked specific questions about story details: where the ship is at the beginning and why the rat and cat are wet at the end. The child is also asked why the rat and cat are on the ship, which requires recalling causal details from the story.
Lesson 8
Blends with s
Students read Reader #8 (Meg and Dan and the Sled) independently and aloud (Activity 4.3). After reading, students are asked targeted comprehension questions that require recalling a key event ("Near the end, why are Meg and Dan no longer on the sled?") and explaining a character action ("Why do you think they stop for a snack?"). The activity also directs students to point to each word as they read, supporting attention to sequence and details.
Lesson 9
Blends with l
Students read Reader #9 — The Club independently and aloud and are asked specific comprehension questions (e.g., the colors of the flags; what the kids do at the club). Students are prompted to point to each word as they read, reinforcing engagement with the text. The activity asks a follow-up personal-response question ("If you were in the club, what fun things would you want to do?") that connects student experience to the story.
Lesson 10
Blends with r
Students are asked to read Reader #10 One Can on their own and then read it aloud, with instructions to point to each word as they read. After reading, students are asked direct comprehension questions such as "Where are the ducks swimming to?" and "What are the kids running on?" The lesson also encourages re-reading a previous reader (The Club) on one or more days, which supports recall of story content.
Lesson 11
Ending Blends
Students read Reader #11 — At Camp on their own and then aloud, pointing to each word as they read. After reading, students answer explicit comprehension questions such as "What do the kids do at camp?" and "What are the kids hunting for?," which prompt recall of key story details. The activities require students to identify story events (hunting for ants, activities at camp) from the text.
Lesson 12
Double ll, ss, ff, zz (FLOSS)
Students read the reader Huff and Puff on their own and then answer comprehension questions about it (e.g., identify the insects shown, explain why insects follow the kids, explain why everyone is huffing and puffing). The lesson also encourages re-reading a previous reader (At Camp) and asks students to point to and read words in the Weekly Message, supporting text-based recall of details. These activities require students to notice and report specific story details and reasons for events.
Lesson 13
Glued Sounds ng and nk
Students read Reader #13 — King Hank independently and aloud and are asked targeted comprehension questions about the story (e.g., Where do the king and his friends sleep? What color drinks do they drink?). The lesson also asks students to re-read a previous reader (Huff and Puff), providing additional practice with reading stories and recalling information. These activities require students to identify and state specific story details.
Lesson 14
Three-Letter Beginning Blends
Students read the reader Spring Has Sprung! independently and then read it aloud to an adult (Activity 4.3). After reading, students answer targeted comprehension questions about events in the story (e.g., what the kids do at the track and at the pond), requiring them to recall specific actions and details. The lesson also prompts a personal response question asking what students like to do in the spring, encouraging connection to story content.
Lesson 15
More Ending Blends
Students read Reader #15, The Raft Trip, first independently and then aloud while pointing to each word. After reading, students answer explicit comprehension questions asking for key story details (which animals are on the bank and which animals nap on the raft). Students also write and read dictated sentences that reference story elements (e.g., "An elk slept on the bed."), reinforcing recall of story facts.
Lesson 17
Semester Review
Students reread and read aloud multiple short readers (The Club, At Camp, King Hank, Spring Has Sprung!, The Raft Trip) and are asked to name or point to characters and talk about the different things those characters do. Students plan and write their own reader using a planning page that asks for "Characters" and "What Characters Do," then write pages with different events and share their book with others. Students are also prompted to read pages aloud and explain why a reader is their favorite, providing opportunities to describe story content.
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 1
Long Vowels a and i with Silent e
The lesson asks the child to read the reader "In the Fall" independently and then aloud, and it prompts specific comprehension questions about the story (e.g., asking what Lin and Dev like to do in the fall and what Lin does while Dev makes cakes). The child is asked to point to each word as she reads and to answer questions that require recalling story details. The activities require the child to read the text and respond to questions about characters' actions and events.
Lesson 2
Long Vowels o, u, and e with Silent e
Students read the reader "They Chose To Doze" aloud and then answer specific comprehension questions such as "What did the family do on their trip?" and "Who fell off of the mule?" Students are also asked to point out punctuation (quotation marks) and to read the story on their own before answering questions about events in the story.
Lesson 3
Hard and Soft c and g
Students are asked to read Reader #3 — These Mice on their own and then read it aloud to an adult (Activity 5.2). After reading, students answer explicit comprehension questions that target story details: what the mice use to make beds, what the mice sit on to eat cake, and why the mice like their home. The lesson also prompts re-reading of a previous reader (They Chose to Doze), providing additional occasion to work with story text.
Lesson 4
More R-Controlled Vowels (er, ir, or, ur)
Students read The Bird Is Third independently and then read it aloud to an adult (Activity 5.2). After reading, students answer specific comprehension questions such as "Who won the race?" and "Which animal came in last?" and discuss their reactions to the outcome ("Are you surprised…? Who did you think would win? Why?"). The lesson also has students read the story aloud to demonstrate comprehension of details.
Lesson 5
Long a Spellings ai, ay
Activity 5.1 has the child read The Gray Day independently and then answer specific comprehension questions (e.g., "What do the boys play with indoors?" and "What animal do they see on the drain outside?") that require recalling key story details. The activity also prompts the child to respond to a predictive/inferential question ("What do you think the boys would do if they went outside?") and a personal-response question ("Do you like rainy days? Why or why not?"). The sentence dictation (Activity 5.2) uses sentences tied to the story ("The train is on the track." and "The trail is that way."), reinforcing attention to story content.
Lesson 6
Long e Spellings ee, ey, ea
Students read Reader #6 "What Do You Eat?" independently and aloud to an adult (Day 5). After reading, students answer literal comprehension questions such as "What does the worm eat?" and "How many beans are the birds eating?", demonstrating recall of key story details.
Lesson 7
Long i Spellings y, igh, ie
Students read The Dark Night independently and then read it aloud to an adult. After reading, students are asked targeted comprehension questions about key story details (What do Tom and Val see in the sky? What do Tom and Val dream about?), and they are prompted to show and read words from the Weekly Message and reader.
Lesson 8
Long o Spellings ow, oa, oe
Students read The Slow Boat independently and then read it aloud. After reading, students answer specific comprehension questions asking for key story details (e.g., "How many boats are in the race?" and "What color is the boat that wins the race?"). These tasks require students to identify and recall explicit details from the text.
Lesson 9
Long u Spellings ue, ew, ou
The Day 5 activity (Reader #9 — Would You Eat It?) has students read the story independently and aloud and then answer specific comprehension questions such as "What does Tom add to the stew?" and "What color does Val add to the stew?" The activity also asks an open-ended question ("If you were going to make a funny stew, what would you put in it?") that prompts students to relate personally to the story. The lesson also has students reread the Weekly Message and point to words, supporting literal comprehension of text.
Lesson 10
Other Long Vowel Patterns
Students read The Wild Colt on their own and then aloud to an adult (Activity 5.1). After reading, students are asked specific comprehension questions that require recalling key details (e.g., "Why is the colt hard to find in the herd?" and "How does the man stop the colt from bolting?"). The Fill in the Blanks activity and the sentences the child reads aloud also use sentences drawn from the story, reinforcing recall of story details.
Lesson 13
Other Vowel Sounds ou, ow
Students read The Hound and the Owl independently and then read it aloud to an adult (Activity 5.1). After reading, students answer targeted comprehension questions about story events: what the hound does during the day, what the hound does at night, and why the hound howls at the owl. The lesson also asks students to reread the Weekly Message and point out words, reinforcing reading-for-understanding routines that support story comprehension.
Lesson 14
Other Vowel Sounds aw, au
On Day 5 students read Reader #14 — The Pups on their own and then read it aloud to an adult. After reading, students answer targeted comprehension questions such as "Where do the pups sleep?" and "What are some of the things the puppies in the story do?" The lesson also encourages re-reading a previous reader to support comprehension.
Lesson 15
These Make More Than One Sound: oo and ea
On Day 5 (Activity 5.1) students read Reader #15 — The Bad Bear on their own and then answer comprehension questions such as "What are some of the naughty things the bear does?" and "What happens when the bear's mom finds her?" These questions ask students to identify specific events and consequences from the story, and the teacher is prompted to elicit multiple examples of the bear's actions.
Lesson 16
Silent Starts: kn, wr, gn
On Day 5 (Activity 5.2) students read The Gnats on their own and then read it aloud to an adult. After reading aloud, students are asked specific comprehension questions such as "What do the gnats do to the kids at the playground?" and "What do the gnats do at the picnic?", which require recalling key events from the story. The instruction to read the story aloud to an adult provides an opportunity for oral retelling of parts of the text.