Kindergarten - ELA
1: Letters
Unit 1: A - A Is for Musk Ox
Lesson 2
Day 2
Activity 3 includes an optional extension that asks the child to draw a picture of a musk ox. The activity sequence has students discuss where musk oxen live, what they eat, and vocabulary (herd), which provides content that a drawing could illustrate. The Activity Extension and several pre-writing suggestions explicitly promote drawing and other art activities (coloring, painting, novel art materials) as part of the unit.
Lesson 4
Day 4
In Activity 2 students create a visual model of a musk ox by coloring the face, gluing a tuft of cotton for hair, and attaching yarn and cotton to simulate thick fur. In Activity 1 students locate and view pictures of musk oxen and tundra landscapes on a world map and online image searches. In Activity 3 students cut and glue pictures under letters, practicing matching images to letters and producing simple visual displays.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are asked in the Writing Workshop to draw a picture of a musk ox and then write about him on the lines provided, and to tell a story that an adult records and then draw a picture to accompany that dictated story. The instructions explicitly state that the picture should relate to the story and that an illustrator's pictures enhance the author's words. The Reading Workshop optional extension asks students to draw a face that shows how they felt after a reading and to describe the face and its emotions.
Unit 2: H - Hondo and Fabian
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students use a Venn diagram to record characteristics of cats and dogs, placing descriptions into the 'Cats,' 'Both,' and 'Dogs' sections. Students work with pictured activity pages (a dog image on the Bingo page and icons on the Uppercase H sheet) and practice forming and drawing the letter H by tracing, using popsicle sticks, and drawing in the air. Students are prompted to point to pictures and letters as they sing, linking images to spoken elements.
Lesson 3
Day 3
In Activity 4 students are asked to identify characters and use large die-cut visuals (a cat and a dog) as places to record words or phrases describing the characters. The teacher (or child) is instructed to write the animal's name on the cut-out and to record the child's descriptive ideas about Fabian on the cat and Hondo on the dog. The optional extension asks the child to describe himself on a person cut-out and to have those ideas recorded on the visual.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 2 asks the child to paint a picture of an activity she likes to do with a friend and then to dictate a sentence about her painting, which the adult writes down and attaches to the painting. The directions note that some children's paintings will be abstract or representational, indicating students will use the painting as a visual representation of their idea. The activity explicitly combines a visual display (the painting) with a verbal description (the dictated sentence).
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 asks students to draw a picture of themselves in the top space of their journal using colored pencils and then write about themselves on the lines. The activity also has students dictate two statements about themselves while an adult models writing those sentences, pairing the visual drawing with spoken/written descriptions. The Student Activity Page and Writer's Workshop guidance encourage children to use drawing as part of their writing time and to "read" what they have written, linking picture-making to conveying additional information.
Unit 3: I - The Little Island
Lesson 1
Day 1
Activity 1 asks students to create a picture of the island by drawing a large circle for the island, coloring the surrounding water, and gluing or drawing the one rock, seven trees, fireflies, and bushes. The activity also gives an Optional Extension asking the child to add other creatures from the book either by drawing them or by finding and printing pictures from the Internet. The Reading section asks the child to observe and describe the illustration on the cover and the Skills list includes describing the relationship between illustrations and the story.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students make a simple landform painting of an island as seen from above (Activity 3), using color choices to represent land and surrounding water. Students participate in guided talk about seasonal changes and describe what accessories they would need for different seasons during a pretend picnic (Activity 1), providing opportunities for verbal description.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 instructs the child to use the left page of a journal to draw a picture of an imagined visit to the island and then to 'write' thoughts about the trip. The child is asked to 'read' her ideas aloud after finishing, and the teacher records them in complete sentences on the right page. The activity also offers sharing the picture (for example, posting an image) so the drawing functions as a visual display to accompany the description.
Unit 4: T - What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students sort animal stickers into boxes labeled 0, 2, 4, and 6 legs (Activity 1), which has them place visual items to represent category information. Students draw two animal cards and state one similarity and one difference between the animals (Activity 2), using picture cards as visual supports while describing features. The read-aloud instructions ask students to refer back to book pictures when discussing how animals use ears, eyes, and noses, which has students use illustrations to support their descriptions.
Lesson 2
Day 2
In Activity 3, students design and construct a new kind of tail using provided and household materials and then explain the tail they created, providing a physical visual display to accompany their description. In Activity 1, students cut out and glue tails onto animal pictures and talk about the purpose of each tail, adding visual parts to pictures while describing function. The Student Activity Pages include cut-and-paste tail pieces that students place onto animal outlines, creating visual displays that support discussion.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students choose an animal to research and discuss its body parts, habitat, and diet (Activity 1). The optional extension explicitly asks students to draw a picture of the animal or create a craft pertaining to the animal, providing a visual display linked to their research and discussion.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 has the child draw a picture of an animal body part and encourages him to write 1–3 facts about that part. The child then dictates these facts while an adult writes them in complete sentences under his drawing. The activity therefore has the student produce a drawing paired with descriptive text.
Unit 5: L - We're Going on a Leaf Hunt
Lesson 1
Day 1
The Skills list explicitly names the target practice: "Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail." The Skills list also includes "Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event...," which references drawing as a communication tool. Activities 1 and 2 require children to collect and arrange leaves in rows, circles, and other patterns, which has students produce visual displays to represent information (counts).
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students lay out and sort a collection of leaves (Activity 1), creating visual groupings by color, shape, or size and counting each group. In Option 2 of Activity 2, students glue real leaves onto a large uppercase L, producing a tactile visual display that decorates and represents the letter. In Activity 3, students act out the story using parts of the home (e.g., stairs as a mountain, a dark bathroom as a forest), creating physical visual scenes to accompany their verbal actions.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Activity 3 asks students to construct a simple map of the children's journey by drawing a mountain, a maple tree with orange leaves, a dark forest, and other locations, and to use arrows to show the route. The activity image and directions instruct students to depict the sequence of places (hill, trees, waterfall, pond, bush with animal) visually. The optional extension has students add a legend matching symbols to place names and a compass to show direction, which are additional visual displays to add detail.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Writing Workshop Option 1, students are asked to draw a picture of an imagined adventure in their journal and then dictate their story while the teacher records it, pairing a drawing with a verbal/written description. In Option 2, students draw five things they like and think of a describing word for each, and are encouraged to write the describing word next to each picture. These activities require students to add drawings alongside words or dictation to elaborate on their ideas.
Unit 6: F - Fireflies
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to look at the cover and describe what they see and how pictures show moments in the story (Questions to Explore; Reading and Questions). The lesson includes the skill: "With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear," which prompts students to discuss illustrations. Students are given a firefly pattern and instructed to cut a firefly from glow-in-the-dark paper and use it in Activity 2 (Find the Firefly), creating a visual object they manipulate and reference with directional clues.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students create a model firefly using egg carton sections, paint the abdomen yellow to represent the glow, add antennae, eyes, wings, and legs from craft materials. Students are asked to decorate a bug box or bug jar in Activity 3 and then collect and examine real bugs with a magnifying glass. The student activity pages include line drawings of creatures (firefly, ladybug, spider, etc.) that students might color or label as part of identifying insects.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students are asked to color creature pictures in natural colors and cut them into cards, which has them produce visual displays of the creatures. The letter-sounds activity page includes boxes where students can draw or place the picture that starts with each letter, allowing students to create drawings or visual representations. Students also cut and paste picture boxes under letters, which involves producing or organizing visual materials to represent words and sounds.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 asks students to draw a picture of a favorite summer activity in their journal and then write words or sentences describing that activity, directly pairing a drawing with a description. Activity 2 has students review the book illustrations and tell the story in their own words using the illustrations as a guide, having students use visuals to support and add detail to their retelling. The optional extension in Activity 1 encourages representing stories with written equations, showing additional use of visual symbols to represent and clarify ideas.
Unit 7: E - But No Elephants
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students cut out and color line drawings of animals on the Student Activity Page and Activity 1 directs them to color each animal to match the book. Activity 2 has students arrange those same pictures left to right in the order the animals visited and then orally state the order using ordinal words. The materials provide tangible visual displays (colored cutouts) that students place and refer to while describing sequence.
Lesson 2
Day 2
In Activity 1, students look at book illustrations and describe the positions of animals using words like "in," "on," "under," and "beside," directly tying verbal descriptions to visual details. In Activity 3, students color, cut, and assemble shapes to make a paper elephant, producing a tangible visual display (the assembled elephant) from the provided diagrams and shape pages.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students make animal stick puppets by gluing animals onto craft sticks (Activity 2). Students pretend to be Grandma Tildy and retell the story while holding up each animal as it is introduced. Students are prompted to make up a new ending using the stick puppets, using the puppets as visual supports for their oral descriptions.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are asked to draw a picture of a house full of different kinds of animals in their journal and then write some of the things that might happen, directly pairing a drawing with descriptive text. The activity also offers opportunities for dictation and copying sentences related to the drawing. The Student Activity Page provides simple outline illustrations (elephants) that students can color, and earlier activities prompt students to look at pictures and retell the story using visual cues.
Unit 8: C - Millions of Cats
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students construct and use a large Venn diagram on butcher paper to compare the cats from Millions of Cats and Fabian, listing shared and unique characteristics in the diagram. Students sort physical features (whiskers, tails, paws, fur) into the overlapping and non-overlapping sections, and an accompanying image shows a Venn diagram with a small cat illustration. Students also engage with visual features when sorting die-cut cats by color, size, or pattern and counting the groups.
Lesson 2
Day 2
In Activity 1, students make landforms with playdough (rivers, ponds, lakes, islands, hills, valleys) while talking about different physical features, linking the tactile/visual model to the description from the book. In Activity 3, students decorate a pictured cat with craft materials to make the "prettiest" cat the man could have picked, creating a visual display that corresponds to a descriptive idea. Option 2 (die-cut letter C decorated with crayons) also has students creating a visual artifact while reviewing the letter and its sound.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 1 directs students to design a poster explaining how to care for a chosen pet by drawing pictures (and including words, if desired) showing what they have learned. Activity 1 also asks students to communicate what they learned by giving a "pet talk" for their family, which can be paired with the poster. Activity 2 has students create motions to accompany a poem, which are additional visual displays that accompany spoken words.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Activity 3 (Writing Workshop), students are encouraged to "draw and write something about a cat," which asks them to produce a drawing together with written or dictated description. The activity explicitly allows students to "write a story about a cat, write some facts about cats, or dictate a story about cats," providing opportunities to pair drawings with descriptions. The option for a one-page or two-page spread supports students in choosing how to display their drawing alongside their description.
Unit 9: G - The Real Mother Goose
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked to color the picture for January, cut out the box, glue the box on cardstock, and talk about what happens in January. They are invited to draw their own pictures and/or find and cut out magazine pictures that represent each month to include on the pages. The activity also suggests including notes about family birthdays and completing month pages (January–June) with these visuals.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 1 directs students to add a name for each month along with symbols and pictures about the weather, activities, and special events for each month and to create a title page and bind the book. Activity 3 asks students to cut out boxes and tape or glue them under the correct letter, which requires producing and placing visual elements to support letter-sound matching.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students dictate a poem or nursery rhyme and have it written down in their journal. Students are instructed to create an illustration to go along with the poem. Students are given the option to use a computer or tablet publishing program to type the poem and add illustrations as another form of visual display.
Unit 10: O - Owl Babies
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked to fill in an owl illustration by dictating or writing facts they learned about owls in the empty spaces on the picture, and a Student Activity Page explicitly provides an owl illustration with designated spaces for information. The optional extension directs students to make a small poster about owls that includes pictures printed from websites along with various facts and to present the poster to others. The lesson also prompts students to look at photographs versus hand-drawn pictures, reinforcing the use of images alongside verbal descriptions.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 asks the child to draw a baby owl in a journal and then write factual and fictional descriptions on the two-page spread, explicitly placing a drawing alongside descriptions. The provided Student Activity Page gives a six-step illustrated guide titled "Draw Your Own Owl!", teaching students how to create a visual to accompany their writing. Activity 1 requires the child to cut out, color, and glue a tree and then use owl counters on the mat to act out and show addition/subtraction story problems, which uses a visual display to represent described situations.
Unit 11: S - Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson's Skills list includes 'Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts' and 'With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story,' which involve using drawings and illustrations in communication. The reading activity asks the child to look at the book cover pictures and describe what she sees, prompting use of visual information. The Student Activity Page and the tree cut-out assembly provide visual materials that students can manipulate and reference when describing events (e.g., the Adding Apples activity uses a tree picture and pom-poms as visual supports).
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are given a Weather Report chart and instructed that they can "draw pictures, write words, or dictate words" to record sky conditions, wind, precipitation, and temperature across days. Students create a four-season display by designing each tree with tissue paper, pom-poms, pipe cleaners, and cotton balls to visually represent spring, summer, fall, and winter. The student activity pages include icons and spaces for drawing or marking sky conditions and wind, supporting use of visuals alongside descriptive records.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 2 asks students to listen to a movement of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, tell which season is being described and what makes them think of that season, and then paint what they feel and hear as they listen. The directions explicitly tell students to create a painting (a visual display), allow abstract representation, and encourage color choices to reflect the season. The sequence requires students to produce a visual response tied to a verbal identification of the season.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Activity 3 students are prompted to draw a picture of their favorite season in a journal and then write or dictate things they know about that season, directly pairing a drawing with a verbal/text description. In Activity 1 students form a yellow playdough sphere to represent the Sun and group real objects as circles or spheres, using physical visual displays while labeling them "circle" or "sphere." These activities require students to create drawings or other visual representations to accompany and clarify their descriptions.
Unit 12: D - Dinosaurs Big and Small
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students create and color a dinosaur puzzle (Activity 2) and then are asked to describe characteristics of the dinosaur they created, linking a visual artifact to their verbal description. In Activity 1 students lay out pieces of yarn to represent lengths and place index cards with names next to them, then compare and describe which is longer or shorter using those visual displays. The lesson skills also include recording math answers "with a drawing or equation," which gives students practice adding drawings to represent ideas.
Lesson 4
Day 4
In Activity 1, students choose a dinosaur, make a drawing of it, and dictate five facts that are recorded beneath their drawing, then share this information with others. Activity 2 has students create dinosaur shadow paintings, producing visual displays that represent dinosaur shapes. The Student Activity Pages ask students to cut and paste letters under pictures, requiring students to create or arrange visual elements alongside text.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Activity 3, students cut out realistic pictures of dinosaurs and paste them in their writing journal, then dictate or write factual sentences about the dinosaurs, directly adding visual displays alongside their descriptions. In Activity 2, students look through books and generate describing words (adjectives) for pictures, which supports pairing visuals with descriptive language.
Unit 13: P - Harold and the Purple Crayon
Lesson 1
Day 1
Activity 1 has students offer verbal solutions to Harold's predicaments, prompting them to describe how problems are solved. The Optional Extension explicitly asks the child to "draw the way Harold solved a predicament using a purple crayon," directing students to add a drawing that represents their described solution. The Skills section and Activity 2 also reference drawing shapes, providing additional practice creating visual representations.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are instructed to make a diagram of the phases of the moon by cutting out shapes and gluing the title, picture, and labels in the correct order around a large circle (Activity 1). The student activity page and image show a labeled circular diagram of moon phases, which students assemble or could draw. In Activity 3 students mix paints, fill in a color wheel, and create a painting, producing visual displays that represent concepts (colors and relationships).
Lesson 4
Day 4
In Activity 1 students answer questions about their neighborhood (what places it has, which important places to include) and then use butcher paper and building cutouts to construct a map, draw roadways, and display the map to share with others. Activity 2 has students create a purple collage using many materials to form a picture, providing another example of producing a visual display. The activities explicitly have students create and display visual artifacts (map, collage) that represent and can accompany their descriptions.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 instructs the child to choose a color and draw a picture and then to write or dictate a description or story about the picture, directly pairing a drawing with a description. Activity 1 has the child construct 3-D shapes with toothpicks and marshmallows, which gives students practice creating physical visual displays while counting edges, corners, and faces.
Unit 14: B - Blueberries for Sal
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson's Skills list explicitly tells students to "compose and decompose numbers ... by using objects or drawings, and record each composition or decomposition by a drawing or equation," which requires students to create drawings as representations. Activity 1 has students use blue pom-poms and tin pails to model numbers and to "write the equation, count the total number of blueberries, and then record the answer," providing practice with visual/physical displays to represent numerical descriptions. The Reading section directs students to notice and discuss the book's illustrations and the illustrator's use of color, engaging students with visual elements of the text.
Lesson 4
Day 4
In Activity 1, students are instructed to "draw two columns" labeled Fiction and Non-Fiction and to list ways the story describes bears in each column, prompting them to create a graphic organizer for their descriptions. The lesson includes a sample chart image that pairs the two-column organizer with a simple drawing of a bear beneath the columns, modeling a visual display alongside descriptive items. In Activity 3, students cut out letters and paste them under the correct letter, which has students create a visual arrangement to represent letter-sound relationships.
Unit 15: R - Rain
Lesson 1
Day 1
Activity 1 directs the child to place pre-colored die-cut pieces (sun, raindrops, clouds, trees, road, car, flowers, fence) on a blue construction-paper sky mat to show the progression of the story. The reading prompts have the child point out and match colors in the text and use colored die-cuts (including a colored rainbow die-cut) to represent story elements. The child rereads the story while arranging visuals to represent events and changes (e.g., placing gray sky over blue sky).
Lesson 2
Day 2
In Activity 3 students are asked to write a sentence beginning with "I see..." for each color and then "draw a picture of the object he names as well," directly pairing a written description with an original drawing. The Student Activity Page "Rainbow Sentences" provides sentence frames for students to complete and space implied for accompanying visuals. Option 2 (die-cut R) has students color inside a letter shape, which is an additional example of creating a visual display to accompany letter work.
Lesson 3
Day 3
In Activity 3 students arrange and glue die-cuts on butcher paper to create a rain scene, producing a visual display. Students then point to each object in their scene and use its describing word (for example, "purple flowers") to tell about the scene. Earlier reading directions also have students manipulate die-cuts to match each page, providing additional visual support tied to text.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students paint a picture of a rainbow and apply a mist of water to create a rain effect, producing a visual representation related to weather. Students view and (through the demonstration) observe an evaporation/condensation diagram and a hands-on jar experiment that make the concept of rain formation visible. Students complete picture-based letter-sound activities that use images to represent words and prompt visual matching.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 asks the child to name favorite things, write or dictate a sentence or phrase about each using a color word, and then illustrates those sentences using the corresponding colors. Activity 2 has the child read the book she wrote about colors of the rainbow to her family, reinforcing the connection between pictures/colors and descriptions. The prompt asking why writers use color words links the use of visual detail to improving descriptions.
Unit 16: N - Night in the Country
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students cut out and dress paper dolls, glue craft sticks to make puppets, and then role-play asking and answering questions about where characters get food, clothing, and other needs, using the puppets as visual supports. Students create a painted night scene (yellow crayon base, black paint, scratched-out stars and moon) and then discuss what types of activities happen at night while referring to their painting. The paper-doll clothing pages and the painting activity provide explicit opportunities for students to produce drawings/visual displays and use them while describing content.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to look through Night in the Country and create their own model of the landforms (river, road, fields, hills) using sand or a baking pan, shaping trenches, flattened strips, rows, and mounds. Students are prompted to talk about the names of these features as they work, linking the visual model to spoken description. Students are also asked to retell the story using the book pictures as a guide, using visual images to support their oral retellings.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students brainstorm natural resources and discuss how people should treat them, then collect pictures from magazines and small outdoor objects and make a collage by cutting and gluing them on a piece of paper. The activity explicitly directs students to create a collage of natural resources (and optionally man-made resources), which is a student-made visual display. Students also cut out letters and paste them under the correct letter in the Beginning Letter Sounds activity, practicing creation of simple visual sorts.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 asks students to create a two-page journal layout and draw the sun on one page and the moon on the other, then write about what they do in the day and at night. Students are encouraged to write marks, letters, or words and to add dictation of their ideas, then read their work aloud and add one more thing about day or night. These steps have students produce drawings alongside written descriptions and revise to add detail.
Unit 17: M - Marshmallow
Lesson 1
Day 1
The Skills section explicitly tells students to "compose and decompose numbers... by using objects or drawings, and record each composition or decomposition by a drawing or equation," which asks students to create drawings to represent numeric descriptions. Activity 1 has students place mini marshmallows on a 100-chart and write equations (e.g., 10+5=15) on paper, which requires creating a visual representation (covering numbers) and a written/visual record. The included number-chart image provides a visual display that students interact with when covering numbers with marshmallows.
Lesson 2
Day 2
In Activity 1 students and caregiver create a butcher-paper list of household rules using words and/or pictures to depict the rules, explicitly asking the child to help write and draw the rules. Option 2 of the letter activity has the child form an uppercase M with coins and trace it with a finger, which has the child produce a visual display to represent a letter. The Student Activity Page includes an illustration (monkey) paired with the letter M that reinforces using images alongside text.
Lesson 3
Day 3
After reading, students are asked to tell the story in their own words and are encouraged to use the pictures to prompt their retelling. In Activity 3, students construct a marshmallow rabbit and add visual features (eyes, nose, whiskers, bow tie) using markers and construction paper. In Activity 2, students create a visual measure of toy animals by forming and counting lines of marshmallows next to the animals.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students are asked to experiment with black chalk and "draw a picture of a favorite animal" and then "display it to share with others," which has students create and present a visual. An optional extension asks students to "Create a Venn diagram comparing Owen and Mzee and Oliver and Marshmallow," which asks students to produce a visual display to show similarities and differences. The teacher prompts students to "talk with your child about how Owen and Mzee's friendship was similar to and different from Owen and Marshmallow's," which elicits descriptive comparison that could be paired with the Venn diagram.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Activity 3 students are asked to "draw a picture of this pet" before completing a two-page spread that contains a poem and a story about the pet. The activity directs the adult to record the child's dictated responses on the journal pages, pairing the child's written/oral responses with the child's drawing. Students also prepare a labeled poem and story that accompany the drawing.
Unit 18: U - Umbrella
Lesson 1
Day 1
In Activity 1 students are asked to "tell the story, show it with the umbrellas, and then write the matching equation," and to "use the umbrellas to act out the problems," which requires adding a visual display to their spoken or written description. The Skills section also lists using "objects or drawings to represent the problem," and the activity directs students to "write the equation using sidewalk chalk" as a visual representation of their story problems.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students are asked to describe clouds they have seen and how they are alike and different, prompting verbal description. Students observe real clouds and then use blue construction paper and cotton balls to create cloud representations, pulling cotton apart for wispy clouds or clumping for puffy clouds and gluing them to the paper. The activity explicitly invites students to recreate clouds they see or have seen before, producing a visual display that corresponds to their descriptions.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are encouraged to draw a picture of a special birthday gift or of themselves receiving/enjoying the gift. Students then write or dictate their thoughts about the special birthday gift, creating a verbal or written description to accompany the drawing. Students read (or have read to them) their thoughts and share their work, pointing to their name and any capital letters, which provides an opportunity to present the drawing alongside the description.
Unit 19: J - Jump Frog Jump
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students cut out and manipulate story sequence pictures and place them in order to retell events. The activity pages provide illustrations with captions that students use when identifying and ordering story events. An optional extension asks students to color the story sequence cards, which is an instance of adding or modifying visual displays related to the narrative.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students glue jewels to decorate the uppercase J handwriting sheet and glue jewels in the shape of a die-cut letter J, creating visual displays. Students handle and sort die-cut pond animals and discuss what they know about them, using visual cutouts to group and compare animals. The Student Activity Page includes a pictured jar and tracing rows that provide visual support for the letter J.
Lesson 3
Day 3
After reading, students are asked to line up story sequence cards from Day 1 and tell the story using those cards to prompt their retelling. In Activity 3, students are given positional phrases and asked to show the relationship between two animals by using die-cut figures and placing them in the physical relationship that matches the phrase. Students are then prompted to create an original situation between two animals and use the two die-cut figures and props to show that situation while describing it.
Lesson 4
Day 4
In Activity 1 students read or hear a description of the frog life cycle and are then instructed to construct a visual diagram of the life cycle on a divided paper plate. Students create visual elements (glue googly eyes for eggs, add a bean/tail for tadpole, draw legs for froglet, glue a die-cut frog) and label each quadrant with the stage name. The instructions also direct students to talk about what a life cycle is, linking the verbal description to the visual diagram.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 asks the child to think of a question about frogs (or another animal), record the question, and to draw a picture of her animal in the space above the question. The child is instructed to use a question mark and can practice writing question marks on other lines while adding the drawing. These directions require the student to add a drawing as a visual display that accompanies the written description/question.
Unit 20: K - Kindness
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson's Skills list tells students to "use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces," which has students create drawings as part of composing. The math skill also instructs students to "solve ... by using objects or drawing to represent the problem," giving students practice creating drawings to represent ideas. The activities have students interact with illustrated student activity pages (cutting and numbering animal illustrations) and describe the relationship between illustrations and the story with prompting and support.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students create a "Kindness Mouse" puppet (painted spoon with ears, tail, whiskers, eyes, and nose) and use it as a prop to go around and say kind things to family members. Students are asked to give the mouse a voice and use it to deliver kind statements, providing a visual/physical object during their spoken interactions. Students also act out scenes from the book with others, using role-play to accompany their spoken descriptions.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students use a three-column 'Animals in Fiction' chart and are asked to name actions for each animal and have those ideas recorded in the 'Animal Actions' and 'Human Actions' columns. In the Apple Giveaway activity, students use ten red pompoms (a physical visual display) and a basket to represent apples while they act out and record subtraction equations (e.g., 10-3=) as they give apples away. The Student Activity Pages include pictorial cues (animal images, a kite illustration) and spaces for students to fill in responses on the chart or write answers.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 1 asks the child to create an "I Am a Good Citizen!" list by dictating items and then lets the child add illustrations to the list. The instructions explicitly allow the child to draw, cut out pictures from magazines, or print pictures from the Internet and to post the list for display. These actions require students to pair visual displays with written descriptions of their citizen behaviors.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 asks the child to write or dictate a brief description of a favorite book and encourages him to draw a picture of a favorite scene from the book. Activity 2 has the child look carefully at the pictures and practice retelling the story through them, using the illustrations as a guide for descriptions. The child is asked to read his writing or dictation back and consider adding one more detail, linking verbal description with visual representation.
Unit 21: V - Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students match instrument pictures with number cards and ensemble name labels in Activity 1, physically laying out pictures and labels (e.g., matching the trombone picture with the number 1 card and the label "solo"). In Activity 2 students build and decorate a physical instrument (or create sound with water glasses or a tube) and give it a name and demonstration, producing a tangible visual/physical object to represent their idea. The materials are saved for future activities, implying students will use those visual artifacts in later presentations.
Lesson 4
Day 4
On the "Senses Web" page students draw a picture of the instrument at the center of the web. Students then draw, write, or dictate observations about the instrument in the surrounding sensory circles (It looks, It sounds, It feels, It smells, It tastes). The activity explicitly directs students to use drawings alongside written or dictated descriptions to record sensory details.
Unit 22: Y - Little Blue and Little Yellow
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson has students create visual artifacts: in Activity 2 students make a painting by rolling paint-covered balls and then display the painting, and Activity 1 has students place stickers to form and extend color patterns. The Skills section explicitly asks students to "record each decomposition by a drawing or equation," which requires students to produce drawings to represent mathematical ideas. The included image shows a child drawing, reinforcing opportunities for drawing and visual creation.
Lesson 2
Day 2
In Activity 1, students are encouraged to think of a friend who is special and to draw a picture to give that friend to say thank you for her friendship. Students are asked to look back at the pictures in the story and describe ways the characters were good friends and good citizens, using the pictures as prompts for discussion.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to retell and act out Little Blue and Little Yellow using the pictures in the book and balls of dough, which pairs verbal description with visual/3-D displays. Students create a "My Color Book" by painting two colors and the resulting mixed color, labeling each color, and decorating a cover, which has them produce drawings/visual displays alongside written labels. The handwriting and die-cut activities also prompt students to form a visual representation (the letter y or yarn image) while practicing letter-sound correspondence.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students make sketches in the correct color box for items that are too large to collect during the Colors in Nature scavenger hunt, and they can paste collected items into the boxes. The Student Activity Pages provide blank sections labeled by color where students can draw or paste examples from nature. In Paper Story, students tear paper to create characters and settings, choose one scene to glue onto paper, and write or dictate what is happening in that scene, linking a visual display to a written/oral description.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 instructs the child to "draw a picture and write about something he saw or found on his nature walk," explicitly asking students to add a drawing to a description. The activity allows the child to use words, phrases, complete sentences, or dictation to accompany the drawing, tying the visual to descriptive language. This directs students to create a visual display (a drawing) to provide additional detail about their observation.
Unit 23: W - George Washington's Birthday
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students cut out pictures of the United States flag, the Statue of Liberty, and the bald eagle and glue each picture onto a piece of construction paper with a title and the correct name under each image. Students read the word boxes, choose the title box ("Symbols of the United States"), and place the title above the glued pictures, creating a labeled visual display. The activity also directs students to look closely at the flag (counting stars and stripes) and to use state-flag resources, reinforcing use of visuals to convey information.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Activity 3 (Writing Workshop), students are asked to "draw a picture that shows something she does to celebrate her birthday" and then "write or dictate some words, phrases, or sentences about how she celebrates her birthday." Students are then asked to read back their work and consider adding or replacing a word with a more descriptive word.
Unit 24: Q - The Quilt Story
Lesson 1
Day 1
Activity 2 directs students to design a paper quilt using provided shapes, cutting tools, and markers to add additional detail, which requires students to produce a visual display. The Skills list includes having students describe the relationship between illustrations and the story, which engages students in linking pictures and narrative content. The Reading section asks children to look at quilt images and make observations, prompting students to notice and create visual features.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students color a quilt pattern using a numbered color key, producing a visual display. Students are asked to draw a hexagon during the review and to form the letter Q in sand or on paper, which involves creating visual marks. Students look at and identify landforms on a map and in the story, using a visual map to represent settlement movement.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to tell the story back in their own words, producing a spoken description of characters and setting. Students are then instructed to compare and contrast the beginning and end of the story using a Venn diagram and to record their ideas on the "Then and Now Venn Diagram" page. The lesson includes a labeled Venn diagram page (LONG AGO, BOTH, MUCH LATER) and a filled example showing students placing story details into the visual organizer.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students read the descriptions on the "Famous Americans and Their Holidays" page and cut out pictures of the historical figures and glue them onto the correct squares, matching images to text. Students read the "Other American Holidays" sheet and color the picture representing each holiday, adding a visual element tied to the holiday descriptions. Students choose a simple shape to represent a quilt patch and a shape is drawn on the burlap square (with markers) as a visual guide for the stitching activity.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Activity 3 students are asked to draw a picture of an item that comforts them or a celebration and then compose and write or dictate a few sentences about that item. The activity asks students to read back their writing (or have it read) and reflect on adding one thing to make their writing more detailed. Activity 2 has students look closely at book illustrations and explain what the pictures reveal about characters, reinforcing use of visuals to convey detail.
Unit 25: X - An Extraordinary Egg
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to page back through the book and find examples where frogs act like real frogs and where they are fictional, then record each idea on a separate index card. Students make two title index cards, "Facts about Frogs" and "Fictional Frogs," and sort their idea cards under those headings. The lesson provides a Frogs: Fiction and Nonfiction chart that organizes the students' descriptions into a visual display.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are prompted in Activity 1 to observe and describe a real chicken egg using color, size, shape, texture, weight, flexibility, magnetism, and buoyancy, which practices creating detailed descriptions. In Activity 3 students make an "extraordinary egg" art project (paper‑mache balloon) that produces a tangible visual display. The plan instructs students to "start thinking about the story behind his extraordinary egg" and to save the craft for the writing workshop on Day 5, implying the egg will be used alongside later descriptive work.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students are asked to show the alligator life cycle by making a paper-plate craft divided into three labeled sections (egg, baby alligator, adult alligator). They use a small white balloon as an egg, stick a baby alligator sticker in the middle section, and tape an alligator die-cut in the adult section, creating a visual display of the stages. The activity also prompts students to recall and compare the frog life cycle they previously made, using the new craft to represent and contrast stages.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Activity 3 students are instructed to "draw the egg in her journal and write or dictate a creative story about the egg and what is inside," which requires creating a drawing to accompany a description. The activity also asks the child to add another detail or a describing word as a possible revision, linking visual representation and descriptive detail. Students then share feedback about their story, which connects the drawing and description to discussion.
Unit 26: Z - Greedy Zebra
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked in the Optional Extension to "draw a picture and/or dictate a 'report' about zebras," directly linking drawing to describing the animal. The Zebra Research graphic organizer includes an "Appearance" box where students can write about or draw the zebra's appearance, and other boxes for predators, diet, and habitat where they can add visual notes. Activity 3 has students design a new coat or skin using paper and craft materials, producing a visual display that can accompany their description.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students read and discuss descriptive information about savannah animals and are instructed to color each animal cut-out the appropriate color based on what they learn. Students use a piece of butcher paper as a background and create a picture of the African savannah, using green and brown construction paper for bushes and trees, gluing real grass and twigs for texture, coloring the sky, and adding cotton-ball clouds. After creating the scene, students glue each colored animal cut-out into the tableau, integrating their visuals with the animal descriptions.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Activity 3 students are asked to "draw a picture of a scene from the book" in their journal and to "write some words, phrases, or sentences about this book." The directions encourage students to "think about what he liked about the characters, the setting, and the events of the story," linking the drawing to descriptive detail. Students are then asked to read their writing (or have it read) and reflect on what they like and how to improve their description.
2: Holidays
Unit 27: Halloween
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to observe and compare pictures on book covers (Goodnight Moon vs. Goodnight Goon) and decide details (e.g., what kind of lagoon is pictured). The skills list explicitly instructs students to "record the answer with a drawing or equation" for math problems, indicating students may produce drawings to represent ideas. Activity 2 tells students to take plenty of pictures of their mummy, which has students create visual displays of their work.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Activity 2 instructs the child to glue a piece of white paper inside the card and have the child draw a picture or write a message as a Halloween greeting. The child traces printed words ("Boo!" and "Happy Halloween!") and then adds a drawing below the eyes to accompany the message. The lesson image shows panels combining a simple visual (ghost or candy) with a written greeting addressed to grandparents, modeling a visual display paired with a description.
Lesson 4
Day 4
The lesson asks students to make a bat mask by tracing a template onto black foam, cutting it out, punching holes, and attaching yarn, and it includes a student activity page with a cut-out pattern for a visual craft. The lesson also prompts the child to pretend to be a bat and answer questions about what kind of bat she is and what she eats, linking the craft to a speaking activity.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are asked to think of a rhyming pair and "draw those objects, or even a picture of a room with those objects," directly prompting them to add drawings to their descriptions. They then have a rhyming sentence written below the picture or fill in blanks by copying words, linking the drawing to the descriptive text. In Activity 1 students write the numbers 1 through 10 on die-cut stars and glue them to paper, creating a visual display tied to their counting descriptions.
Unit 28: Thanksgiving
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to dictate five facts about turkeys and have each fact recorded on a separate feather, which they color and glue to a turkey body, creating a visual display that accompanies the facts. Students color and use a simple turkey drawing on the Student Activity Page and assemble a handprint-feather turkey by painting and pressing handprints to form feathers, producing visual elements tied to the topic. Students read the turkey facts aloud after assembling the feathers, linking spoken descriptions to the created visual display.
Lesson 2
Day 2
In Activity 2, students make a replica of the Mayflower using a plastic tub, paper sails, and popsicle-stick masts while looking at a picture of the Mayflower in the book. The lesson includes a drawn image of a small boat and directs students to construct and manipulate that visual model (sail it, recreate stormy seas, and observe effects).
Lesson 3
Day 3
Activity 3 instructs students to roll a sheet of construction paper into a cone and attach die-cut food items. On each die-cut food, students are asked to write or draw a picture of something for which they are thankful, and then tape or staple these foods to the cornucopia opening. The optional extension asks students to create additional paper food items and record more things they are grateful for, producing a visual display of their responses.
Lesson 4
Day 4
In Activity 3, students write or dictate a note describing why they are thankful and are explicitly told they "can decorate the inside with other drawings, stickers, or art supplies if desired," which asks them to add drawings to their descriptive card. The Student Activity Page for the Lincoln craft directs students to draw Abe Lincoln's mouth, nose, and eyes and to assemble a hat and beard, creating a visual mask to represent their description of Lincoln. The handprint turkey activity has students create a visual artwork to accompany the Thanksgiving card.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 instructs students to "make a drawing of things for which she is grateful" and then "write words or sentences, or dictate them, about her pictures," which requires adding a drawing to a description. Activity 2 has students study book illustrations and "point out some of her observations," connecting visuals to descriptive meaning. Activity 1 has students glue feathers onto turkey cutouts to represent quantities, which is an instance of adding a visual display to represent information.
Unit 29: Christmas
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to draw a picture of a real Christmas tree after reading the Conifers article and to report three things they learned, linking a drawing to their description. Students construct a Christmas tree from rectangular strips, a triangle, a star, and a square and decorate it with foam shapes, producing a visual display that represents the object they describe. The skills list also asks students to use drawing, dictation, and writing to compose opinion pieces, which includes using drawings alongside written or spoken responses.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Activity 3 directs students to make a snowy scene in a shoebox lid using snow dough, colored paper or playdough, and natural materials, which results in a concrete visual display related to the story. Activity 3 also asks students to create animals they read about in the story, linking the visual work to their narrative content. Activity 1 asks students to tell about their favorite part of the story, providing an occasion for description that could be paired with the created visuals.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are instructed to create a "Northern Lights Art" piece by covering paper with crayon colors for the aurora and adding white dots to represent stars. Students then paint over the crayon with black watercolor so the waxy crayon resists, producing the visual effect of the northern lights. Students are also directed to cut out trees or other landscape features to show the scale of the night sky, creating a visual display that represents the described scene.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 2 directs students to decorate a Santa die-cut and place it on a world map while discussing Santa's travel path, continents, oceans, and landing locations. Activity 3 has students construct a paper-plate Santa face—tracing and cutting a hat, gluing cotton balls for a beard, adding googly eyes, a pom-pom nose, and yarn for a smile—creating a visual representation of Santa. Activity 1 asks students to talk about Santa's characteristics and actions, which can be paired with the crafts and map activity as concrete visuals.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Writing Workshop Option 1, students draw a picture in their journal of a favorite part of celebrating Christmas and then write or dictate a description of how they like to celebrate. In Writing Workshop Option 2, students compose a letter to Santa and are encouraged to draw a picture that complements their writing, explicitly linking drawings to descriptions.
Unit 30: February Celebrations
Lesson 4
Day 4
In Activity 3, students create a "[Child's name] Has a Dream!" book in which they write or dictate dreams on cloud-shaped pages and decorate the title cloud with glue and cotton balls. In Activity 4, students fold and cut a paper-doll chain and then color the figures "with different skin colors and appearances to represent people working together for peace and justice," directly pairing visuals with an idea. The Student Activity Page provides a template for making the visual paper chain, supporting the creation of a visual display to accompany students' ideas.
Lesson 5
Day 5
The Valentines activity directs students to place a googly eye, a red heart cut from construction paper, and a marker message on the front of the card and to use stickers and ribbon to decorate, so students produce visual elements. Students are asked to write TO: __ and LOVE, __ and fill in recipient and sender names, combining text with visuals. The included image example shows a visual arrangement (eye, heart, word) that conveys additional meaning alongside text.
1: Environment
Unit 1: Habitats and Homes
Lesson 1
My Environment
Students write a paragraph about "The Most Important Room" using prompted sentences and then are instructed to draw a picture of that room on the bottom of the page. The extension activity explicitly invites students to draw actual rooms in their home using blank home sheets. In Activity 2 students circle items in pictures and color the house illustration, connecting visual marking and coloring with the written labels and room descriptions.
Lesson 2
What Is a Map?
Students are asked to create a map of their own room by drawing a box for walls and placing important objects in correct locations (Activity 3). Activity 3 Option 2 explicitly instructs students to draw items in the room on the map, to make objects proportionate, and to use simple outlines; Option 1 has students cut and paste pictured objects onto their map. The Skills and Wrapping Up sections prompt students to create and interpret simple maps/drawings and then describe the environment in which they live, linking the visual product to their description.
Lesson 3
Guide to Animal Habitats
Students are asked in Activity 5 (Choosing a Habitat) to either draw a picture of the habitat they choose or tell a story about visiting it, and then answer specific sensory and observational questions about the habitat. Activity 6 (Habitat Art) directs students to draw a favorite habitat animal or create a craft based on an animal they like, providing a visual representation of the description. The advanced option in Activity 4 (Sorting Plants, Animals, and Insects) asks students to draw and label three plants, animals, and insects in the provided circles, connecting drawings with categorical descriptions.
Lesson 4
Animals Live and Grow
Students are instructed (Option 1) to draw pictures of plants and animals on the "Habitats of Living Things" pages and label them. Multiple Student Activity Pages provide blank boxes for students to write or draw items for Wetlands, Woodlands, Grasslands, and Drylands, and a "Food for Survival and Energy" page asks students to fill in consumer and energy source diagrams. Activity 4 has students create plant art (arranging foods to represent plant parts) and Activity 3 has students cut and place animals into shelter locations, all of which produce visual displays that supplement their content work.
Lesson 5
Discovering Animal Habitats
Several activities ask students to draw and/or add pictures to their work: Activity 1 (both options) encourages students to draw an additional animal in each habitat and color the scenes. Activity 3 asks students to draw a picture of a favorite habitat and to add pictures showing what the animals eat and drink, then label those pictures. Activity 5 Option 2 requires students to draw an appropriate habitat around each animal and label each habitat. Activity 6 has students create a pictorial graph using animal pictures/crackers as a visual display of data.
Lesson 6
Exploring Animal Habitats
Students are asked in Activity 1 to draw the habitat they observe, label objects in their drawings, take pictures, and create a collage to document observations. Activity 2 directs students to draw or find a picture of an animal and place it in their story page and to dictate/write a narrative that accompanies the drawing. The activities explicitly connect drawings/visuals with describing and discussing what students observed and predicted.
Lesson 8
Animal Care
Students make a shoebox habitat for a salamander by collecting materials, putting a bowl of water in the box, and either drawing food on paper or making it from clay (Activity 3). Students create a salamander from clay and place it in the habitat, which functions as a visual display of the animal's needs. In Wrapping Up, students are asked to draw a picture of a domestic animal and an animal that is not domesticated, and they discuss how those animals would feel in different environments.
Lesson 9
Animal Designs
Students are asked in Activity 1 (Option 2) to print a small picture or draw their own picture of an animal and paste or draw it in the habitat box, linking a visual to the habitat/movement description. In Activity 4 students tell a creative story about an animal in the wrong habitat and then are asked to draw that animal first in its correct habitat and then in the wrong habitat it visited. Activity 3 has students label habitats with index cards and arrange stuffed animals within yarn boundaries, creating a physical visual display to support their statements about where animals live.
Lesson 10
Amazing Animals
In Activity 3 students are encouraged to "draw in the missing body parts on the page," which requires them to add drawings to the math problems about animals. The activity also suggests using manipulatives so students can create concrete visual displays to represent items in word problems. The Student Activity Pages include numbered illustrations that students can reference while completing tasks.
Lesson 11
Amazing Me
Students are asked in Activity 2 to fold paper into four boxes, label emotions, and draw a picture of something that makes them happy, sad, scared, and surprised. In Activity 3 students generate a personal example of change, have their ideas recorded on paper, and are then asked to illustrate those ideas on the same sheet. The listed skills explicitly include "Illustrate a story," and students are encouraged to read their ideas aloud after recording and illustrating them.
Final Project
Animal Research / My Environment
Students are asked to create a multi-page book and draw illustrations that match the description at the top of each page (e.g., draw a picture of himself; draw what he eats and drinks; draw his home environment; draw a change in himself). In the Animal Research option, students draw the animal and its name, shade regions on a globe, draw what the animal eats and drinks, draw the animal's habitat, and draw pictures for interesting facts. The instructions also allow students to paste pictures from magazines or the Internet and to label their pictures, and students are asked to explain each page when sharing the book.
Unit 2: Weather
Lesson 1
Reading the Skies
In Activity 3 students are asked to either illustrate or tell a story about their favorite weather, explicitly inviting them to draw a picture to accompany a verbal description. In Activity 4 students draw a picture each day on a Weather Calendar to reflect the observed weather while also recording temperature, linking visual recording with descriptive observation. The Student Activity Pages for Weather Words include spaces for drawings and a calendar template with icons that students use as visual representations of weather.
Lesson 2
Types of Precipitation
Students are asked in Activity 2 (Option 2) to draw an outside scene on the back of the activity sheet showing what a child might be doing in each type of precipitation. In Activity 2 (Option 1) students are instructed to draw raindrops, snow, or hail in the pictures after labeling them. The Symmetry craft and Life Application prompt students to create paper snowflakes and to draw pictures of symmetrical things and mark lines of symmetry, which are visual displays added to their explanations.
Lesson 3
Measuring and Charting Weather
Students are asked to record temperatures on a "Measuring Temperature" sheet and to use a red crayon or marker to show the degrees the thermometer reads, creating a visual representation of their measurement. The Skills section explicitly lists "Use graphs to display data," and the activities have students measure rainfall with a jar and ruler and could record those measurements. Activity 4 directs students to construct a cactus collage or sock cactus, producing visual displays that represent habitat features.
Lesson 5
Fall
Students create pictorial graphs in Activity 2 by coloring, cutting, and pasting leaves onto a graph and then interpret which colors have the most or fewest leaves. The lesson lists the skill "Collect and display data using pictorial graphs (M)." In Activity 3 students make leaf prints by painting leaves and stamping them onto paper, and Activity 1 includes illustrated pages that students can color or use when writing sentences about the scene.
Lesson 6
Winter
Students are asked to dictate a winter story and then illustrate that story in the box provided on the "Let It Snow" activity page. After illustrating, students are encouraged to attempt to read the story aloud, linking the drawing to their spoken/written description. The Snowflake Math activity also asks students to color the realistic six-point snowflake, giving another instance of adding a visual detail to a description or explanation.
Lesson 7
Spring
In Activity 1 Option 2, students are asked what each poem was about and then encouraged to add their own illustrations to the page, with a reminder that the picture should help tell the story of the poem. Option 1 has students draw a line from each poem to the picture that best tells the story, requiring them to connect text meaning to visual representation. The Language Arts extension invites students to write (or dictate) their own spring poem and potentially add illustrations to accompany it.
Lesson 8
Summer
The Option 2 activity includes a short written story with a large blank rectangle at the bottom and explicitly asks the student to illustrate the story. Activity 2 (advanced) also encourages an advanced writer to write his own summer story and then illustrate it. Activity 1 has the student color a picture and describe what is happening, linking a visual representation to a verbal description.
Final Project
Weather Games
Students cut out pictures and glue clothing onto seasonal pictures (Activity 1), which has them add visual elements to represent seasonal dress. Students match written words with pictures in the Weather Memory game (Activity 2), practicing using images paired with descriptions. The Weather Forecast graphic organizer (Activity 4) includes illustrations and guiding questions that students complete and use when preparing and presenting a verbal forecast; students may also record their forecasts to review.
Unit 3: Community
Lesson 1
On the Town
Activity 3 asks students to draw a new page for the book showing a unique place in their community and then write or dictate a sentence or two about Charlie visiting that place. The Life Application section asks students to take notes or draw pictures as they visit different places in the community over the next couple of weeks. The student activity pages include visual illustrations paired with sentences and options for cutting/pasting pictures to complete sentences.
Lesson 2
My Community Environment
Activity 2 asks students to take or print pictures of community places and make a poster, labeling each place and writing or dictating a brief description of how the place serves the community. Activity 3 asks students to copy book titles and draw a simple illustration of the community found in each story. The Community Map activity has students trace paths on a map and consider spatial relations using a visual map with a compass rose.
Lesson 3
Jobs in the Community
Students are asked in Activity 1 (Option 2) to "draw a symbol to represent each community worker" above the worker's name, producing a student-created visual tied to the labels. In Activity 4, after composing a paragraph about a chosen community worker, students are prompted to "draw themselves in the role of the worker" in the provided box, pairing a drawing with their written description. Activity 2 asks students to create a chart and record tally marks for sightings of helpers, which has students produce a visual display (chart/tallies) to represent observational data.
Lesson 4
Goods and Services in the Community
Students cut out picture-and-label cards, match buildings to the goods or services they provide, and glue the pairs onto construction paper titled "Community Services," producing a visual display. The introduction asks students to name important places and explain how each place helps people, prompting verbal descriptions. The student activity page includes labeled illustrations (library, hospital, books, fruits and vegetables, etc.) that students interact with during matching.
Lesson 5
Resources
Activity 1 instructs students to draw one natural resource and one manmade resource after sorting pictures, so students produce drawings of resources. Activity 2 has students cut out, label (N or M), and paste resource images in order from least to greatest, so students create a visual display to accompany counting and classification. Activity 3 has students gather real resources and either explain how each is used or write a sentence about them, which can be paired with the collected items as a visual aid.
Lesson 6
A Good Community Citizen
Multiple activities ask students to create drawings tied to their descriptions. In Activity 2 Option 2, students are asked to draw three examples in each house and label each picture as they explain what is happening. In Activity 2 Option 1 and Activity 3, students draw additional examples of good and bad citizenship and draw or paste pictures of family members and then describe observations beneath each picture.
Lesson 7
A Citizen with Character
In Activity 5 (Option 1) students are asked to divide a page into beginning/middle/end, illustrate what happened in each section, and then write, dictate, or copy a sentence to accompany each drawing. In Activity 5 (Option 2) students can dictate an original version of the story and draw a picture to accompany it. Activity 2 suggests using the "Acting Responsibly" page to draw a picture of assigned jobs for reference, and Activity 3 (Option 1) has students cut and paste stars as a visual scoring display for kindness scenarios.
Lesson 8
Rules and Laws
Students create a poster by writing six household rules on strips of poster board, numbering them, and pasting them in order on a second poster board to display on the wall. Students cut out labeled statements and place them onto a two-oval web labeled "Laws" and "Rules," using connecting lines for items that could be both. The Student Activity Page provides a diagram (two ovals with lines) for sorting and visually displaying examples of rules and laws.
Lesson 9
Caring for Our Communities
Activity 3 asks students to identify three things that make their community happy and healthy and to take pictures, draw pictures, or make a video of these items and then share and explain why they chose them. Activity 5 asks students to draw a picture to say "thank you" to someone who has been an excellent citizen, connecting a drawing with an expressed idea. Several activity pages include illustrations that students mark or interact with (e.g., placing an X or circling features), reinforcing use of visuals alongside discussion.
Final Project
I Can Make A Difference
The student activity page includes sentence starters where students write a plan ("I am planning to..."; "The first thing I will do is..."), and a large blank box labeled for students to draw or illustrate their plans. Directions tell students to take a picture of themselves engaged in the project and paste it in the box on the plan sheet. The planning and reflection sections ask students to describe what they did and why, which pairs written descriptions with the drawing/photo area.
2: Similarities and Differences
Unit 1: Amazing Attributes
Lesson 1
Describe It
Students work with illustrated Student Activity Pages (milk, tree, lollipop) and are asked to copy or paste describing words beneath those pictures and to write additional descriptive words on lines under each image. In Activity 3 students match descriptive words to pictures and in Activity 4 students write a sentence describing an object from the bag using handwriting paper. The materials repeatedly pair visual images with space for student-written descriptions.
Lesson 2
Animal Attributes
In Activity 2 (Animal Parts, Option 1) students are asked to draw the missing legs of each animal on the right side of the page. In Activity 3 (Body Coverings) the extension explicitly invites students to draw an additional animal that would fit in each sorting group. Several pages require students to cut out, sort, or place images (e.g., cut-and-sort animals, graphic organizers for Living/Nonliving and Body Coverings), which has students create and use visual displays to organize information.
Lesson 3
Size, Shape, and Color
Activity 2 directs students to walk around, find real objects with shapes matching the shapes on the "The Shape of Things" page, and draw those objects in the blank "Object" column. The Student Activity Page explicitly provides space for students to write or draw an example object corresponding to each shape. The Wrapping Up asks the child to name and describe the shapes she examined, linking description with the drawn examples.
Lesson 5
How Old?
In Activity 3 students are asked to "draw and label each animal on an index card and write its average life span," then put the cards in order from shortest to longest, which has students create labeled visual displays to represent descriptive information. Activity 1 prompts students to cut out pictures of people and sort them from youngest to oldest and to examine tree rings and trunk thickness as visual cues, engaging students in using images and visual features to support descriptions. The student activity pages ask students to add names, connect ages to pictures, and mark checkboxes, which requires students to annotate or use visuals to convey information about age.
Lesson 6
The Measure of Things
In Activity 1 (Length) students are told they can draw pictures of the items for the sentences at the bottom of the Length activity page, giving an explicit opportunity to add drawings to their descriptions. Several student activity pages include spaces for students to record measurements and labels (e.g., specifying the measurement tool and filling in tables), which can function as simple visual displays accompanying their recorded descriptions.
Lesson 7
More Attributes
In Activities 3 and 4, students make Venn diagrams (using yarn hoops) and place attribute blocks or toys into the circles to show which items are yellow, triangles, soft, or hard, thereby creating a visual display of similarities and differences. The Student Activity Page includes images of overlapping Venn circles and handwriting practice for the word "Venn," reinforcing use of the diagram as a representational visual. The wrap-up prompts students to name attributes and describe how items are similar and different, which encourages referencing the visual displays when describing objects.
Lesson 8
Amazing Attributes
Students use a printed Student Activity Page titled "MAGNETIC OR NOT" with an objects column and blank prediction/results columns that they fill in, providing a visual table of their observations. In the sink-or-float activity students divide a sheet of paper into "sink" and "float" sections, place objects on the sheet to represent predictions/results, and are asked to take a picture of the paper for later comparison. Students also sort objects into boxes or baskets, creating a physical visual display of their experiment outcomes.
Lesson 9
Solids and Liquids
Students write the definitions for "Solid" and "Liquid" in the graphic organizer and then collect images (from magazines, online, or the activity page) to paste into the Examples column, directly pairing visual displays with their written descriptions. Students cut apart images from the "Solid or Liquid?" student activity page and paste them onto labeled construction paper for Solids and Liquids, creating visual displays that accompany their categorizations. The Student Activity Page is a graphic organizer designed for students to add images and examples alongside definitions, showing a direct task of adding visuals to descriptions.
Lesson 10
Earth Materials: Rocks, Soil, and Water
Students create an Earth Materials book (Activity 7) in which they cut, paste, and draw images: they glue names with correct rock images, paste pictures that represent cohesion, and draw three places water can be found. Student activity pages and the provided image include spaces for students to list properties and to illustrate dirt, rocks, and water (e.g., Properties of Dirt, Properties of Rocks, Properties of Water). The book cover activity asks students to decorate and illustrate the cover, showing explicit tasks to add visual displays to their descriptions.
Lesson 11
Using Earth Materials
Activity 1 instructs the child to keep a log of water uses, record or dictate events, and optionally take a picture each time water is used, then print the pictures and make a collage. Activity 2 asks the child to keep a list of rock discoveries or to take photos of discoveries. Both activities explicitly pair written or oral descriptions (logs/lists) with visual displays (photos/collage).
Final Project
Presenting Attributes
The poster option instructs students to "draw or use pictures, stickers, online images, etc." and to "show the attribute on the poster" and "use words and sentences" to explain how attributes describe similarities and differences. Step 5 requires students to practice "presenting his poster... describing each part of the poster and what it teaches," which links visuals to spoken descriptions. The demonstration option also has students gather and organize real materials to show attributes during a presentation, providing another form of visual display.
Unit 2: Senses
Lesson 1
My Five Senses
Students are asked to draw on the "Favorite Sense" page: they choose a sense, draw the associated sense organ, and draw themselves using the sense (Activity 3, Option 1). In Activity 3, Option 2 students dictate four sentences describing a sensing experience and then illustrate the experience and title the picture, directly pairing written description with a drawing. In Activity 2 students create Senses Webs by cutting/pasting pictures or words into a graphic organizer, producing a visual display that supplements their categorization and descriptions.
Lesson 2
Senses and Body Parts
Option 1 asks students to pick up and glue sense-organ cutouts onto Jackie's face when they hear the corresponding sense in the read-aloud. Option 2 directs students to tell a story about Jackie and pause to glue a sense-organ cutout on the figure whenever Jackie uses a sense. Activity 3 and Activity 4 include matching and images of sense organs that reinforce using visual elements tied to sensory descriptions.
Lesson 3
Smelling and Tasting
Students are asked in Activity 3 to fold a sheet into four columns labeled sweet, bitter, sour, and salty and to "illustrate or record the taste of the food products," which requires drawing visual representations of tastes. Activity 2 has students record survey responses on a chart (the provided "A Tasty Survey" table) and total yes/no answers, which has them use a visual display to represent descriptive data. The Skills section explicitly lists "Create charts and graphs," reinforcing that students will produce visual displays to support their descriptions.
Lesson 4
Hearing and Seeing
Students cut out and glue labels onto a diagram of the eye (Activity 2) and cut and paste term labels onto an ear illustration (Activity 6), practicing creating labeled visual displays. In Activity 3 a line is drawn to represent light rays through the eye and a brain is drawn and taped to show how signals travel, providing a visual representation of an explained process.
Lesson 5
Touch
Students draw and label two of their own objects on the Touch Chart and mark adjectives that describe them, explicitly adding images to their descriptions. In the Sensory Art activity, students create Jell-O finger-paintings and then describe their painting and give it a title, pairing a visual display with a verbal description. Activity 1 Option 2 asks students to generate their own adjectives for objects, which they can record beneath object illustrations, linking vocabulary to drawings.
Lesson 7
Using All of Our Senses
The lesson explicitly asks students to draw or find pictures for Activity 1 Option 2: "draw or find pictures in magazines or online of three different situations" and to identify and circle the senses used. Activity 2 (Nature Walk) tells students they "can attempt to write her ideas, she can draw pictures, or she can dictate her findings," providing a direct opportunity to add drawings to descriptions. The Student Activity Pages include blank spaces and icons (e.g., I hear..., I see..., I smell..., I feel...) where students can record observations in writing or with drawings.
Lesson 8
Writing About Our Senses
Students are asked to draw popcorn kernels in the left box and popped popcorn in the right box on the "A Sensible Report" page, pairing those drawings with fill-in sensory descriptions. Students are prompted to "illustrate the event" on Page 1 of "Sensing My Day" and then add one sensing word, phrase, or sentence for each of the five senses on Page 2. Activity 1 also has students color the remaining identified object after using clues, providing a simple visual display tied to identification.
Final Project
A Sensible Party
The lesson asks students to use a "Party Planner" chart and to record their ideas on the chart, and the skills list explicitly includes "Create charts and graphs." Student pages include icon-labeled columns for the five senses and spaces for students to write ideas and supplies, and students are prompted to make invitations with place, date, and time. The activity descriptions and sample sheet model a visual layout (icons and tables) that students can use when planning.
Unit 3: We're the Same, We're Different
Lesson 1
You're Special
The lesson lists the skill "Discuss, illustrate, and dramatize stories (LA)," and the student pages include icons and illustrations next to each prompt (face, house, crayon, shapes with numbers) that visually support responses. Students are asked to fill in a personalized paragraph and to read and share their story aloud, which connects spoken/written description with the provided visuals. The "Your Numbers" activity has cut-out and ordering tasks that require students to manipulate visual number pieces.
Lesson 2
Physical Characteristics
Students are asked to draw missing physical characteristics on two illustrated bodies (Activity 1, Option 2) and to color, cut out, and glue body parts onto figures (Activity 1, Option 1), which requires adding visual features to represent descriptive details. Students dictate a two-character friendship story and then illustrate the beginning, middle, and end to reflect the sentences they recorded (Activity 3). Students also cut, color, and paste event boxes for a listened-to story (Activity 2), creating visual displays that support and extend their retellings.
Lesson 3
Different Personalities
In Activity 2 students are instructed to write their name and draw a small self-portrait in the center of a web and then write or paste personality words around it. Activity 3 directs students to record and illustrate main characters from a favorite movie or cartoon, paste a picture, and record personality words around the picture. The activities also ask students to cut, paste, decorate the webs, and present the webs to family members, indicating use of drawings and visual displays alongside descriptive words.
Lesson 4
Interests and Hobbies
Activity 2 asks students to research an interest, answer guided questions on the "My Interest" sheet, and suggests extending the activity into a project such as a poster, presentation, or booklet. The Student Activity Page for "My Interest" contains multiple graphics that can serve as visual inspiration for students. Activity 1 and the Hobby Survey have students describe and share hobbies, which could be paired with a visual when sharing.
Lesson 5
Shapesville
Students are asked to draw and color the shape they chose in the blank box on the "What Is Your Shape?" sheet and to draw their face on the shape or paste a photo, directly pairing a drawing with a personal description. Students can dictate and record a short description of their personality and interests to accompany their shape drawing, and are encouraged to attempt to read and share their description aloud. In Activity 3 students draw, cut out, and decorate a shape for each family member and explain why that shape represents the person, using the visual as part of their explanation.
Lesson 6
Different Families
Students are asked to draw an illustration for each of the four basic needs on the Basic Needs activity page (Activity 1). In Activity 2 Option 1, students draw a picture of their own family engaged in an activity in one box and draw a family from another country in a second box while also completing comparison sentences. In Activity 2 Option 2, students complete a Venn diagram comparing their family to another and are instructed to illustrate each idea in the diagram.
Lesson 7
Different Homes
Students are asked to sketch their "dream" home on a sheet of paper and then construct the home using art and building materials (Activity 3). In Activity 2 students color, cut apart, and reassemble home puzzles, then record country names above homes and add details (grass, flowers, people, trees, rocks) around the homes based on pictures they find. Activity 4 asks students to write a sentence about their home, which can accompany their drawing or model.
Lesson 8
Different Holidays and Traditions
Students are asked in Activity 3 to draw a picture of themselves celebrating their favorite holiday and then write three sentences explaining what they enjoy about it, combining a drawing with a description. Activity 5 directs students to create a Book of Holidays in which each page includes a sentence about the holiday and allows students to draw pictures or use stickers/photos to represent the holiday. Activity 4 has students color holiday graphics and paste those symbols on a calendar, and the student activity pages pair holiday names with corresponding images to provide visual supports.
Lesson 9
Different Modes of Transportation
Activity 3 asks students to draw a picture of themselves using a chosen mode of transportation to a destination and then tell a story about the trip, with the teacher recording the story. Activity 2 (Option 2) asks students to draw and write the mode of transportation they would use between two points. Activity 1 (Option 1) has students draw a box around modes they have taken and talk about where they went, linking marks/drawings to spoken descriptions.
Lesson 10
Wants and Needs
Students are asked to draw specific items in Activity 5 (draw a house, clothes, a meal with a drink, sources of water, shelter, items for education, love and care, and items for health). In Activity 4 students draw or write survey responses and place or glue cut-outs around two webs labeled "wants" and "needs," creating visual displays to organize descriptions. Option 1 of Activity 1 and the Student Activity Pages provide picture-word cards and spaces where students mark or sort images as wants or needs, which supports creating visual categorizations of their descriptions.
Lesson 11
Being Part of a Group
Activity 2 asks the child to draw a picture of the members of a group in a large box and then complete a short paragraph about the group, encouraging the child to read the paragraph when finished. The Student Activity Page for "Being Part of a Group" includes a blank drawing area and prompted sentences (One group I belong to is ____, The group does ____, etc.). Activity 1 uses cut-out illustrations and a three-circle graphic organizer for sorting, which has students create visual groupings. The wrapping up section asks children to reflect on what they enjoy about their groups, reinforcing use of drawings and organizers alongside descriptions.
Final Project
Differences Make the World Go 'Round
Students are instructed to draw a picture of themselves and the child from another country on the book cover and to illustrate each page by drawing or pasting a picture that represents the sentence. The Student Activity Pages provide large blank boxes for Food, Hobbies, Homes, Clothing, Transportation, Holidays, and Similarities where students can draw or write their responses. Prompts such as "I like to eat _______" and "My hobby is _______" are paired with drawing spaces, explicitly linking descriptions to visual displays.
3: Patterns
Unit 1: Identifying and Creating Visual Patterns
Lesson 1
What Is a Pattern?
Students are asked to draw their own bug patterns on a separate sheet using the provided "Drawing Bugs" guide (Activity 2 Option 1). Students cut out objects and arrange or paste them to create visual patterns (Activity 2 Option 2, Activity 4 Option 2). Students are prompted to color/trace objects to make the colors follow a pattern and to point to each item as they describe it (Activity 4 Option 1). Students create caterpillar color-segment displays and place correct color segments on bodies in the Caterpillar Patterns game (Activity 3 and Activity 6).
Lesson 3
What Comes Next?
Students are asked in Activity 2 to describe features of concentric shapes (thick/thin lines) and then to draw a new outer square or circle and to draw a triangle-based pattern on a separate sheet, which requires adding a drawing after description. In Activity 1 (Option 2) and the Patterns Repeat pages, students are explicitly asked to draw an object in each blank to extend patterns and to label new items they add (A, B, C). In Activity 3 students are asked to "illustrate what would come next," directly asking them to produce a visual display to show their pattern prediction.
Lesson 5
Making Color Patterns
Students cut out and trace leaves and place dot stickers to make caterpillar patterns, then are asked to describe the patterns they create. Students make colored bead necklaces and are instructed that each necklace must follow a pattern, and later are asked to demonstrate color patterns using blocks, counting bears, or colored shapes. Students are also asked to show patterns with color words or the first letter of color words on a separate sheet, creating a visual representation of the pattern.
Lesson 6
Shapes and Patterns
Students trace and color shapes onto a separate sheet when creating ABAB, AABB, and ABC patterns, and they cut, glue, or arrange attribute blocks to make continuous pattern rows. Students create caterpillar patterns by placing shapes on blank caterpillars and describe those patterns verbally and by sorting them into pattern types. Students also write or copy a sentence about a pattern on handwriting paper, and they may cut out colored shapes to assemble patterns when shapes of a needed color are not available.
Lesson 8
Creating and Writing About Patterns
Students are instructed to "illustrate the pattern" in multiple activity pages (AABB, ABAB, ABC) and to "illustrate the objects that create the pattern," prompting them to add drawings to their pattern work. Option 1 asks students to illustrate words to form patterns and then describe each pattern using sentence prompts (First, Then, Next). Activity 2 asks students to recreate patterns in a drawing or with objects, and Activity 5/Describe the Pattern includes spaces for students to list sequence elements alongside their pattern illustrations.
Final Project
Patterns Poster or Patterns Presentation
Students are directed to create a poster board that displays seven types of patterns using glued materials (beads, buttons, sequins, construction paper, number stickers) and to label each section and record the materials used. Students who choose the presentation option are asked to write a script on the "Script for Presentation" page, describe each pattern, and demonstrate an example of each pattern with a variety of materials for an audience. Students are instructed to hang the poster or present to friends and family so the visual displays accompany their spoken or written descriptions.
Unit 2: Patterns in Sounds, Words, and Actions
Lesson 1
Word Patterns
The activities explicitly invite students to illustrate words: Activity 1 (Option 1 and Option 2) tells students they can "illustrate her word" as an added challenge. Activity 2 asks students to "act out or illustrate the nursery rhyme" and to record rhyming words, linking illustrations to descriptions of rhymes. Activity 4 extension asks students to "make habitat pictures and draw the animals" from the book, creating visual displays to accompany labeled animal names.
Lesson 2
Making Word Patterns
In Activity 1, students cut sentences and corresponding illustrations apart and glue a sentence and an illustration on each page to make a book, then title it and name themselves as author. The Life Application asks students to make a poster and add words they encounter that are in the same word family, creating a visual display of word groups. Activity 2 has students paste sorted word families on index cards and label each group, producing labeled visual displays of patterns.
Lesson 3
Poetry Patterns
Students are invited to write another verse to the song and then "illustrate the new verse in the box provided," which asks them to add a drawing to their written description. The Student Activity Page for "A Rhyming Song" includes a large blank box explicitly provided for drawing related to the verse. The Skills section lists "Discuss, illustrate, or dramatize a story or poem," indicating students will illustrate poem-related content.
Lesson 5
Story Patterns
Students are asked to "write about or illustrate her morning routine," selecting 3–4 important activities to show. In Activity 2 students cut apart pictures, glue them in order under boxes labeled beginning/middle/end, and dictate a sentence to describe each event. In Activity 3 students create their own story and are explicitly invited to "create story boxes by illustrating her story" or act it out, and Option 2 has students illustrate and describe the beginning, middle, and end on the activity page.
Lesson 6
Sound Patterns
The Student Activity Page includes illustrations of hands clapping and a foot stepping with the labels "Slap, Clap, Tap," and students are asked to "record the sound pattern and then create your own." Activity 2 directs students to use the "Listen Carefully" page to record patterns and to note how many times each sound repeats. Activity 4 asks students to write about a sound pattern they heard ("I heard a pattern that went...").
Lesson 7
Making Sound and Action Patterns
In Activity 2 (Option 1) students cut out sound words and accompanying pictures and glue or place them on a separate sheet to form sound patterns, using pictorial icons (smack, stomp, slap, clap, tap) as part of the pattern display. The Student Activity Page explicitly provides images paired with words so students arrange visual tokens to represent their patterns. Activity 4 has students write or copy a sentence that describes a pattern they made, giving an opportunity to pair text with prior visual pattern work.
Final Project
Patterns Video
Students are directed to create a video and to use books, toys, props, music devices, or pictures when presenting patterns. The lesson's Skills list explicitly includes "Use props and pictures to support spoken messages (LA)." The instructions tell students to read from books or poems, perform action patterns on camera, and prepare materials between segments so they can show visual items while speaking.
Unit 3: Patterns in Your World
Lesson 1
Patterns in Nature
Students are asked to identify and describe the pattern in each picture after reading Pattern (Activity 1), which practices producing descriptions. In Activity 2 students either paste matching pattern samples onto animals or create patterns on animals themselves, which requires producing visual displays tied to the items being described. In Activity 3 students draw 3–5 of their favorite nature patterns, label them, and color them to match sources, creating drawings that accompany and add detail to their pattern descriptions.
Lesson 2
Patterns of Growth
Students are asked to "Draw the plant every few days and write a sentence to record its growth" on the "A Plant's Pattern of Growth" activity page, directly combining drawings with descriptive sentences. Activity 3 has students draw examples of three different plants they investigate, and Activity 4 asks students to illustrate the stages of growth for animals (cutting, gluing, and ordering pictures). Activity 5 has students organize pictures of themselves from birth to present to show their growth pattern, providing a visual sequence to accompany descriptions.
Lesson 3
Night and Day
In Activity 3 students are asked to draw a picture of something they do only during the day and then record or dictate a few sentences that explain the activity, directly pairing a drawing with a verbal/written description. Activity 1 asks students to label and then color pictures of the Sun, Moon, and Earth, which has students add visual elements and labels to their descriptions. The Student Activity Pages include large blank spaces and bordered areas for drawing (During the Day / At Night pages and The Sun, The Moon, The Earth page), providing space for students to create visual displays to accompany their notes.
Lesson 4
Daily Routines
Activity 1 asks students to add a missing morning activity to a picture and cut/glue pictures to create their own morning routine. Activity 2 directs students to break a routine into four steps and illustrates each step or select an object/gesture to represent each step. Activity 3 has students record activities with words or simple symbols and pair activities with icons, and Activity 4 has students write or dictate a sentence describing a routine.
Lesson 5
Calendar Patterns
Activity 4 instructs students to record family activities on a calendar and, if the child does not read, to draw symbols to represent each activity. Activity 5 has students create a poster by cutting and arranging Days and Months cards on poster board, producing a visual display of the sequence of days and months. Activity 3 asks students to mark the month and numbers on a laminated calendar, which has them add visual labels to calendar descriptions.
Lesson 6
Seasonal Weather Patterns
Students cut apart and order season and month cards and paste months beneath the appropriate season and weather pattern on construction paper (Activities 1 and 3), creating a visual display that links months, seasons, and weather. Student activity pages include pictures for each season and month and ask students to fill in missing seasons and to record weather words beneath seasons. The lesson asks students to refer to or create a months-of-the-year poster and to copy months on handwriting paper, reinforcing visual labeling of time and weather.
Lesson 7
Patterns at Home
Students are asked to draw patterns: Activity 4 directs students to draw shirt outlines and create or copy patterns and to draw and color a plate design. Activity 3 has students color a quilt pattern according to directions, and Activity 2 has students complete pattern drawings on a "Shirt Patterns" page. Activity 5 asks students to write or dictate and then copy a sentence that describes a pattern found in their closet.
Lesson 8
Symmetrical Patterns
Students create visual work in several activities: they draw lines of symmetry for letters (Activity 1) and shapes (Activity 2), cut and fold shapes and trace the butterfly template, and produce symmetrical paintings on the butterfly (Activity 3). Students also write a sentence about a symmetrical figure (Activity 4), and the wrapping-up prompts ask students to describe examples of symmetrical and non-symmetrical objects.
Lesson 9
Counting Patterns
Students cut out a car pattern and clown faces and place the faces in the car as they listen to and retell the story, using the manipulatives to keep track of and illustrate the events. Students are prompted to tell their own clown story while placing or removing clowns and to record the number sequence as the story continues, linking the visual display to their description. Students write or dictate a sentence about the clowns in the car, connecting a written description with the visual representation they used.
Lesson 10
Tracing Patterns
Students cut out and trace heart, star, egg, and tree shapes and decorate them with markers, paints, or glitter, producing visual artifacts. Students use attribute blocks to recreate pattern designs, create and trace their own designs, and are encouraged to tell a story about one or more objects they create. Students practice using stencils and stencil paint to design patterns on paper, fabric, wood, or plastic and arrange shapes into ABAB, AABB, and ABC patterns.
Lesson 11
Patterns in Graphs
Students are instructed to color elements of graphs and charts to make patterns visible (e.g., color the days when John read two books orange and three books purple; circle titles and labels). The Finding Patterns in Charts page asks students to color-code girls' and boys' names and shirt-color boxes, and Activity 3 tells students to color matching parts of each graph to help them see and describe patterns. Students also mark charts (S/F) and fill in data, using visual coding to represent information.
Final Project
Patterns All Around Lapbook
Students are instructed to draw a symmetrical pattern inside the One-Page mini-book, placing half the picture on each side of the fold. In the Matchbook activity students draw, paste, or copy a pattern from nature onto the inside and write a title on the front. In the 3-Flap and Wheel books students label stages or seasons and illustrate or paste pictures for each stage/season; the skills list also includes using props and pictures to support spoken messages and recording knowledge on a topic.
4: Change
Unit 1: Changes on Planet Earth
Lesson 2
What Changed?
Students examine illustrated before-and-after pictures on the Student Activity Page and determine how attributes changed (top-left through bottom-right). Students are asked in Activity 2 to circle changes and then can "record a sentence to describe each example," linking text to images. In Activity 3 students are given a blank picture from a coloring book and asked to change the color, which requires them to produce a visual modification.
Lesson 3
Changing Position
In Activity 4 students are given three labeled sheets (Push, Pull, Push and Pull) and are instructed that as they explore toys they can draw them or write their names on the sheets, then demonstrate items from each page. Activity 5 asks students to make a list or even take pictures of examples they find, which adds photographic visual displays to their recorded descriptions. Activity 2 has students cut apart illustrated actions and sort them into push or pull categories, engaging them in using pictures to organize and communicate ideas.
Lesson 4
Changes in the Environment
Students are asked to "illustrate or write two sentences about a time when weather caused him to change his activity," directly pairing drawing with a descriptive sentence (Activity 1). Students color and label a tree for each season and cut/assemble a seasons wheel to visually display how the tree changes across seasons (Activity 2). Students draw leaves on branches to represent "a couple," "many," "a few," and "the most," using drawings as concrete visual representations of described quantities (Activity 3).
Lesson 5
Changes in Location
Students create and manipulate visual materials: they can color pictures and cut out a location wheel, then attach it to a paper plate to turn and show the cat changing locations. Students cut out a mouse and move it to positions described in spoken sentences and are encouraged to write simple sentences describing the mouse's location. Students record sentences describing object relationships outdoors or in a room, linking text to observable spatial arrangements.
Lesson 6
Changes in the Sky
In Activity 1 students list adjectives and phrases inside provided images of the Sun and Moon, writing or dictating descriptions directly onto the Student Activity Pages that include blank space for adding content. In Activity 3 students cut out shapes and assemble an Earth–Moon–Sun model with brads, producing a physical visual display they can manipulate. The wrapping-up prompts ask students to describe positions and demonstrate motions using the model, linking verbal descriptions to a visual/physical representation.
Lesson 7
Living Things Change
Students are asked in Activity 3 to fold paper into four boxes and illustrate a living thing before and after a change, with the option to draw or cut and paste pictures from magazines or the Internet. In Activity 1 students color the lizard and rabbit panels and construct a rabbit collage (tracing, cutting, gluing, and adding cotton balls) that visually represents seasonal change. Activity 4 asks students to write or copy a sentence that describes how something changes in size, providing an opportunity to pair text with a visual.
Lesson 8
Plants and Change
Students are asked to draw and label the parts of a plant (Option 2), using a word box to help with spelling. In Activity 3 students create a folded diagram by locating, cutting, and gluing a seed, roots, sprout, plant pieces, and a flower to produce a visual reminder of plant growth. In Activity 4 students cut out pictures and glue them in order to show how a plant changes over its life cycle.
Lesson 9
Heat Causes Change
In Activity 1 students are instructed to draw the ice in the first picture, later draw the melted water in the second picture, and draw steam in the third picture, labeling each drawing. The Student Activity Page includes three empty bowls with a word box (ice, water, steam) and an arrow labeled cold-to-hot to organize states visually. Activity 4 asks students to write or copy a sentence about something they observed, pairing a written description with the drawings.
Lesson 11
People Change the Environment
Students are asked to describe what is happening in each illustration on the "Humans Cause Environmental Change" page and to explain how each picture shows change and whether it is positive, negative, or neutral. Students view a recycling video and then sort pictured products into a recycling bin or a trash can on the "Recycle" pages. Students are encouraged to point out ways people are changing the environment during a walk or drive, using real-world visual evidence.
Final Project
Mobile of Change
Students are instructed to draw or paste examples of each change on the 'Changes' pages, placing a 'before' picture in one box and an 'after' picture in the other. Students glue the pairs onto shaped construction-paper pieces and assemble them into a hanger mobile, creating a visual display. Students are asked to display the mobile and explain its parts to family members, linking the visuals to spoken explanations.
Unit 2: Characters Change
Lesson 1
What's in a Name
Activity 3 asks students to read descriptive phrases from the book and then "illustrate the face that Chrysanthemum might have at that moment in the story," requiring students to add a drawing tied to a description. Activity 2 has students cut and assemble a flower with one letter of their name on each petal, producing a visual display that represents their name. The reading instructions also direct students to "pay close attention to the illustrations as the narrator reads," linking visual information to described events and feelings.
Lesson 2
Why Worry?
Students complete activity pages that include illustrations (a swing set, a clock, sun and clouds) interspersed with lines for writing, so students write descriptions adjacent to visual displays. Students complete a "Characters Change" page that shows two illustrations of Wemberly (worried and relaxed) while they write how she changed from the beginning to the end. Students are also asked to identify and circle conjunctions on the pages with these illustrations.
Lesson 3
Is It a Problem?
Students are explicitly asked to "Illustrate the problem at different points in the story" on the "THE PROBLEM" activity page, linking specific text boxes to pages in the book. In Activity 4 students cut out and paste beginning/middle/end story panels and use the provided comic-style images to represent narrative parts. The "Tackling a Problem" page includes space for responses and an accompanying illustration, prompting students to pair written descriptions with a visual.
Lesson 4
Comparing Characters
Students are prompted to draw on multiple activity pages (Activity 3: boxes labeled "Illustrate Wemberly" and "Illustrate the boy" that accompany story summary lines). Activity 5 asks students to "Draw a picture of your favorite part of your favorite story," directly linking a drawing to a written/descriptive response. Activity 6 "I Change" instructs students to draw themselves before and after solving a problem and to use words or pictures to describe changes, explicitly combining drawings with descriptions.
Lesson 5
The Raft
Students glue craft sticks to build a raft and then paint or draw three symbols on it that should signify something important about themselves (Activity 3 and Activity 4). Students are asked to sketch scenes in nature with a sketch pad and to practice drawings before applying them to the raft (Activity 5). Student activity pages and the Story Elements organizer provide spaces for students to attach or glue titles, characters, settings, and pictures, prompting students to create visual displays that represent story information.
Lesson 6
Positive and Negative Change
In Activity 3 students are asked to "illustrate the situation — the cause and the effect of the change that occurred" on a blank sheet of paper and then "write or dictate a sentence or two to describe the change." In Activity 1 students glue cause, an arrow, and effect on a separate sheet of paper, creating a visual layout linking their written descriptions.
Final Project
My Own Story
Students are asked to illustrate each character and write three traits for each one (Part 2), which requires creating drawings to accompany character descriptions. Students are asked to illustrate the setting on a blank sheet of paper (Part 3), connecting a visual display to the story location. In Part 6 students select, upload, arrange, and place images and backgrounds in the online storybook, integrating visual displays with the dictated text of their story.
Unit 3: A First Look at History - Change Over Time
Lesson 1
People and Families Change
Students are asked to illustrate their family's changes in Activity 5 using the boxes on the "Writing About Change" page. The Student Activity Page provides large bordered spaces for students to write or draw past and present states of the family. In Activity 6 students draw and label a picture of what the family will look like in ten years, and in Activity 2 students create a growth chart by marking heights (a visual display) and recording ages. The lesson also prompts students to read their ideas aloud, linking the drawings/charts to spoken descriptions.
Lesson 2
Understanding Time
Students complete the "Yesterday I / Today I / Tomorrow I will" boxes by writing and are explicitly instructed to illustrate those responses. Students cut apart and order the "Measuring Time" boxes and paste them on construction paper, creating a visual display of time units. Students assemble number-line activities (placing years or numbers on a number line) to visually represent chronological order.
Lesson 3
Communities Change
Students are asked to draw themselves in a historical time period and draw two objects they would have used (Activity 5). Students are asked to draw two or three artifacts from the book illustrations (Activity 6). The skills list explicitly includes "Use pictures to support written and spoken language," and several student pages provide empty boxes and graphic organizers for adding drawings or images.
Lesson 4
Past and Present
Students are asked to draw themselves living in a selected time period and then tell a story about that adventure, with the story recorded as they dictate (Activity 2). Students complete drawing tasks in Activity 4 by drawing a historical young person and themselves with items from the past and present, and then dictate comparisons. Students cut and paste illustrations onto a timeline (Activity 1) and order images of homes/transportation/clothing/school (Activity 5), using visual displays and graphic organizers to represent and support their descriptions.
Lesson 5
Exploring the Past
Students are directed to "draw and write or dictate descriptions" of cultural elements after examining the book (Activity 1). In Activity 4 students "write one sentence about each element of culture" and "draw an illustration to accompany the sentence," then assemble the pages into a book to use for a presentation. The lesson also asks students to cut out, print, and glue pictures onto charts and to place pictures on a timeline, providing multiple examples of adding visual displays to descriptions.
Lesson 6
Predicting Future Change
Activity 3 (A Change in Me) directs students to dictate a description of a personal change and then draw a picture at the top of the page showing what they were like before and after the change. The A Change in Me student page includes a large blank box expressly intended for drawing to illustrate the written/dictated response. Activity 4 asks students to write or copy a sentence about a change, which pairs written description with the drawing opportunity.
Final Project
My Past, Present and Future
Students are asked to "use photographs or draw pictures" for their Past, Present, and Future book and are required to draw pictures to represent the future. Multiple activity pages pair written prompts with blank boxes (e.g., Picture of Me, My Family, My Home, What I Do, A Change in Me) explicitly for illustrations aligned with each descriptive sentence. Option 2 directs students to "illustrate each side" when comparing past and today. The wrap-up asks students to read through and present their book or comparison pages to family, implying use of visuals during presentation.
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 4
Letter Sounds Review IV
Several Student Activity Pages include large blank boxes labeled with letters (a, e, i, o, u) and decorative headers, indicating space for students to fill in information or drawings related to those letters. The descriptions of these pages explicitly note they are "likely intended for open-ended activities or exercises" and "likely intended for drawing or writing activities." Some activities (Short Vowel Sort, Writing Words) require students to identify pictures and place or write words, giving students practice working with visual images alongside words.
Lesson 8
Blends with s
Students cut out pictures and place them in columns to show beginning s blends (Activity 2.1), and they glue those pictures to the pages when correct. Several student pages pair images with words for students to identify and write (Activities 3.3, 5.1), so students manipulate and use visual images to represent words. The Life Application section explicitly invites students to make art (for example, a collage) focused on blends.
Lesson 10
Blends with r
Students cut out pictures and glue them into columns labeled by beginning blends (Activity 1.2), and they name the pictures when sorting them. Students write words beside corresponding pictures on the Writing Words pages (Activity 2.2), and they assemble a mini-book by pasting blend labels and a "Beginning Blends" cover (Activity 4.1). Multiple Student Activity Pages provide picture grids and graphic organizers (columns labeled cr/br/dr, fr/gr, pr/tr) that students fill with images or words.
Lesson 17
Semester Review
Students are asked to create their own reader and "can add pictures if he'd like" (Activity 4.2), and they are given a "Planning My Reader" page to list characters and what characters do. Multiple Student Activity Pages include a large blank rectangle for drawing paired with dashed lines for writing so students can illustrate a scene and then describe it in writing (Activity 4.1 and the accompanying pages). Students are prompted to write on each page of their reader with "something different happening on each page," implying the drawings can support those page-by-page descriptions.
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 11
Long Vowel Sounds Review
Students cut out spellings and words and match and glue them to a Long Vowel Sound chart in Activity 1.2, creating a visual display that organizes long-vowel spellings. Students create and file word-sorts in a Word Collection folder/binder (Activity 2.2 and others), producing visual organizers of word patterns. The Wrapping Up section asks the child to talk about spellings and allows her to refer to the chart she created as needed.