Kindergarten - ELA
1: Letters
Unit 1: A - A Is for Musk Ox
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked directly about characters in Question #1: "What two animals talk in the story?" with the answer given as the zebra and the musk ox. The Skills section instructs students, with prompting and support, to ask and answer questions about key details in a text, and the text directs an adult to read the book through and then ask questions about it. Students are also guided to point to the title and the names of the author and illustrator, showing engagement with parts of a text.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students read and watch information about a musk ox and discuss how that information compares with what the musk ox in the story says about his species, which asks students to consider the story's musk ox as a character. Students discuss where musk oxen live and what they eat, which addresses the story's setting and factual details about the character's world. Students act like a musk ox, using role play to represent the character and show understanding of its behaviors.
Lesson 3
Day 3
The reading directions ask the child to find the marked word substituted with "musk ox" and to find the picture of that item in the accompanying illustration (for example, locating the clown on the "C is for clown" page). The instructions encourage the child to point to the first letter of each word and to say the letter aloud while locating the pictured item. Activity directions also prompt the child to read pages aloud and respond when prompted (e.g., saying the sight word "you").
Lesson 5
Day 5
In the Reading Workshop (Activity 2), students are given the A is for Musk Ox book, encouraged to use their finger to trace words left to right, and to explore the illustrations and say whether they liked the book and why. The optional extension asks students to draw a face that shows how they felt after hearing the book aloud. In the Writing Workshop (Activity 3), students draw a musk ox, write about it, and dictate a story (which is reread to them) and then draw a picture that relates to their story.
Unit 2: H - Hondo and Fabian
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson defines 'character' and asks QUESTION #1: 'Who are the two characters in the book?' with the answer Hondo and Fabian. QUESTION #3 asks students to describe 'some things Hondo did during the day' and what Fabian did, and Activity 1 has students identify activities as Hondo or Fabian and act them out. QUESTION #2 contrasts Hondo and Fabian including that 'Hondo went outside, while Fabian stayed inside,' and the reading notes mention locations like the beach and home.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to name the two animals (Hondo and Fabian) and to say one way the characters are alike and different, which asks them to identify and compare characters. Activity 4 asks students to identify the characters again and use words or phrases to describe each character. Question #1 directs students to retell the story using the pictures and prompts about what happened at the beginning, next, and at the end, which asks them to sequence major events.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 2 directs the child to notice that Hondo and Fabian were two animals who did some things together and some things apart and to look at pictures of Hondo and Fabian together, prompting identification of the characters and their interactions. Activity 1 asks the child to page through the book to see if Hondo or Fabian moved in any other ways, prompting the child to notice actions that the named characters perform. The painting/dictation task has the child describe an activity with a friend, reinforcing identification of character relationships and actions in pictures.
Lesson 5
Day 5
The lesson asks the child "what a character is," prompting a child-centered definition. Activity 2 has students move their finger under print to find capital letters at the beginning of names and asks questions about the names "Hondo" and "Fabian," including whether those names suit the characters. These items require students to attend to and think about characters in a story context.
Unit 3: I - The Little Island
Lesson 1
Day 1
The Skills list explicitly states that students, with prompting and support, will identify characters, settings, and major events in a story. The question set directs students to name creatures that lived on or visited the island (identifying characters) and to describe the changes that happened on the island across seasons (identifying major events). Reading prompts ask students to look at the cover, find the title, observe the island illustration, and discuss what an island is and how it differs from a continent (identifying and describing the setting).
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students page through The Little Island and are asked to note how the pictures progress through the seasons and how those seasons affect the island. Students pretend to picnic on the island and are prompted to identify what season it is, choose appropriate gear, and describe what changes when the season changes. Students discuss how the island (its appearance and conditions) changes across all four seasons, connecting pictures to events in the story.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to retell The Little Island in their own words using the illustrations to guide their retelling, with guiding questions provided as needed. The lesson reviews the definition of an island and asks children to look at pages of the book to find where different animals move, which reinforces the story's setting. Activity 3 lists animals from the book and has students identify and act out whether each creature moves in the air, on land, or in water, which requires them to identify characters and where they belong in the story world.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students turn to the story's first page, read the line "There was a little Island in the ocean," and use a pillow as an island to represent the setting. Students act out being the winds and move "around" the island and act out motions of the clouds, fish, and fog, treating those elements as characters. Students pretend to be the kitten and move on, under, off, beside, near, far, above, in front of, and behind the island, practicing relationships between a character and the setting.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 asks students to imagine a visit to the little island, draw what they would see and do, and respond to prompts such as "What season was it when you visited?" and "What animals did you see?", which asks them to describe setting and characters and to recount actions. Activity 2 has students look at the book cover and title page and talk about what they see and their favorite part, giving students an opportunity to notice the island setting and reflect on parts of the story. Activity 1's discussion of the island's size and comparisons reinforces students' attention to the island as a specific setting.
Unit 5: L - We're Going on a Leaf Hunt
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to look at the book cover and say what season is depicted and what clues support that idea, which prompts identification of setting. Students are asked who the characters are and what they want to find (the children; leaves) and are asked questions about enjoyment and how they felt at the end, supporting character identification and resolution. Questions about challenges or obstacles the children faced (mountain, forest, river, skunk) and the Skills statement that students retell familiar stories including key details provide opportunities to identify and describe major events.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Activity 3 asks students to act out the story and to recreate settings using parts of the home (for example, using stairs as the mountain or a dark bathroom as the forest), which requires students to represent and locate story settings. The activity directs students to substitute specific verbs (skip, march, stroll, hop) and physically act out those actions, which engages students in performing major events/actions from the story. The suggestion to include siblings, friends, or a grown-up gives students opportunities to take on roles and portray characters during the dramatization.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to look together for words that describe the forest, the waterfall, the lake, and the skunk and to repeat phrases such as "dark forest," which prompts them to identify and describe settings. Students construct a simple map of the children's journey by drawing the tall mountain, the maple tree, the dark forest, the waterfall, the pond, and using arrows to show the order of travel, which has them represent the sequence of events or stops. The provided image and map activity label five locations in order, reinforcing students' practice in ordering major parts of the story.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Writing Workshop Option 1, students imagine a journey (which prompts them to generate a setting) and consider obstacles (which prompts them to generate events). Students draw a picture of their adventure and dictate their story to be recorded, which engages them in sequencing and describing major events. The Reading Workshop asks students to spend time with the book and answer questions about enjoyment, prompting oral discussion about the story.
Unit 6: F - Fireflies
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are prompted to look at the book cover and describe what they see and what the children are doing, which asks them to notice characters and actions. Question 2 asks students to identify how the boy feels about fireflies and to find evidence in the pictures, prompting character identification and inference from illustrations. Question 3 asks why the boy was both crying and smiling at the end, directing students to consider a major event and its emotional outcome. The listed skill explicitly asks students, with prompting and support, to describe the relationship between illustrations and the story and to identify what moment an illustration depicts.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 2 asks the child to review the illustrations and tell the story in his own words, which prompts students to recount characters and events. The discussion questions (Did he like the story? Were there any parts that were funny or surprising? Would he like to catch fireflies like the boy? How would he feel when he had to let them go?) prompt students to describe the boy and the major actions he takes (catching and releasing fireflies). Activity 3 refers to the boy describing a summertime memory, connecting the narrative to a temporal setting.
Unit 7: E - But No Elephants
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to identify and name the story's characters: Activity 1 has students name and color the five animals (canary, beaver, turtle, woodpecker, elephant). Students sequence major events and visits: Activity 2 has students put the animals in the order they came to visit Grandma Tildy and use ordinal numbers to describe first, second, third, etc. Comprehension questions ask students to describe Grandma Tildy's life at the beginning and end and to name predicaments she faced and how she solved them, prompting identification of major events and changes.
Lesson 2
Day 2
The review asks the child to recall the meaning of "predicament" and to name one predicament Grandma Tildy faced in But No Elephants, which asks students to identify a key event or problem in the story. The vocabulary list defines "character: a person or animal in a story," and Activity 1 directs the child to look at illustrations and describe animals and Grandma, which prompts students to notice and name characters. Several prompts ask the child to describe what they see in the pictures, encouraging identification of who is in the story and what happens to them.
Lesson 3
Day 3
After reading, the child is asked to "explain to you what happened in the story," which requires the child to identify major events. In Activity 1 the child role-plays an animal visitor to Grandma Tildy, has the adult guess the animal, and is asked how the animal would help Grandma Tildy, which requires the child to identify and describe characters and their roles.
Lesson 4
Day 4
The lesson asks the child to look back at the first page and answer questions about Grandma Tildy's actions (What is Grandma Tildy doing? What kind of work is she doing? Why is she doing that?), which prompts identification of a character and actions. The lesson directs the child to examine each new pet and explain how it helped Grandma Tildy meet wants or needs, prompting students to identify events tied to each character. The puppet retelling activity has the child hold up each animal as it is introduced and then tell or continue the story, which requires students to recall and sequence story events and recognize characters.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 2 asks the child to retell the story in her own words or look at pictures and to discuss the book by answering questions such as "What was her favorite part of the story?" and "Could she think of a different ending?" Activity 3 has the child draw a house full of animals like Grandma Tildy and write or dictate things that might happen, using pictures and text to describe characters and events.
Unit 8: C - Millions of Cats
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students answer explicit comprehension questions that name characters (the old man, the old woman, and the cats) and identify major events (they were lonely, got a cat, the cats quarreled, most were eaten, and one was cared for and became beautiful). Students sort and compare cat characters in Activity 1 and Activity 2, which asks them to list characteristics of Fabian and the cats from Millions of Cats. Students complete a Venn diagram that explicitly notes setting-related details (Fabian stays indoors; the Millions of Cats live outdoors), showing students identify setting differences between stories.
Lesson 2
Day 2
The lesson quotes Millions of Cats: "On the third page...the old man sets out on a journey...He trudged through cool valleys," which presents a character (the old man), a setting (hills/valleys), and a major event (setting out on a journey). Activity 1 asks the child to make landforms and to "talk about different physical features of the Earth: rivers, ponds, lakes, hills, valleys, and meadows," connecting hands-on work to the story's settings. The review and Activity 3 ask the child to choose and decorate cats and refer to "the man" picking a cat, engaging the child with characters from the story.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to identify which cat became the "pretty" cat, and to read/point to the sight word "pretty," which directs attention to a specific character and outcome. Students repeat the phrase about "hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats," which draws attention to a major recurring event in the story. Activity 2 has students arrange die-cut cats and count them while discussing that most cats wanted to go with the old man but one did not, which references a key plot event (cats leaving and one staying).
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 1 explicitly names characters (the old man and the old woman) and describes their actions of bathing, brushing, and feeding the cat, which points students to identify characters and a major event at the end of the story. Activity 2 asks students to talk about how the poem relates to the book and whether the poem would describe the scene with all the cats, prompting students to compare and discuss story scenes. Activity 2 also has students create and perform motions that act out lines of the poem, which engages students in representing events from the story aloud and physically.
Lesson 5
Day 5
The Reading Workshop includes two sentence strips that name characters: "a very old man and a very old woman," and a sentence describing an event: they gave it milk and it grew plump, so students hear explicit character and event language. Students are asked to follow the lines left to right and point to words as the sentences are read, exposing them to the text where those characters and actions appear. The Writing Workshop asks students to draw or "write" a story about a cat, which gives students an opportunity to produce or retell events involving a character (a cat).
Unit 9: G - The Real Mother Goose
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to look at the cover and consider who Mother Goose is, prompting identification of a character. Students read and discuss poems and are asked "What is happening?," which asks them to describe events in the poems. Students act out "The Little Bird," taking roles (bird and child) and supply missing words from lines, practicing characterization and event representation.
Unit 10: O - Owl Babies
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are prompted to look at the cover and describe what they see and to predict whether the book will teach facts or tell an imaginary story, which invites identification of the book's purpose and characters. Students answer that the book told a story and explain why by noting character details (the owl babies had names, talked, and showed emotions), which identifies characters and their traits. Students are asked to name true facts from the book (e.g., owls can live in a hole in a tree trunk, owls make nests, owls eat mice), which provides facts about the story world that relate to setting information.
Lesson 2
Day 2
The review section defines "character" as a person or animal in a story and asks the child to name and explain vocabulary. Activity 3 presents the poem "Wide-Eyed Owl," which names a clear character (the owl), gives a setting ("He lives way up in the tree"), and describes actions/events (he looks, flaps his wings, and says "whooo whooo"), and has students learn and perform motions for each line. Activity 1 asks the child to identify what is on the book cover (an owl) and to predict whether the book is fiction or non-fiction, prompting observation of pictured beings.
Lesson 3
Day 3
The lesson has students read Owl Babies and asks who in the book wants something and what he wants, explicitly identifying Bill and his line "I want my mommy!" It directs the child to read Bill's line aloud and practice the sight word "want," reinforcing character identification and motivation. The lesson also asks the child to tell the story in his own words, which elicits retelling of major events.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students practice and perform a Reader's Theatre script that names three characters (Sarah, Percy, Bill) and assigns lines to each performer, so students read and take on distinct character roles. The script repeatedly centers on the event of 'Mommy' being gone and characters wondering where she is, including lines that suggest she has gone hunting. The lesson also prompts students to discuss Owl Babies and ask what the owls can do in the book that real owls cannot (talk, have human-like feelings), which elicits discussion about character actions and traits.
Unit 11: S - Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson's skills list explicitly includes the target standard: "With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story." The reading prompts ask the child to look at the book cover, describe what she sees, and interpret the four pictures (linking to seasons as setting). Question #2 asks the child to "Look at what Arnold does with his tree during each season," which directs the child to identify the character (Arnold) and the major events across the story.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students read The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree aloud and are asked to locate and read the sight word "some" in context. Students are asked Question #1: "What gift did the tree give Arnold in each season?", which prompts them to recall events from the story and references the characters Arnold and the tree. In Activity 3 students read a poem that uses adjectives for each season and are asked to name the season based on those adjectives, practicing identification of seasons as settings.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 1 directs the child to look at the page where Arnold's family works together to make the apple pie and the cider and asks how each family member contributes and why they worked together. The child is prompted to make an apple pie using the recipe in the book, which reinforces the event described on the page. These items require the child to identify who the characters are (Arnold's family) and to describe the major event (making pie and cider).
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 2 asks the student where and when The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree took place and defines that when and where a story takes place is called its setting. Students are prompted to look through books with outdoor settings, identify the setting and the season, and share the clues that helped them determine the season. The activity explicitly has students state the setting and cite evidence from the books.
Unit 12: D - Dinosaurs Big and Small
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked whether the book is fiction or non-fiction and are prompted to explain that the book does not have characters but instead presents facts about dinosaurs. Read-aloud and discussion questions ask students to identify what they learned about dinosaurs and to name author and illustrator roles. Activities have students describe dinosaur characteristics and compare lengths, reinforcing comprehension of informational content rather than narrative elements.
Unit 13: P - Harold and the Purple Crayon
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are prompted to look at the cover and listen to the teacher read the book, with questions such as "What do you think about Harold's adventure?" and "How do you think Harold feels at the end of the story?", which direct attention to Harold as a character and his experiences. Activity 1 asks students to recall specific predicaments Harold faced and the solutions he drew (e.g., drew a boat when the water rose, drew pie when he was hungry, drew a balloon when he slipped), guiding students to identify major events and their resolutions. The lesson repeatedly names Harold and asks children to remember and describe his actions, encouraging students to recount story events.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked to recall Harold and the Purple Crayon and that "Harold draws the moon, and the moon follows him throughout the story," and they are asked direct questions: "What shape is the moon in the story? Does the moon always look that way?" Students physically act out Earth and moon positions and make a diagram of moon phases by cutting and gluing labeled pictures (full moon, half moon, crescent, sliver, new moon). The materials also label the book as fiction, helping students situate the activity in a story context.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students reread Harold and the Purple Crayon and respond to targeted comprehension questions about the story, including asking what was the most interesting thing that happened, what Harold's most amazing drawing was, what his scary moments were, and how he figured out how to get home. The lesson prompts students to locate and reread pages where Harold "made" things and to discuss events tied to those pages, supporting recall of story actions and outcomes.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students are asked explicit questions about Harold and whether their neighborhood is like Harold's, prompting them to talk about the story's setting. Students build a neighborhood map by choosing a place for their home and placing familiar buildings, and they use a toy car to travel from place to place, practicing description of place and location. A prompt to imagine sitting on a boat and where she is going invites students to think about place and movement in a narrative context.
Unit 14: B - Blueberries for Sal
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are prompted to look at the cover and predict the story, which engages them in identifying setting and topic. Question #1 directly asks who was looking for blueberries on the mountain and expects students to name Little Sal, her mother, Little Bear, and his mother (identifying characters). Questions #3, #4, and #6 ask what each child was supposed to do, what happened on the mountain (they each found the wrong mother), and how the story ended (each child went home with the correct mother), which require students to identify major events.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked to name one similarity and one difference between Little Sal and Little Bear, which requires them to identify and compare characters. In Activity 1 students examine pictures and find visual clues (car model, clothing, stove, hairstyle) to decide that the story takes place in the past, addressing the story's time setting. In Activity 3 students page through the book, read movements attributed to named characters, and pantomime those actions, showing recognition of characters and what they do.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students hear Blueberries for Sal read aloud and are asked to retell the story in their own words, using the pictures as prompts. The reading includes prompting the child to find and read the sight word "she," directing attention to a character reference. The retell task requires students to recall and describe events from the story.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students read or are asked to think about the story Blueberries for Sal and create a two-column chart listing fictional versus non-fictional elements about bears, which requires noticing how bears are portrayed in the story. Students learn and perform the song "The Bear Went Over the Mountain," adding motions that represent the bear's action of going over a mountain and ‘seeing' the other side, which highlights a clear event and setting in the song.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 2 asks the child to identify the setting (where and when) and to examine books set in the past, searching for clues that indicate the time period. Students are prompted to look for specific evidence such as clothing and technology to support identifying the setting. Students are asked to share their findings and are given guided questions to help them explain why the setting is in the past.
Unit 15: R - Rain
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students reread the book and are asked to point to words and discuss what will happen next, which prompts them to attend to story events. In Activity 1 students place die-cut pieces on a blue construction-paper sky mat to show the progression of the story and change the gray sky as the story calls for, which has students reconstruct settings and sequence major events. The skills list also asks students to describe familiar people, places, things, and events with prompting and support.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students read the book while pointing to each word and manipulate die-cuts to match each page, linking text to visual elements. Students are asked to read the book back and point to words they recognize, supporting recall of story details. Students arrange and glue die-cuts to recreate the last page and point to each object using descriptive words (for example, "purple flowers").
Unit 16: N - Night in the Country
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to look at the cover and describe the sky and time of day, and to discuss what the word "country" means and how the country differs from city and suburbs, which addresses setting. The read-aloud and follow-up questions ask students what they thought about the book and what the author seems to think about nighttime, prompting discussion of events and mood. Activity 1 refers to the apple tree dropping apples in the story and has students move and count apples to represent that event, giving practice with a concrete major event from the text.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students cut out and dress two paper-doll figures as a farm (country) character and a city (office) character, providing practice distinguishing two different characters. Students use the puppets to role-play and answer questions about where each character gets food, shops, and what activities they do, which directly engages them in identifying the characters and their settings (farm/country vs. city). Students discuss differences in needs and how families meet them in the country versus the city, reinforcing setting-based details tied to each character.
Lesson 3
Day 3
The lesson asks the child to tell the story in his own words using the pictures as a guide, which prompts students to recount major events. The lesson asks a question about one difference between life in the country and life in the city and has an activity where the child looks through the book to identify landforms, which prompts students to identify aspects of setting. The teacher also reads and rereads the book with the child, prompting the child to find and read recurring words in the text as they view the pages.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Activity 2, students are asked to look at the book and generate questions, with examples such as asking where in the country the book is located (explicit reference to setting) and asking more about the owl or the frogs (references to characters). Students are instructed to "read" by looking at pictures and identify questions they'd like to know more about, then share those questions and discuss them. The prompt models asking about characters and setting, providing prompting and support for those elements.
Unit 17: M - Marshmallow
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are prompted to look at the cover and identify the white bunny and the book title, which targets identification of a character. Multiple comprehension questions ask about how Marshmallow and Oliver acted (e.g., Q1, Q4, Q5) and ask whether Oliver accepted Marshmallow as a friend (Q3), which directs students to identify character actions and key events. The prompt to show the page where Marshmallow kisses Oliver on the nose and discuss Oliver's hesitation focuses attention on a specific event and character reaction. One question explicitly references Miss Tilly's house, providing a locational reference tied to the story.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are prompted to look at the part of the book where Oliver is about to pounce on Marshmallow, and they note that Miss Tilly reprimands him and he stops himself. Students are asked to talk about how Oliver followed the rules Miss Tilly set for him, which requires naming the characters involved and describing that event. The activity explicitly engages students in describing a character's action and reaction in the story.
Lesson 3
Day 3
After reading, the child is asked to "tell you the story in her own words" and to use the pictures to prompt her, which asks the child to recount story events. The lesson rereads the book and has the child read a repeated word in context, reinforcing engagement with the text. Activity 2 references the book characters (the little bunny and the full-grown cat) when asking the child to compare and measure toy animals, which makes the characters explicit in follow-up tasks.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students are asked to talk about Owen and Mzee and how that friendship was similar to and different from Owen and Marshmallow, which requires naming the animals (characters) in each story. The activity explicitly contrasts settings (e.g., "Owen and Mzee live outdoors while Oliver and Marshmallow live indoors"). The discussion includes a clear major event for one story ("Owen was in danger because he was alone and separated from his mother in the wild"). The optional Venn diagram asks students to sort and compare those character, setting, and event details between the two stories.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Activity 3 students fill in a scaffolded animal story that names a character (a pet and its owner) and supplies a sequence of events (He got lost when __; He wandered __; Then he saw his owner __; The owner took him home). The provided example includes setting-like details (climbed over the fence, wandered to the park) that students are prompted to supply. The fill-in format requires students to produce characters and major events and to arrange those events into a coherent sequence.
Unit 18: U - Umbrella
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are prompted to look at the front cover and predict what the book will be about, and after reading they are asked to recall events from the book. Specific questions ask what gift Momo received and why she couldn't use it, and ask how Momo felt when it finally rained and why that day was important (first time she walked without holding a parent's hand). The activities also ask students to describe how Momo felt while waiting for rain, reinforcing identification of the character and major events.
Lesson 2
Day 2
The lesson tells the child that "In Umbrella, Momo's parents had come from Japan" and instructs the child to point out Japanese characters on pages 2, 6, 12, and 20. It directs the child to locate Japan on a world map and discuss its distance from the United States. These tasks require the child to connect a character (Momo's parents) to a geographic location related to the story.
Lesson 3
Day 3
The teacher reads the story Umbrella to the child and then asks the child to tell the story in his own words, encouraging use of the pictures to prompt retelling. The teacher also points out the sentence "Momo was so excited…" and has the child read it back and search for the word, which draws attention to a named character. The retelling prompt requires the child to recount events from the story using picture cues.
Unit 19: J - Jump Frog Jump
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are prompted to identify characters by looking at the cover and naming the animals they see (frog, fish, snake, turtle, fly) and to decide which animal is the main character. Students are asked to identify the setting by explaining why they think the story takes place at a pond. After reading, students answer questions about major events (e.g., how the frog was able to get away) and are asked to look back through the book to list which animals the frog escaped, while Activity 1 has students cut out and place story sequence pictures in order from beginning to end using the book as a reference.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to line up the story sequence cards from Day 1 and then tell the story using those cards, which has them identify and sequence the major events. Activity 3 has students use die-cut animal figures and room props (couch as water, shelf as a branch, basket as basket) to demonstrate relationships and actions from the story, which has them identify and manipulate the story characters and their actions. Students also read and act out phrases from the book (e.g., "The frog was under the fly") to show spatial relationships between story animals.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 2 asks students to look at die-cuts of the animals from the story, choose one, and pretend to be that animal by moving and making animal noises while others guess. Students switch roles and repeat until all the animals have been acted out, giving multiple opportunities to recognize and represent story characters.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are asked to look in the book at the repeating sentence "How will frog get away?" which names the frog character and draws attention to the events in the story. Students reorder the story sequence cards, which requires them to place major events in order. Students practice reading the book aloud to themselves and to an adult, supporting recall of story content.
Unit 20: K - Kindness
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to identify and count the animal characters (Activity 1 asks them to count each animal introduced and the Student Activity Page lists the nine animals). Students name and sequence characters by numbering them according to the order in which they are introduced in the book. Students discuss what the animals do (Question #1 asks that they identify that the animals show kindness) and describe their favorite example of an animal helping another (Question #3), which asks them to identify story events.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Activity 3 directs students to choose characters from the book and, with a partner, act out acts of kindness described in the book. Activity 1 has students create a puppet and use it to say kind things, which asks students to produce dialogue and perform actions that relate to story behaviors and events.
Lesson 3
Day 3
The Reading and Questions section asks students to find and read pages where the frog, mole, and bat thank Harry, prompting students to locate specific character actions and events in the story. Activity 3 (Animals in Fiction) has students name the mouse, frog, mole, and bat and record animal-specific and human-like actions for each, which requires students to identify characters and what they do. After reading, students are asked which act of kindness they found especially kind and how Harry helping the frog resulted in a series of kind acts, prompting them to describe major events and sequence in the story.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 1 explicitly refers to the animals in the story and asks the child to think about how many acts of kindness occurred, connecting students to the story's characters and events. Activity 2 directs the child to study the pictures and retell the story, asking for a general description of each act of kindness using the illustrations as a guide, which has students recount major events. Activity 3 has the child write or dictate a brief description of a chosen book and draw a favorite scene, which prompts the child to represent story elements through description and illustration.
Unit 21: V - Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin
Lesson 1
Day 1
The prompt before reading asks the child to look at the cover and identify the musician and to pay attention to the instruments and the activities of the dog, cats, and mouse, which directs attention to characters and their actions. After reading, Question #3 asks what the animals did throughout the book and records actions (chased each other, sat on music, pretended to conduct, watched), which asks the child to identify major events. Question #2 and Question #5 ask about the musicians joining together and the audience response, which require the child to recognize key events in the story.
Unit 22: Y - Little Blue and Little Yellow
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to look at Little Blue and Little Yellow and then the book is read aloud followed by targeted comprehension questions. Questions ask where Little Yellow lives compared to Little Blue (identifying setting), who the characters are and what they did for fun (identifying characters and actions), and what happened when they hugged or when Little Blue went home green (identifying major events). The lesson also lists the skill "With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text," reinforcing guided identification practice.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked to recall what they remember about friendship from the story Marshmallow and from Harry the Happy Mouse, prompting them to identify characters and describe their actions. Students are asked to look back at pictures in Little Blue and Little Yellow and name ways Little Blue and Little Yellow were good friends and good citizens, which has them identify character traits and behaviors. Students are asked whether Little Blue ignored rules (he left the house) and why obeying his mother was important, prompting them to identify and explain a key event in the story.
Lesson 3
Day 3
The child is read the story Little Blue and Little Yellow and practices the sight word "they" within the sentences, which gives repeated exposure to the text. After reading, the child is given balls of dough and is encouraged to use the pictures in the book and the dough to retell and act out the story in his own words. The retelling and acting-out task requires the child to recall and sequence events and to represent characters using the materials.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 2 asks the child to look back through Little Blue and Little Yellow and answer targeted questions about how the author depicts parents and houses (bigger shapes and torn brown boxes), how he shows Little Blue's feelings (page color changes to black then red), and how he shows settings like the park and the mountain (green and torn black paper shaped like a mountain). The child is then asked to tear two pieces of paper to represent two characters, tell what happened to those characters, and choose one scene to glue and write or dictate what is happening. These prompts require the child to identify characters, settings, and events in the story and to recount a scene in writing or dictation.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are shown the page where Mama tells Little Blue to stay at home and are asked to notice the quotation marks around her words. Students are asked to find another place in the book where quotation marks are used and to tell who is speaking. The activity prompts students to identify speakers and attribute dialogue to specific characters.
Unit 23: W - George Washington's Birthday
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to identify whose picture is on the dollar bill and to compare that image to the book cover, prompting them to name the character George Washington. Students are prompted to notice and discuss George's brother Augustine (including whether he is a "tyrant") and the scene where George is doing arithmetic, which requires identifying another character and a specific event. After reading, students are asked what parts of George Washington's life they found interesting or surprising, whether the story had a happy ending, and what lessons George learned, which asks them to recall major events and outcomes.
Lesson 2
Day 2
During the Review, students are asked to recall one myth about George Washington (for example, chopping down a cherry tree), which asks them to remember a specific event from a story. In Activity 3 students reread the first two pages of the George Washington book and identify which days of the week were mentioned, prompting them to locate details tied to the book's content.
Lesson 3
Day 3
The teacher has the child read sentences that name actions by George ("George went down to breakfast," "George went to the library"), and then reads the book aloud with the child. After reading, the child is asked to page back through the book and recap each story about George Washington and decide whether each one is a myth or a fact. Activities recreate story settings (a blanket as the Rappahanock River, an obstacle course for carrying wood across an icy creek) that let the child act out events described in the book.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students watch videos about George Washington and Benjamin Franklin and discuss their qualities, which requires naming and talking about these characters. Students read pages from George Washington's Birthday, deduce meanings of italicized words from context, and then act out sentences that describe actions (e.g., fetching a hatchet, pruning cherry trees, tossing a stone), engaging with events in the story. The activities prompt students to perform and dramatize story actions, reinforcing comprehension of what characters do.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 3 explicitly asks the child whether George Washington ended up having a birthday celebration, prompting the student to identify a major event. The lesson repeatedly references George Washington as the subject and points to illustrations where George is shown writing, which highlights the central character. Activity 2 asks the child to look for different places text and illustrations convey information and to share observations, which can support noticing events or character actions in the story.
Unit 24: Q - The Quilt Story
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to look at the cover and read The Quilt Story, then answer questions about when the story took place (beginning clues such as style of dress, sewing by candlelight, traveling by horse and wagon, building a new house and rocking horse). Students are asked to explain how the second part of the story took place in more modern times using illustrations (style of dress, modern buildings, cars and trucks, moving into an already-built house). Students are asked how the quilt helped both girls, which prompts them to identify characters (the two girls) and a major event (moving to new homes) and to connect illustrations to story details; the lesson also lists the skill of describing the relationship between illustrations and the story with prompting and support.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked to use a world map to locate the United States, the East Coast, and the westward movement of pioneers, linking story action to geographic setting. Students are prompted to identify the landforms mentioned or shown in the story (hills, prairie, river). Students are directed to go through the beginning pages and identify ways the pioneer family used natural resources (wood for furniture/houses/wheels/toys; tea for drinking; beeswax/animal fats for candles), which ties to events/actions in the story.
Lesson 3
Day 3
The students are asked to read The Quilt Story and, using the book to prompt them, tell the story back in their own words. Activity 3 directs students to compare and contrast the setting and the characters at the beginning and the end of the story using a Then and Now Venn diagram and to record their ideas. The supplied Venn diagram answers explicitly list characters (Abigail, mother, unnamed later girl), settings (Long Ago vs Much Later), and major events (mother made quilt, family moved, quilt found many years later) that students can identify.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are asked to look at the picture of the girl Abigail on the front cover of The Quilt Story and to name how she feels based on her facial expression. Students are prompted to compare the girls' faces (Abigail and the modern girl) and explain how those expressions reveal what is going on in the story. Students are asked to point out an expression and explain what they learn about the story from it.
Unit 25: X - An Extraordinary Egg
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked directly after reading, "What did the frogs think was inside the egg? What was really inside?", which asks them to identify a key event in the story (the discovery of the baby alligator). Students are prompted to talk about the friendships of Chicken and Jessica and Marshmallow and Oliver, which requires them to name and compare characters and their experiences. In Activity 2, students page back through the book to find examples where the frogs act like real frogs or like characters, recording those examples, which has students identify character actions and traits.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked directly about the animal that hatched (Was it a chicken? No, it was an alligator) and about what the frogs thought, which prompts identification of characters. Students discuss hatching and are asked to compare birds and reptiles, connecting the event of hatching to the animals in the story. Students also crack and observe an egg, which reinforces understanding of the major event of hatching.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to listen as An Extraordinary Egg is read aloud and then to retell the story in their own words using the pictures to help remember events. The direction to point to the sentence that says "Look what I found!" and have the child read the word "look" shows engagement with the text and attention to specific pages during reading. The retelling task gives students practice recalling and sequencing the major events of the story.
Unit 26: Z - Greedy Zebra
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are prompted to look at the book cover and locate where zebras live on a world map, which identifies the story's setting (savannas in southern Africa). Students are asked to talk about the zebra character, predict how the zebra will be greedy, and then, after reading, explain how the zebra was greedy and what happened as a result. The lesson explicitly labels the story as a folktale and asks students to judge whether the zebra deserved the outcome, reinforcing understanding of major events and their consequences.
Lesson 3
Day 3
The lesson has the adult read Greedy Zebra aloud and encourages the child to read a repeated sight word within the story, providing direct story interaction. After reading, the child is asked to use the illustrations to retell the story, which prompts recall of story events and characters. The child is also asked to predict what would have happened if zebra had not been greedy, which asks the child to reason about a character's actions and consequences.
Lesson 4
Day 4
In Activity 1 students handle cut-outs of five animals (giraffe, zebra, lion, hippo, elephant), read descriptive text about each, color the cut-outs, and glue each animal onto a created African savannah background, which requires them to place characters into a setting. In Activity 2 students listen to pages of Greedy Zebra and act out verbs and movements from the story (e.g., crept cautiously, peered, rushed out, running and jumping), engaging with action sequences and events described in the text.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Reading Workshop asks the child to identify books that had animal characters and to choose two of those books and identify one similarity and one difference between the books' characters. Reading Workshop also asks which books had an outdoor setting and asks the child to choose two and identify the setting of each. Writing Workshop asks the child to draw a picture of a scene from a favorite book and to "think about what he liked about the characters, the setting, and the events of the story."
2: Holidays
Unit 27: Halloween
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to compare the covers of Goodnight Moon and Goodnight Goon and note similarities and differences in characters and room layout, which prompts identification of characters and setting. Students are instructed to listen for the word "lagoon" and use the picture to decide whether it refers to a salt-water connection or a shallow dirty area (Question #1), engaging them in interpreting a setting detail. The Skills section explicitly lists with prompting and support comparing and contrasting the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories, which relates to identifying characters and their experiences.
Unit 28: Thanksgiving
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to look at the book cover and talk about what they see and like, prompting attention to story details. Students are asked to use a world map to identify story locations (Egypt, China, Greece, Italy, Israel, England) and to trace the pilgrims' voyage from England to Plymouth, naming the Atlantic Ocean, which addresses setting and a major event. Students are also prompted to summarize why Thanksgiving has been celebrated and to ask and answer questions about key details and describe the relationship between illustrations and text, supporting identification of important story information.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Activity 1 asks the child to recall concrete story details: why the Pilgrims left England, the name of their ship (the Mayflower), where they landed (Plymouth, Massachusetts), what the first winter was like, how the Indians helped, and the reason/length of the first Thanksgiving. Activity 3 has the child act out actions from the Pilgrims pages (building homes, shivering in winter, being hungry), which requires identifying and demonstrating major events and the people involved. The activities include rereading and prompting to look back at the story for answers.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to reread the story Thanksgiving Is... by Gail Gibbons and to look at pages about kinds of feasts, prompting discussion about story content. In Activity 2 students read a Pocahontas webpage and discuss how the help she provided differed from the Native Americans at Plymouth, which brings up specific characters and their actions. Activity 3 describes the Pilgrims' thankfulness for food and for Native American help learning to plant crops and asks students to create a cornucopia and write or draw things they are thankful for, referencing the event of settlers surviving because of that help.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students hear or read a short narrated anecdote about Abraham Lincoln that names him as the main character and describes specific actions (borrowing a book, feeding the farmer's animals, smoothing damaged pages) and places (a log cabin, the farmer's field). Students are asked to say words that describe Abraham Lincoln and explain why we still celebrate him, prompting them to identify and describe the character. Students make a Lincoln mask that reinforces recognition of the character through physical features (hat, beard).
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 2 directs an adult to remind and encourage the child to study a book's illustrations and to see how they help the author teach about Thanksgiving. The activity asks the child, after independent study, to point out observations about the illustrations, which prompts attention to how pictures relate to the text and invites adult prompting and support.
Unit 29: Christmas
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to explore The Christmas Wish independently, predict what the book will be about, consider the illustrations, and listen as the book is read aloud. The text names a character (Anja) and references an event (Anja went on a journey and brought a Christmas tree), giving students specific story elements to notice.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Activity 1 asks the child to retell her favorite part of The Christmas Wish, which prompts recall of story events. The lesson states the photographer is a native of Norway and that the story seems to take place in Norway, which connects the story to a specific setting. Activity 3 directs the child to create some of the animals she read about, which prompts identification and representation of characters from the story.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Activity 3 instructs the child to page through The Christmas Wish and note all the animals the little girl encounters on the northern tundra, which prompts identification of characters. Activity 1 directs the child to look at the page showing the northern lights and explains where they appear, which points the child to the story's setting. Activity 2 explicitly references a plot point — "At the end of the story, Santa gives Anja a very special bell" — and Activity 4 has the child listen to a song about the reindeer's role, which connects to major events in the story.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 1 prompts children to talk about Santa Claus (what kind of person he is, what he does) and asks why Anja wanted to be one of Santa's elves and how she showed commitment, which engages students in discussing characters and motives. Activity 1 also asks whether Anja had been dreaming or if her experience was real, prompting students to consider an event from the story. Activity 2 has students find locations on a world map (their country, the North Pole, continents, islands, oceans) as they trace Santa's travels, which engages students in identifying story settings.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Activity 1 directs children to look at the first pages and notice the kind deeds Anja did for her neighbor, friends, and family, which asks students to attend to a character and her actions. Activity 2 has students read the book and asks what a character's voice sounds like when quotation marks show speech, prompting students to consider who is speaking. Activity 3 asks students to draw or write about a favorite part of celebrating Christmas or compose a letter to Santa, which asks students to recall and represent parts of the story or related events.
Unit 30: February Celebrations
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are read The Biggest Valentine Ever and are asked targeted comprehension questions about Clayton and Desmond, directly prompting identification of characters and their feelings. Several questions ask students to recount events: how the argument started, what they did when they argued, and how they later worked together to make a valentine. One question references 'At school the next day,' prompting students to place a key event in the story's setting.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students watch a storybook video about Booker T. Washington and are asked questions about his love of learning and the miles he walked to attend school, which highlights a character and an important event. Students watch a short video about Martin Luther King, Jr. and are asked to think about how his life showed love and to discuss his famous speech, which addresses a character and his actions. Students are reminded that Clayton and Desmond from The Biggest Valentine Ever had to learn to work together, which references characters and a major event (working together to create a valentine).
1: Environment
Unit 1: Habitats and Homes
Lesson 1
My Environment
Students label and write the names of rooms in a house (Activity 2 Option 1 and Option 2) and number rooms in the order they explore them during a walk-through. Students describe the function of each room and circle items that contribute to a healthy home environment, and they draw and read a paragraph about their most important room (Activity 3). Students practice naming and locating familiar places in the home and use writing and discussion to express those settings.
Lesson 3
Guide to Animal Habitats
Students are read Crinkleroot's Guide to Animal Habitats aloud and are asked to point out the animals and plants in each habitat and count them, directing attention to story settings. Students are asked about Crinkleroot on the cover ("Who do you think this man is?") and prompted to predict his actions, addressing character identification. Students practice ordering the habitats in the order Crinkleroot visited them (cut-and-paste or charting the Jeep route) and the skills list explicitly includes "Identify the sequence of events in a story," which addresses major events.
Lesson 4
Animals Live and Grow
Day 2 includes a read-aloud of Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt with explicit comprehension questions that prompt students to identify setting (QUESTION #1 asks what season it is and how they know) and characters (questions refer to Nana and the boy and ask what "Nana's rain" is). Questions also require identification of major events and actions (QUESTION #2 asks what people had to wait for before planting; QUESTION #5 asks why the author says "Hurry, hurry, and harvest!"). QUESTION #7 asks students to identify how animals help plants, prompting students to name character roles and interactions in the story.
Lesson 6
Exploring Animal Habitats
The Skills section lists "Demonstrate a sense of story (beginning, middle, and end)" and Activity 2 ("A Habitat Story") asks the child to choose an animal (character), fill in the habitat (setting), and dictate a short narrative using prompts such as what the animal eats, where it gets water, and what it spends its time doing. The story page includes sentence starters ("I am a ____. I live in the ____." and "One day I ____.") that require the child to name the character and setting and to describe actions/events.
Lesson 8
Animal Care
Students are read The Salamander Room and are asked direct questions such as "What kind of animal did the boy find?" and "Where did he find it?", which prompt identification of the character and the setting. Follow-up questions ask about the salamander's needed environment and whether the boy could recreate its habitat, which requires students to locate the story's setting and understand the main situation. The read-aloud plus targeted questions provide explicit prompts and support for identifying who is in the story, where events occur, and the central action (finding and attempting to keep the salamander).
Lesson 9
Animal Designs
Activity 4 asks the child to tell a creative story about an animal that ends up in the wrong habitat and to describe how the animal gets there, what happens to it, and how it finally gets back home, which requires naming the animal (character) and sequencing major events. The same activity asks the child to draw the animal first in its correct habitat and then in the wrong habitat, which has the child identify and represent settings. Activities 1–3 repeatedly ask students to name animals and habitats and to identify animals that do not belong in a pictured habitat, reinforcing identification of characters and settings.
Lesson 10
Amazing Animals
Activity 2 presents short narrative scenarios (e.g., a starfish in the bottom of the deep ocean and a lizard on a green leaf) that name animal characters and give clear settings and events (the starfish's arm falls off; the lizard is chased by a bird). The activity instructs the child to pretend to be the animal, answer questions about feelings and outcomes, and role-play responses. The Skills list includes "Listen critically to text read aloud" and "Respond to critical questions about a text," which prompt students to attend to story elements during read-alouds.
Unit 2: Weather
Lesson 2
Types of Precipitation
After reading Oh Say Can You Say What's the Weather Today?, students are asked to find each picture of a habitat and describe its weather, which prompts them to identify settings. Students are asked what the characters in the book looked like when they were hot and when they were cold, which prompts them to identify characters and their states. Students reread specific pages and discuss details and pictures from the story, reinforcing attention to story elements and illustrations.
Lesson 6
Winter
In Activity 1, students are asked to find pages that look like winter in the book Whatever the Weather and describe what they see in the pictures, prompting them to recognize and describe the story's setting. The Introduction and Wrapping Up ask students to describe the outside environment in winter and compare pictured environments to where they live, reinforcing identification of seasonal setting. Students dictate, illustrate, and attempt to read a personal winter story, engaging them in producing story content and attending to elements of a narrative.
Lesson 7
Spring
Students are asked to attempt to read each short poem and then tell what the poem was about, and to draw a line from each poem to the picture that best tells the story (Option 1) or to add their own illustrations to show the poem (Option 2). The "Hatch!", "Rain", and "Growing Flower" poems each present simple narrative information (e.g., an egg cracking and a chick appearing; rain affecting play; flowers sprouting) that students are prompted to identify through discussion and picture matching. The activity also prompts students to recount the poems aloud and respond to comprehension questions.
Lesson 8
Summer
In Activity 1 students are asked to describe the picture's environment and answer "What is happening in the picture?" and "How do the kids in the picture feel?", which prompts identification of setting, events, and characters' feelings. In Activity 2 students read a short story about "Jessie" and fill blanks with words like "trip," "beach," "swim," "hot," and "pool," requiring them to use context to identify the story's setting and major events (going on a trip, playing in sand, swimming, returning to hotel because of heat). Option 2 also asks students to read the completed story aloud and illustrate it, which gives additional practice recognizing who is in the story and what happens.
Unit 3: Community
Lesson 1
On the Town
Students are asked to look at the cover and predict the book's topic and, after reading, answer questions such as "What places did Charlie visit in his community?" and "What do you think was Charlie's favorite place?" Activity 3 asks students to draw a new page showing a unique place Charlie could visit and write or dictate a sentence about Charlie visiting that place. Activity 2 (vocabulary sentences) has students complete sentences with community place words (restaurant, park, school, library, etc.), reinforcing identification of settings mentioned in the story.
Lesson 2
My Community Environment
Students are asked to read Me on the Map and examine the town map, trace paths between buildings, and discuss the purpose and location of community places, which engages them in identifying setting elements. Activity 3 directs students to look through books, describe the communities in illustrations, select three books, copy titles, and draw the community found in each story, which has them identify and compare different story settings. Activity 2 has students locate and label important places on a town map and describe where each place is located, reinforcing setting recognition.
Lesson 3
Jobs in the Community
Students are asked to read or identify community helpers by name and to draw lines from each worker to the place in the community where he/she would work (Activity 1), which has them identify people (characters) and locations (settings). The skills list and activities include 'Read or attempt to read own story' and 'Understand letters, words, and story,' and Activity 6 directs students to look for and read books about community workers. Activity 5 has students record one simple sentence about how each worker helps citizens, which has students describe what each worker does (actions).
Lesson 6
A Good Community Citizen
In Activity 1 students hear short vignettes with named people (Frank, Maria, Caleb, etc.) and are asked to decide whether each person is being a good citizen and explain their decision, which requires referring to who did what and where (e.g., street, grocery store, park, mall). The Skills section lists 'Listen responsibly to text read aloud (LA),' and Activity 3 asks students to draw or paste pictures of family members and describe examples of good citizenship for each person, which has students identify persons and actions. The student activity pages prompt students to categorize scenes into 'Good Home Environment' and 'Not a Good Home Environment,' which requires recognizing the actors and their behaviors in each pictured scenario.
Lesson 7
A Citizen with Character
Students are asked to retell The Boy Who Cried Wolf by dividing a page into beginning, middle, and end and illustrating and writing a sentence for each part, which requires identifying major events. Students read "A Lesson in Honesty" about Riley and answer questions about what happened, what Riley did wrong, and predict what will happen next, which engages them in identifying characters and events. Activity 6 directs students to read books with characters, describe character actions, and record actions and their consequences, reinforcing identification of characters and key events.
Lesson 8
Rules and Laws
Students listen to or read the short story 'The House with No Rules' in Activity 3 and are asked comprehension questions including 'What kinds of things happen in the house with no rules?' which prompts them to describe major events. Students are asked follow-up questions about what they would like or not like about the house and whether they would stay, which engages them in discussing story events and consequences. Students also read sentences aloud in Activity 1 and follow printed text, supporting comprehension of story content.
Lesson 9
Caring for Our Communities
Students read the story "When One Person Cares" and are asked explicit questions about the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Students are asked where Katy lives and what she likes about her community, which directs them to identify the story's setting (apartment, big city, park). Students are asked what Katy does to be a good citizen and whether she helps people in her community, prompting identification of the main character and the major events (planting seeds, sprouts appearing, flowers bringing joy).
2: Similarities and Differences
Unit 1: Amazing Attributes
Lesson 10
Earth Materials: Rocks, Soil, and Water
Students are asked to compare characters in the two books (Day 2 question: "How are the characters similar and different?") and to identify who is in the garden and pond (references to a girl with her grandmother and a boy with his mother). Students are prompted to describe settings and habitats (e.g., "Describe the habitat of the pond," and repeated prompts to find rocks and dirt in the garden and pond illustrations). The skills list explicitly includes identifying who is telling the story and comparing the adventures and experiences of characters, and reading activities ask students to compare the two book covers and settings.
Unit 2: Senses
Lesson 2
Senses and Body Parts
In Option 2, students are asked to make up a story about Jackie, to think about where the story will take place, and to discuss that the story should have a beginning, middle, and end. In Option 1, students listen to the read-aloud "Jackie's Day at the Pet Store," identify Jackie as the protagonist, and respond by picking up and gluing sense-organ cutouts at moments when Jackie uses a sense. The Skills section also lists identifying the title and author and determining a purpose for listening to text read aloud, which supports guided listening and story awareness.
Lesson 4
Hearing and Seeing
Activity 1 directs the adult to read The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses aloud and then ask specific comprehension questions such as "What happened when the bus driver flipped the green switch?" (asking about a major event), "How would you describe Ms. Frizzle?" (asking about a character), and "Whose nose/mouth did the bus travel into?" (asking about locations/settings). The activity explicitly instructs showing the cover, reading the text, and asking these targeted questions with support.
Lesson 7
Using All of Our Senses
The introduction directs the child to read pages of My Five Senses and then asks which senses the boy in the story used, explicitly referencing a character. Activity 3 asks the child to look through books and identify ways the characters in the stories are using their senses, with specific book suggestions (Brown Bear; Polar Bear) for guided practice. Several activities have the child listen to text read aloud and interact with the reader, which supports identifying elements related to characters while hearing the story.
Unit 3: We're the Same, We're Different
Lesson 2
Physical Characteristics
Students listen to and discuss the read-aloud story "Different Friends" about Susan the ladybug and Casey the caterpillar and are asked to retell the story in their own words and to name what happened at the beginning, middle, and end. Students cut apart event boxes from the "Different Friends" sheet and put them in the order they occurred to practice sequencing major events. Students answer questions about Susan and Casey (e.g., whether they wanted to play together) that require identifying the characters and their actions. In Activity 3 students plan their own story, explicitly naming at least two characters and deciding where the story will take place (setting) while producing a beginning, middle, and end.
Lesson 3
Different Personalities
Activity 3 asks students to record and illustrate the main characters in their favorite movie or cartoon and to think of two words that describe each main character's personality. In the same activity students are encouraged to find or paste a picture of a favorite character and label personality words around the picture. Several activities (e.g., drawing self and others in Activity 2) also have students identify and depict people, which practices recognizing who characters/people are.
Lesson 5
Shapesville
Students are asked to identify the shape of each character as the story is read and to count the number of sides and angles for each shape. Students describe each character's physical characteristics (color, sides, angles, eye color) and review each shape's personality and interests. Students answer comprehension questions after reading, including how the shapes' personalities differ and what the shapes' interests are. Students are prompted to select a shape that represents them and to explain and record that choice.
Lesson 6
Different Families
Students read specific pages of A Life Like Mine and are asked to look through the pages to identify pictures of families and describe the people shown (clothing, physical characteristics, activities, and how they interact). Students are asked to read short profiles of specific children (Vincent, Natalie, Michael, Ivana) and to locate each child's country on the map, connecting people to place. Students complete comparison activities (drawing, sentence prompts, or Venn diagrams) that require them to describe similarities and differences between their family and families pictured.
Lesson 7
Different Homes
Students are asked to read pages 26-35 of A Life Like Mine and identify and describe the different homes shown, including materials and features. Students draw and construct their own "dream" homes and write a sentence about their home, practicing description of place. Students search for and record countries where particular home types are found and look for local examples, reinforcing identification of settings.
Lesson 9
Different Modes of Transportation
Students are asked in Activity 3 to draw a picture of themselves taking a mode of transportation to a destination, which makes the student a clear character and establishes a setting for the picture. Activity 3 then asks students to tell a story about their trip and attempt to read it aloud, which prompts students to produce a sequence of events. Activity 2 presents travel scenarios with pictured locations (islands, houses, farm, map) that require students to consider settings when choosing appropriate transportation.
Final Project
Differences Make the World Go 'Round
Students are prompted to create a book titled "A story about (name) and (name)", give the child from another country a name, and draw pictures of themselves and the other child, which provides explicit practice identifying characters. Several pages ask students to fill in "I live in" and "(name) lives in," which has students identify and record locations (settings). The activity asks students to write sentences and illustrate pages about food, homes, clothing, transportation, and holidays, supporting description of people and places.
3: Patterns
Unit 2: Patterns in Sounds, Words, and Actions
Lesson 1
Word Patterns
Students are asked to reread or read the Bear Hugs story, copy or dictate the names of animals from the text, and identify the habitat where each animal lives (Activity 4). Students sort the animal names into habitat groups, which requires them to recognize and extract character names from the story. Activity 2 includes a discussion that a storybook has a beginning, middle, and end, and students are invited to act out or illustrate a chosen nursery rhyme.
Lesson 3
Poetry Patterns
Students read poems and are asked what each poem is about, prompting them to state the topic or main idea. Students encounter a named character (Sammy Square) on the Student Activity Page and can discuss or dramatize poems as listed in the skills. Students are prompted to reread texts and answer questions (e.g., guessing missing rhyming words), which provides supported oral responses about poem content.
Lesson 5
Story Patterns
Students are asked to think about who will be in their story and are told that the people or animals in a story are called characters (Activity 3). Students are prompted to identify and sequence the beginning, middle, and end of a story and to describe important events, including answering direct questions: What happened at the beginning/middle/end? (Activities 1 and 2 and the Story Pattern Boxes pages). Students practice sequencing events by cutting, ordering, illustrating, dictating, and writing sentences for the beginning, middle, and end of stories.
Final Project
Patterns Video
The Day 2 Student Activity Page labeled "story pattern" asks students to describe a pattern and to write the sequence using prompts: "First comes..." and several subsequent "Then..." lines. The lesson directs students to read words from a book or poem and "explain the pattern," which can involve recounting story elements in order. Students are asked to practice sharing each pattern aloud and to watch their video to reflect on what they said, reinforcing oral description of story sequences.
Unit 3: Patterns in Your World
Lesson 9
Counting Patterns
Students listen to a short story about clowns getting into a car and place cut-out clown faces in the car as each clown enters, filling in blanks that record how many clowns are in the car after each event. Students are prompted to tell their own version of the clown story (adding or removing pairs of clowns) and to act out the events by placing or removing clowns, recording numbers as the story continues. Students write or dictate a sentence about the clowns in the car and identify the subject and verb, and the lesson includes skills for listening to a story read aloud and answering questions about it.
4: Change
Unit 1: Changes on Planet Earth
Lesson 1
What Causes Change?
Students are asked to draw and write a personal account of a change and then attempt to read their own dictated story (Skills; Activity 3), which gives practice producing and reading a short narrative about an event. In Activity 1 and the Fast or Slow Change activities, students look at before-and-after pictures and decide what changed, matching pairs and labeling changes, which has them identify major events or changes in simple picture sequences. The skills list also prompts use of naming words and action words, which supports identifying who or what is involved in a described change.
Unit 2: Characters Change
Lesson 1
What's in a Name
Students answer explicit comprehension questions about Chrysanthemum (e.g., Q1 and Q2 ask how she felt about her name before school and why she changed her mind when she started school). Students identify how a major event resolved when they explain how Mrs. Twinkle changed classmates' feelings (Q4) and discuss how words can hurt (Q3). In Activity 5 (Characters Change) students list three traits from the beginning and end of the story and write short sentences explaining how Chrysanthemum changed.
Lesson 2
Why Worry?
Students watch a read‑aloud of Wemberly Worried and answer targeted questions about Wemberly's worries (party, Halloween, school) and whether those worries came true, which requires identifying key events. In Activity 2, Students explicitly describe how Wemberly changed from the beginning to the end and compare Wemberly with Chrysanthemum, which asks them to identify and discuss characters. The Characters Change activity page provides prompts and spaces for Students to write what Wemberly was like at the beginning and at the end.
Lesson 3
Is It a Problem?
Students are asked to identify and sequence major events using the "Beginning, Middle, and End" activity where they cut out and order story parts for Chrysanthemum, Wemberly Worried, and What Do You Do With a Problem?. Students analyze and describe characters through the "Characters Change" page by filling in how the boy was at the beginning and by the end and by comparing him to Wemberly. Reading questions (e.g., what happens as the boy continues to worry, how he takes care of his problem) prompt students to name events and describe what characters do.
Lesson 4
Comparing Characters
Students compare and name characters using Venn diagrams (Chrysanthemum, Wemberly, and the Boy) and write character-specific and shared traits. Students dictate three-sentence summaries that specify the beginning, middle, and end of stories (retelling major events). Students match causes and effects drawn from story events, showing attention to specific events and outcomes.
Lesson 5
The Raft
The Skills section explicitly lists "Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details." Daily reading questions ask students to identify who is in the story (e.g., the boy, Grandma, animals), what is in Grandma's living room, and what the boy finds at the river (the raft), and later ask about events like painting the fawn and rescuing the deer. Activity 7 (Story Elements) and its student pages require students to glue/paste or match titles, characters, settings, problems, and solutions for stories, directly practicing identification of characters, settings, and story events.
Lesson 6
Positive and Negative Change
In Activity 2 students listen to a description of a character (a big rat who lives in a barn), answer questions about how the rat feels and how he might respond, and dictate a new ending showing how the character changes. Activity 3 has students discuss characters from named stories and consider alternative outcomes, prompting them to reason about how characters' choices produce different events. The cause-and-effect matching and discussion tasks require students to link actions to outcomes in storylike scenarios.
Final Project
My Own Story
Students are reminded that stories have a beginning, middle, and end and that stories also have characters and a setting. In Part 2 students list 2–3 characters, decide which character changes, illustrate each character, and write three traits on the Characters activity page. In Part 3 students think about and illustrate the setting, with guidance to keep it to one or two places. In Part 4 students complete a Problem and Solution page that asks what caused the problem, how the character reached a solution, and how the character changes from beginning to end.
Unit 3: A First Look at History - Change Over Time
Lesson 3
Communities Change
Students are asked explicitly "Where did the story happen?" and "Who are the characters in the story?" (Activity 1), prompting them to identify the setting and characters. Students place story events in chronological order by cutting, numbering, and pasting event cards on a timeline (Activity 2), which requires them to identify and sequence major events. Students identify different communities and number the children in order of when they lived on the land (Activity 3) and circle animals and habitats (Activity 4), reinforcing recognition of characters/groups and settings across time.
Lesson 4
Past and Present
Students read named character passages (Hori, Caius, Marcus, Robert) and are asked to choose characters to read about and draw a picture of one with items the character used. Students are prompted to point out differences in settings and clothing in the illustrations and to answer comparison questions about how the characters' lives differ from their own. Students are reminded that a story has a beginning, middle, and end, are asked to tell a narrated adventure about living in a past time period, and are asked in skills to identify the sequence of events in a story.
Lesson 6
Predicting Future Change
Several scenarios ask students to name what changed and who is affected (e.g., "Your dad has gotten a new job in a different town" asks "How will this change your family?"). Activity pages prompt students to describe personal changes and their causes (Activity 3: "A Change in Me" asks students to dictate a description, draw before/after, and write how they changed). The introduction asks students to provide brief descriptions of famous individuals and their major accomplishments, which has students identify people and key events related to them.
Lesson 7
People of the Past
Activity 1 asks students to read a simple biography and answer who the person is (How would you describe this person?) and what the person did to make a positive change, and asks whether the person lived in the past or present and how they know. Activity 2 has students read short descriptions, point to the individual described, and place five historical figures in order from oldest to most recent, reinforcing identification of people and time order. Activity 4 asks students to write a sentence about a historical person, giving practice in describing a character and an important action.
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 2
Letter Sounds Review II
Activity 5.3 asks the child to read the reader The Pig Can, read the title, and describe what is on the cover, prompting identification of characters and elements shown. The teacher asks, "What do you think this book is about?" and later asks, "Do you think the pig and the cat can fit in the box?" and requests the child to explain her thinking, prompting discussion of events. The activity also has the child read the book twice and point to words, which supports comprehension of story content.
Lesson 3
Letter Sounds Review III
In Activity 5.2 students are asked to read the title and describe the cover of the reader The Bug, which prompts identification of the main character. After reading, students are asked explicit comprehension questions: "What is the bug able to do?," "What does the bug want to be able to do?," and "Why can't he do that?," which require students to recount major events and the character's goal. The cover description and these questions prompt students to point to or state details about who is in the story and what happens to that character.
Lesson 4
Letter Sounds Review IV
Students read Reader #4, The Cat, the Pig, the Dog, and the Fox, and are asked to read the book aloud while pointing to each word, which exposes them to the story characters by name. After reading, students are asked explicit comprehension questions about events in the story, for example why the dog and the fox are napping and why the cat and the pig are not. Making Sentences and word cards also include the story characters, giving students additional practice naming the animals seen in the story.
Lesson 5
Adding s, More Word Families, Ending with ck
In Activity 4.3 students read the reader Ducks Are Fun on their own and then read it aloud to an adult. After reading, students are asked, "Which duck do you think is having the most fun? Why?" The introduction also encourages students to re-read the previous reader (The Cat, the Pig, the Dog, and the Fox), which gives opportunities to discuss story elements.
Lesson 6
Open Syllables and Digraph th
Students read Reader #6 "This Is..." independently and then answer questions about the people in the story (e.g., "Why do Meg, Dan, and Sam start with uppercase letters?") and about a character's pet ("What kind of pet does Dan have?"). In Activity 5.1 students reorder words to form sentences that include characters and actions (e.g., "The man ran with his pet."). These tasks require students to attend to and talk about who is in the text and what characters do.
Lesson 7
Consonant Digraphs ch, sh, wh, ph
In Activity 3.3 students read the reader They Get Wet and are asked, "What do you think will happen in this book?" They are then asked specific comprehension questions: "Where is the ship at the beginning of the book?" and "Why are the rat and the cat wet at the end?" which require students to identify the setting, characters (rat and cat), and the major event (a wave hits them).
Lesson 8
Blends with s
Students read the reader "Meg and Dan and the Sled" aloud and are asked comprehension questions about the story (Activity 4.3). They are prompted to point to each word as they read and to answer questions such as why Meg and Dan are no longer on the sled and why they stop for a snack. The title and questions refer directly to the characters Meg and Dan and to specific events in the story.
Lesson 9
Blends with l
Students read Reader #9 — The Club and are asked to point to each word as they read. After reading, students are asked specific comprehension questions: "What color are the flags that are flying above the club?" (setting) and "What do the kids do at the club?" (major events/characters). The lesson also prompts students to describe imagined participation ("If you were in the club, what fun things would you want to do?"), supporting identification of story elements with prompting.
Lesson 10
Blends with r
Activity 4.2 has students read the decodable reader One Can and then answer comprehension questions such as "Where are the ducks swimming to?" and "What are the kids running on?" which prompt students to name locations in the story. The dictation/sentence practice includes sentences that reference characters and actions (e.g., "They can run on a track." and "The frogs crash on the deck."), giving students exposure to who is acting and where actions occur.
Lesson 11
Ending Blends
On Day 4 Activity 4.2 students read the reader At Camp on their own and then answer comprehension questions such as, "What do the kids do at camp?" and "What are the kids hunting for?" The activity asks students to point to words as they read and to answer a question about a favorite camp activity, which prompts recall of events and details from the story.
Lesson 12
Double ll, ss, ff, zz (FLOSS)
Students read the reader Huff and Puff and are asked specific comprehension questions: "What insects are shown in the book?" which prompts them to identify characters (bees and ants). They are also asked "Why do you think the insects are following the kids?" and "Why is everyone huffing and puffing at the end of the book?" which prompts them to explain major events and causes (running around, hot weather).
Lesson 13
Glued Sounds ng and nk
Students read Reader #13 — King Hank independently and then aloud. After reading, students are asked comprehension questions including "Where do the king and his friends sleep?" which requires them to identify the story's setting. The reader text and questions also reference the king and his friends, which prompts students to recognize characters in the story.
Lesson 14
Three-Letter Beginning Blends
Students read the reader Spring Has Sprung! and are prompted to point to each word as they read and then answer comprehension questions such as "What do the kids do at the track?" and "What do the kids do at the pond?," which ask them to identify characters' actions and the story settings. In Activity 5.2 students write and then read sentences that name characters and places (e.g., "The shrimp swim in the tank."), practicing recognition of who is in a sentence and where actions occur. The word-sort and reader activities require students to retell or describe events (sprint, splash, squint, squish) tied to specific places in the story.
Lesson 15
More Ending Blends
In Activity 5.2 students read Reader #15 — The Raft Trip and are asked specific comprehension questions: "What animals are on the bank of the river?" and "Which animals nap on the raft?" The activity directs students to read the book aloud, point to each word as they read, and then answer questions about characters (elk, skunks, cat, pig) and the story setting (bank of the river, raft).
Lesson 17
Semester Review
Students are asked to point to or name characters in readers (Meg, Dan, King Hank, dog, fox, cat, pig) and to answer which reader is their favorite and why. Students are asked to talk about the different things the characters do (for example, they swim, they camp in a tent, they sing songs, they go on a raft trip). The "Planning My Reader" page includes a box labeled "Characters:" and another page labeled "What Characters Do:" for students to record character details and actions. Students are guided to create their own reader with something different happening on each page, which requires sequencing events.
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 1
Long Vowels a and i with Silent e
Students read the reader 'In the Fall' independently and then aloud, with instructions to point to each word as they read. Students answer direct comprehension questions that ask them to name the characters (Lin and Dev) and list things those characters do in the fall (sprint, hike, run, skate, fly kites, ride bikes, bake cakes). Students answer a question about a specific event in the story (What does Lin do while Dev makes cakes?), which asks them to identify a major event/action.
Lesson 2
Long Vowels o, u, and e with Silent e
Students read the reader They Chose To Doze and then answer comprehension questions such as "What did the family do on their trip?" and "Who fell off of the mule?" which prompt students to recount major events and identify a character. The activity also has students point to quotation marks and recognize speech attribution (Tom is saying something) and uses the illustration (dome/slope) to explain a location feature referenced in the story.
Lesson 3
Hard and Soft c and g
On Day 5 (Activity 5.2) students read the reader 'These Mice' and then answer comprehension questions. They are asked what the mice use to make beds and what the mice sit on to eat cake, which requires identifying the characters (the mice) and details of the story's setting and actions. They are also asked why the mice like their home, prompting an explanation tied to character motivations and setting.
Lesson 4
More R-Controlled Vowels (er, ir, or, ur)
In Activity 5.2 students read The Bird Is Third on their own and then read it aloud to an adult. After reading they are asked direct comprehension questions: "Who won the race?" and "Which animal came in last?" which require them to identify characters and the major event (the race outcome).
Lesson 5
Long a Spellings ai, ay
On Day 5 (Activity 5.1) students read The Gray Day independently and then answer targeted comprehension questions such as "What do the boys play with indoors?" and "What animal do they see on the drain outside?" The prompts also ask students to consider the setting (indoor versus outside, rainy day) and to predict what the boys might do if they went outside. Students are asked to reread the Weekly Message and point to long a words in the message (may, way, brain), which also orients them to text details and context.
Lesson 6
Long e Spellings ee, ey, ea
On Day 5, Activity 5.1 students read the reader What Do You Eat? and answer comprehension questions such as "What does the worm eat?" and "How many beans are the birds eating?" These tasks require students to name characters (the worm, the birds) and recall actions or events (what the worm eats, birds eating beans).
Lesson 7
Long i Spellings y, igh, ie
Students read The Dark Night independently and aloud and then answer directed comprehension questions that ask who is in the story (Tom and Val) and what they see in the sky (moon, stars, bats). They are asked what Tom and Val dream about (Tom dreams of pie; Val dreams of mice) and to relate those events. The activity asks students to point to story details and read the story to support their responses.
Lesson 8
Long o Spellings ow, oa, oe
Students read Reader #8 — The Slow Boat on their own and then read it aloud to an adult (Activity 5.1). After reading, students answer targeted comprehension questions such as "How many boats are in the race?" and "What color is the boat that wins the race?", which requires them to recall a major event (the race) and a key detail (the winning boat).
Lesson 9
Long u Spellings ue, ew, ou
On Day 5 (Activity 5.1) students read the reader "Would You Eat It?" independently and aloud. After reading, students answer comprehension questions that ask about characters and actions — e.g., "What does Tom add to the stew?" and "What color does Val add to the stew?". The activity asks a follow-up imaginative question that reinforces understanding of story events ("If you were going to make a funny stew, what would you put in it?").
Lesson 10
Other Long Vowel Patterns
Students read The Wild Colt on Day 5 and are asked specific comprehension questions such as "Why is the colt hard to find in the herd?" and "How does the man stop the colt from bolting?", which require identifying the colt and the man and describing major events. The activity instructs students to read the story aloud and answer those targeted questions, and Activity 5.2 has students write sentences about characters (e.g., "The child is kind." "The colt is blind.").
Lesson 13
Other Vowel Sounds ou, ow
Students read Reader #13, The Hound and the Owl, and answer comprehension questions that ask what the hound does during the day and at night and why the hound howls at the owl. The activity asks the child to read the story aloud and respond to specific questions about the hound's actions (stays in the yard/rests/eats; prowls in the town) and the owl, which directly targets identification of characters and major events. Sentence dictation items reference story characters (scout, owl, brown cow in town) reinforcing attention to who is in the story and where actions occur.
Lesson 14
Other Vowel Sounds aw, au
On Day 5, students read Reader #14 — The Pups on their own and then aloud, and are asked explicit questions: "Where do the pups sleep?" (on a bed of straw) and "What are some of the things the puppies in the story do?" (nap/sleep, eat, chew paws, play with ball, have fun, dream). The activities require students to name the story's characters (the pups/puppies), identify the setting (where they sleep), and describe major events/actions that occur in the story.
Lesson 15
These Make More Than One Sound: oo and ea
On Day 5 (Activity 5.1) students read Reader #15 — The Bad Bear on their own and then read it aloud to an adult. After reading, students answer direct comprehension questions such as "What are some of the naughty things the bear does?" and "What happens when the bear's mom finds her?" which elicit identification of the main character and key events. The activity also prompts students to generate additional events with the question, "What else do you think the bear can do to cause trouble?"
Lesson 16
Silent Starts: kn, wr, gn
Students are asked to read Reader #16 — The Gnats on their own and then read it aloud to an adult. After reading, students answer comprehension questions such as "What do the gnats do to the kids at the playground?" and "What do the gnats do at the picnic?" which prompt them to identify events and refer to people and places in the story. The activity also asks "What do gnats do that you think is annoying?", encouraging students to discuss story actions and consequences.