First Grade - ELA
1: Environment
Unit 1: Habitats and Homes
Lesson 1
My Environment
Students are asked to briefly describe their environment and to answer prompts such as "What does your child drink...?" and "What kind of food... and where does the food come from?", which requires producing spoken or written responses. In Activity 3 students complete sentence frames: "The most important room in my house is the __.", "We use this room for __, __, and __.", and "The __ is the most important room because __." Students are prompted to write or copy sentences in the handwriting activity and to read a paragraph aloud, practicing production of simple declarative sentences.
Lesson 2
What Is a Map?
The lesson asks students direct questions (Activity 1: "What is the name of our country?" etc.) that require spoken responses and asks students to "describe the environment in which he lives" (Wrapping Up). Activity 4 offers handwriting practice and notes that "If your child is writing sentences, he can write or copy a sentence using the words," which invites sentence writing. The introduction prompts conversation about maps (e.g., "Ask your child if he has ever seen a map and if he knows why we look at maps"), encouraging students to speak in complete utterances.
Lesson 4
Animals Live and Grow
Students answer explicit comprehension prompts (Questions #1–#7) aloud or in writing about the book, requiring them to produce responses to interrogative prompts. Students complete sentence-starter prompts in Activity 5 ("Plants can...", "Plants are...", "Plants have...") and write names of plants and animals on the activity pages, producing short written phrases or sentences. Students label and fill in blanks on the "Food for Survival and Energy" pages (consumer / energy source), which requires composing brief written responses.
Lesson 5
Discovering Animal Habitats
Students are prompted to answer direct questions about habitats (Activity 2), which requires them to produce oral interrogative and declarative responses. Several tasks ask students to describe animals and habitats and to label drawings, prompting them to produce written or spoken declarative sentences. Activity 4 asks students to use the "j" words in their own sentences or copy sentences, which requires sentence writing practice.
Lesson 6
Exploring Animal Habitats
Students are prompted to produce written and spoken sentences in Activity 2 where they fill in frames such as "I am a _____. I live in the _____." and dictate a short story that is recorded. During the introduction and Activity 1, students make predictions and answer specific observational questions (Where are the plants? What are the animals doing?), encouraging them to respond to prompts orally and in writing. The lesson asks students to read back or sound out their dictated story, which practices producing and reading complete simple declarative sentences.
Lesson 7
Tools in My Environment
Students are asked direct questions (e.g., "What is a tool?", "What is the tool used for?", "How does the tool work?", and hypothetical prompts like "What if we didn't have pens or pencils?") that require spoken responses. Students are prompted to tell what they need to live and grow and to report which tools they used to measure, encouraging them to produce simple sentences. The handwriting activity asks students to write or copy sentences containing the words it and inch, giving practice in writing complete simple sentences.
Lesson 9
Animal Designs
Students are prompted to produce short declarative sentences when asked to identify animals and habitats and when given sentence frames such as "A __________ can't live in the __________. A __________ lives in the ________________." Students tell and have recorded a creative story about an animal in the wrong habitat, which requires them to produce and expand sentences orally and in writing. Students read and refer to captioned sentences on the activity pages (e.g., "A fish swims in the ocean."), and they explain body parts used for movement, which elicits spoken sentence responses.
Lesson 10
Amazing Animals
Students are asked to respond orally to situational prompts in Activity 2 (e.g., "How would you feel if you were the starfish?" and "What will happen to the starfish's arm?"), which requires them to produce sentences. The Skills list and Activity 2 also ask students to present dramatic interpretations and role-play animals, prompting students to speak in character and answer questions about actions and feelings. The lesson repeatedly prompts students to explain what they (as the animal) would do, encouraging oral sentence production in response to prompts.
Unit 2: Weather
Lesson 1
Reading the Skies
Students are asked to describe the weather aloud in the Introduction, which requires them to produce complete descriptive sentences. In Activity 2 students dictate a sentence using each vocabulary word and write a sentence in the provided "Sentence:" space, prompting sentence production in speech and writing. Activity 3 asks students to tell or dictate a story about their favorite weather and records that story, offering practice in producing and expanding sentences in a narrative context. The Wrapping Up and Life Application sections ask students to describe pictures and daily sky conditions, which elicit spoken sentence responses.
Lesson 2
Types of Precipitation
Students answer comprehension and recall questions after reading (e.g., describing habitats and weather, explaining what characters looked like when hot or cold), producing spoken declarative and interrogative responses. Students make and record predictions during the rain experiment and describe what is happening, practicing explanatory declarative sentences. Students practice writing by copying or composing sentences containing target words (rain, round) in the handwriting activity, producing written sentence-level work.
Lesson 5
Fall
Students are asked to write three sentences about a fall picture and to use circled words in sentences (Activity 1, Options 1 and 2). Students practice writing or copying sentences using the words "fun" and "fall" in the handwriting activity (Activity 4). Students respond orally to prompts such as "Do you like the fall? Why or why not?" and explain what happens to the weather in the fall during the wrapping up discussion.
Lesson 6
Winter
Students are asked to dictate a story about something they like to do in winter and then read that story aloud, which requires producing spoken and written sentences. The student page with the prompt "In the winter I _______" asks students to complete and write a sentence in response to a prompt. The introduction and Activity 3 ask students to describe winter and compare it to summer, and Activity 4 has students write or copy sentences containing the words wind and winter, which elicits sentence production and handwriting practice.
Lesson 7
Spring
Students are asked to read each poem and then answer 'what the poem was about,' which requires them to produce spoken or written responses. The Language Arts Extension invites students to write their own spring poem or dictate it while an adult records, giving students an opportunity to compose sentences. In the Blowing in the Wind activity students are asked specific questions (e.g., 'Does it move/fall off?' and 'Why did it move/fall off?'), prompting them to produce answers in sentence form, and the Seed Sort activity uses spoken directions that students must follow.
Lesson 8
Summer
Students are asked oral questions (e.g., "What season follows spring?" and "What activities do you enjoy in the summer?") that prompt them to produce spoken responses. In Activity 2 students fill blanks in a short story and may read the completed declarative sentences aloud or write words/initial letters in the blanks. In Activity 3 students write season names into prepared declarative sentence frames (e.g., "_________ is the warmest season.").
Final Project
Weather Games
Students are asked to prepare and present a three-day weather forecast orally to the family and to answer the guiding questions on the Weather Forecast page (e.g., What does the sky look like? Is there any precipitation?). The lesson instructs students to practice their forecast, record answers, and report aloud, which requires producing complete declarative sentences (example forecasts are provided: "Today is going to be a beautiful day." "There is no rain..."). The provided forecast example also contains an imperative sentence ("Be sure to wear your long pants...") and a complex sentence ("Even though it is sunny, it is still a cool 54 degrees."), which students can imitate in their oral reports.
Unit 3: Community
Lesson 1
On the Town
Students complete fill-in-the-blank sentences using community vocabulary in Activity 2 (Option 1 and 2), which has them read sentences and supply the missing words. Students answer comprehension questions after the story (e.g., "What is a community?" "What places did Charlie visit?") and thus produce spoken responses to prompts. In Activity 3 students draw a new page and write or dictate a sentence or two about Charlie visiting a place, producing original sentences in response to a prompt. In Activity 4 students write or copy sentences containing target words (park, people) as handwriting practice.
Lesson 2
My Community Environment
Students are asked to write or dictate a brief description of places on a poster, which requires producing declarative sentences. Students prepare, write down, and ask interview questions about community jobs and purposes, which requires producing interrogative sentences. The skills list explicitly includes "Ask questions that lead to understanding," and multiple prompts (e.g., "Why would a person come here?", "What are the people doing that work here?") require students to respond orally or in writing.
Lesson 3
Jobs in the Community
Students are prompted to produce declarative sentences in Activity 4 (When I Grow Up) using sentence stems such as "When I grow up I could be ___," "I could help ___ because ___," and an example paragraph that includes multiple actions and reasons. Activity 5 asks students to record one simple sentence about how each worker helps, say each sentence aloud, and attempt to write or copy the sentence. Activity 3 has students describe what they observed and have their ideas recorded, and students are encouraged to read their written sentences or paragraphs aloud to family.
Lesson 4
Goods and Services in the Community
Students are asked to name important community places and explain how each place helps people, which prompts them to produce spoken declarative sentences. Students are asked to describe goods and services and to explain why people have jobs, requiring them to respond to prompts with simple statements. Students read aloud item names and dollar amounts and count out dollars while explaining purchases, which elicits short spoken or read sentences in response to situational prompts.
Lesson 5
Resources
Activity 3 asks students to gather three natural and three manmade resources and then "explain how each resource is used, explain where it is found, and/or write a sentence about the resources," which requires students to produce at least one written or spoken sentence. The Wrapping Up prompt asks students to "explain the difference between resources found in nature and resources made by humans," which elicits spoken or written explanatory sentences from students. Activity 1 and Activity 2 include labeling and short responses that could prompt brief written or oral statements about resources.
Lesson 6
A Good Community Citizen
Students are asked to explain how they decided whether actions show good citizenship (Activity 1), and to answer questions such as what it means to be a good citizen and ways to be a good citizen at home and in the community (Wrapping Up). Students are asked to write names beneath pictures and to describe family members' examples of good citizenship, either by dictating observations for an adult to record or by attempting to write them independently (Activity 3). In Option 2 students are asked to label each picture as they explain what is happening, and in Activity 2 they sort and place illustrated scenarios into "Good" and "Not a Good" homes, which requires verbal or written explanation.
Lesson 8
Rules and Laws
Students are asked to produce and write rule sentences when they think of 6 home rules and record each idea on a sentence strip (Activity 1). Students read each sentence aloud or with assistance and number/order the rules, practicing simple sentence production and reading. Students sort provided statements into "Rules" or "Laws" (Activity 2), reading and categorizing whole sentences from the activity page. Students answer comprehension prompts and make a list of 3–5 new rules for the house (Activity 3), providing oral or written responses to questions.
Lesson 9
Caring for Our Communities
Students answer comprehension questions about the story (e.g., "Where does Katy live?" and "What does Katy do to be a good citizen?"), which requires producing spoken or written responses. In Activity 4 the child practices responding in role (example answer: "I am looking for a book about dogs. I need your help."), and Activity 7 asks the child to write or copy sentences that contain the words care and citizen. Activity 6 asks students to write a helping song, which involves composing lines that function as sentences.
Final Project
I Can Make A Difference
The activity provides multiple sentence starters that require students to write full sentences (e.g., "I am planning to __.", "The first thing I will do is __.", "Next I will __.", "Finally I will __."). The reflection section prompts students to write sentences about their experience using starters such as "I helped __ with __," "I felt __ when doing this project," and "I made my community a better place because __." The unit assessment also uses question prompts (e.g., "What is a community?", "Why do we have rules in our communities?") that require students to produce written responses.
2: Similarities and Differences
Unit 1: Amazing Attributes
Lesson 1
Describe It
Students are prompted orally to tell as much as they can about an object and to describe objects by attributes (Introduction, Guess What's in the Bag), which requires producing spoken descriptive sentences. Students are asked to write or copy a sentence describing something from the bag (Activity 4), practicing written sentence production. Students also produce simple descriptive responses when asked to state how two items are similar or different and to write descriptive words beneath pictures (Activity 2 and Describing Words activities).
Lesson 3
Size, Shape, and Color
Students are asked to describe the size, shape, and color of objects (e.g., describe the metal spoon and wooden mixing spoon) and to name and describe shapes after examining them, which prompts production of spoken or written declarative sentences. Students are asked direct questions about color mixing (e.g., "what makes purple?" "what will happen if you mix white with red?") that require verbal responses. Students are prompted to discuss the process they used to organize objects and to describe what they learned about mixing colors, encouraging sentence production in reply to prompts.
Lesson 4
How Does It Feel?
Students are asked to write or copy a sentence about an object's texture using the frame "______ feels _________," which requires producing a complete declarative sentence. The lesson contrasts "We jumped in the lake." with "We jumped in the icy, cold lake and got wet," showing how students can expand a simple declarative sentence by adding adjectives and an additional clause. Activities ask students to use descriptive words in conversation and writing, giving practice in composing sentences that describe nouns with adjectives.
Lesson 5
How Old?
Students are asked to read and write questions: they are prompted to write a question for each pictured person, practice starting sentences with a capital letter, and practice ending questions with question marks. Students reread or attempt to read the provided questions aloud, which reinforces interrogative sentence form. The handwriting activity asks students to copy/write a sentence with each 'o' word, providing some practice with simple sentence production.
Lesson 6
The Measure of Things
Students complete fill-in-the-blank comparative sentences on the Length activity page (e.g., "The _____ is longer than the _____," "The longest item is the _____"). Students are prompted to write or copy sentences during the Handwriting activity (practice writing sentences that use the words length/long). Students verbally answer teacher prompts and explain differences between length, weight, and capacity, producing spoken responses to questions.
Lesson 9
Solids and Liquids
The lesson directs the child to write definitions such as "Solid -- a solid is something that keeps its size and shape" and "Liquid -- a liquid can be poured and takes the shape of the container it is in," which are explicit declarative sentences to be written. The child is prompted to explain differences and answer questions (e.g., about ice melting, baking cookies, whether something is a solid or liquid), requiring oral sentence responses to prompts. The child also labels sheets "Solids" and "Liquids" and pastes pictures, which involves producing brief descriptive or categorical phrases tied to the definitions.
Lesson 10
Earth Materials: Rocks, Soil, and Water
Students complete sentence-fill exercises using prepositions (e.g., "The frog jumps ___ the lily pad," "The boat floats ___ the water," "The worm is ___ the dirt"), and Option 2 asks students to add prepositional phrases to expand sentences. Students are prompted to describe and answer questions about texts and observations (e.g., describing how dirt looks, feels, smells; answering guided reading questions). Students write descriptions and label pages in an "Earth Materials" book, producing written phrases about properties of dirt, rocks, and water.
Final Project
Presenting Attributes
The skills list asks students to "Use new vocabulary in conversation and writing" and "Use words that describe in speech and writing." The project requires students to decide what they will say about each attribute, to write or dictate words and sentences on a poster, and to practice by presenting and describing each part of the poster aloud. Steps also ask students to rehearse a demonstration and to explain how attributes show similarities and differences, which requires composing spoken or written sentences.
Unit 2: Senses
Lesson 1
My Five Senses
Students are asked to dictate four sentences describing a sensing experience (Activity 3, Option 2), with an adult recording the sentences and discussing the person/place/thing and the action so the child gives complete sentences. Activity 4 asks students to write or copy a sentence about a sense and sense organ (example: "I smell with my nose."). Students also answer guided questions (e.g., "Can you name your five senses?", "Which body part do you use?") that prompt spoken sentence responses.
Lesson 2
Senses and Body Parts
Students are asked to tell a made-up story aloud about Jackie, pausing to glue sense organs as Jackie uses a sense (Option 2), which requires producing spoken sentences. Activity 4 explicitly asks students to use the words "sense" and "see" in a sentence on the provided page, requiring written sentence production. The introduction asks students to name the five senses and give an example, prompting them to produce short responses or examples in sentence form.
Lesson 3
Smelling and Tasting
Students are asked to write a sentence on handwriting paper about survey results using the template "________ people liked ________," which requires producing a complete declarative sentence. Students answer oral and written questions such as "Which flavor did people like the most?" and are prompted to describe situations and decisions about smells and tastes, requiring spoken sentence responses. Students record Y/N responses on a survey chart and discuss likes and dislikes, which involves producing simple descriptive statements.
Lesson 4
Hearing and Seeing
Students describe experiences and ideas orally in multiple activities (Activities 4, 5, and 7) where they narrate blindfold and listening experiences and answer teacher prompts about the book (Activity 1). Students write and read aloud descriptions of noisy places (Activity 5) and practice writing a sentence using the words eyes and ears (Activity 8). Students also label diagrams and explain how the eye and ear work (Activities 2, 3, 6), which requires forming descriptive sentences.
Lesson 5
Touch
Activity 5 (Handwriting) instructs the child to practice the letter T and to write the words "touch" and "taste" by writing each word in a sentence, which requires students to produce complete written sentences. In Sensory Art (Activity 3) the child is asked to describe her painting and give it a title, prompting the student to produce descriptive sentences orally or in writing. The wrap-up questions (e.g., "What would it be like if everything was hard? Soft? Wet?") ask the child to respond to prompts, which can elicit spoken sentences.
Lesson 8
Writing About Our Senses
Students are prompted to write sensory sentences in the "A Sensible Report" activity by filling blanks such as "My popcorn felt _______ before it popped. After it popped it felt _______." The "Sensing My Day" example and page ask students to write a sensing word, phrase, or sentence for each sense (e.g., "The leaves sounded crunchy."), and Activity 4 asks students to write or dictate and copy a sentence describing the popcorn. The introduction encourages use of descriptive words (adjectives) to expand descriptions.
Unit 3: We're the Same, We're Different
Lesson 1
You're Special
Students are prompted to answer questions on the "You Are Special" page and to fill in a paragraph using those answers, which requires composing complete simple declarative sentences. Option 2 of "Your Numbers" explicitly asks students to write a sentence for a number (example: "I am six years old."). Activity 4 asks students to use the word "unique" in a sentence and practice handwriting, and students are encouraged to read and share their completed story aloud.
Lesson 2
Physical Characteristics
Students are asked to write a sentence on handwriting paper using the prompt "I have ______," producing a complete declarative sentence. Students dictate and have recorded a three-part story (beginning, middle, end), producing at least one complete sentence for each part. Students answer comprehension and retell prompts about the "Different Friends" story, speaking responses to questions posed by the teacher/parent.
Lesson 3
Different Personalities
Students are asked explicitly in Activity 4 to "use the word in a sentence," giving them a direct prompt to produce a written sentence. In Activity 2 students write or paste personality words, circle common words, count them, and are asked to "describe how he and his friend/sibling are alike and how they are different," prompting students to produce descriptive (likely declarative) responses. Students are also asked to present the webs to family members and "explain what they mean," which requires producing spoken sentences in response to a prompt.
Lesson 4
Interests and Hobbies
Students are asked to dictate, copy, or write a few sentences that describe a hobby (Activity 1), and to answer five written prompts about an interest on the "My Interest" sheet (Activity 2). In the Hobby Survey students read interview questions aloud and record answers from three people, producing responses to prompts (Activity 3). The handwriting activity asks students to use the words you and yes each in a sentence, providing additional sentence-writing practice (Activity 4).
Lesson 5
Shapesville
Students are prompted to dictate a short description of their personality and interests (Activity 2) and to record and read that description aloud. Activity 4 asks students to write or copy a sentence describing an interest or personality trait on handwriting paper. The fill-in-the-blank worksheet requires students to produce short written phrases and at least one sentence-like description about a chosen shape.
Lesson 6
Different Families
Students are prompted to produce spoken or written responses to questions (e.g., answer: "What are your responsibilities in your family?") and to dictate ideas and responses. The Families Around the World worksheets require students to complete sentence stems such as "My family is similar to a family from _______ because we both _______" and "My family is different from a family from _______ because we _______, but they _______." The handwriting activity asks students to use the word different in a sentence and practice writing letters and words, and the skills list explicitly includes "Complete sentences," "Dictate ideas and responses," and "Attempt to write words and sentences using inventive spelling."
Lesson 8
Different Holidays and Traditions
Students are asked in Activity 3 to write three sentences explaining what they enjoy about their favorite holiday, with options to dictate and copy sentences. Activity 5 requires each holiday page to include a sentence about the holiday and gives two example declarative sentence starters (e.g., "On ___ we celebrate by..." and "___ is important because..."). The activities prompt students to produce written sentences and to use new vocabulary in conversation and writing.
Lesson 10
Wants and Needs
Activity 6 asks students to practice the word "need" and to "use the word in a sentence," providing explicit practice producing a simple written sentence. Activity 2 asks students to write (or dictate) about how it felt to give away toys and clothes, which requires composing sentences to describe feelings. Activity 3 asks students to make lists of wants and needs and to explain which list is longer and why, prompting students to write explanatory sentences.
Lesson 11
Being Part of a Group
Students complete a short paragraph about a group by filling blanks or dictating ideas and then read that paragraph aloud, which requires producing simple declarative sentences. Students answer teacher prompts and questions about sorted picture groups (e.g., Which group has the most people?), providing oral or written sentence responses. Students are asked to "use each word in a sentence" for handwriting practice, prompting them to produce sentences containing target words.
Final Project
Differences Make the World Go 'Round
Students are prompted to write and complete many simple declarative sentences such as "I live in...", "I like to eat...", "My hobby is...", and "One way that we are the same is that we both like to...". Students fill in comparative prompts for another child (e.g., "(name) lives in...", "(name) might eat...") and illustrate or expand those written statements with drawings. Students are encouraged to write the sentences themselves and to produce multiple sentence examples across topics (location, food, hobbies, homes, clothing, transportation, holidays).
3: Patterns
Unit 1: Identifying and Creating Visual Patterns
Lesson 3
What Comes Next?
Students are asked to write or copy a question on handwriting paper: "What do you see after the ________?" (Activity 4). The lesson also reviews that sentences that ask questions end in question marks, giving explicit practice with interrogative sentence form and punctuation.
Lesson 4
Extending a Pattern
Students are prompted to copy or write a sentence about a pattern on handwriting paper (Activity 4), and they are asked to explain verbally how they extend a pattern during the wrap-up. Option 2 asks students to write the names of objects used for patterns on a separate sheet, and Option 1 asks students to complete a sentence about a pattern by circling the correct answer. These tasks require students to produce at least one written sentence and to provide spoken explanations about patterns.
Lesson 5
Making Color Patterns
Students are asked to describe the patterns they create in Activity 1, which encourages them to produce spoken descriptions of their work. Activity 3 directs students to write or copy a sentence that describes something they created, giving explicit practice producing a written sentence. The activity that has students record patterns with color words or first letters (e.g., Y, R, Y, R) provides limited practice using words to represent patterns.
Lesson 8
Creating and Writing About Patterns
Students complete sentence prompts such as "First comes ______," "Then comes ______," and "Next comes ______" to describe AABB, ABAB, and ABC patterns. Students fill in a sentence starter "This pattern is made up of __________, __________, and __________" and write sequence entries labeled First through Eighth. Students write or copy two or three sentences on handwriting paper that describe a pattern they made.
Final Project
Patterns Poster or Patterns Presentation
The Script for Presentation sheet provides sentence stems such as "The third pattern I will show is a ________________," prompting students to write declarative sentences identifying patterns. Students are instructed to record the words they will use and practice so they "know exactly what they will say," which requires composing written and spoken sentences describing each pattern. The wrapping up questions prompt students to answer orally or in writing about their project, encouraging production of complete sentences in reflection.
Unit 2: Patterns in Sounds, Words, and Actions
Lesson 4
Sentence Patterns
Students are asked to produce complete sentences by filling in sentence starters (e.g., "The __________ __________ ..."), to read sentences aloud, and to extend them (for example, "The dog eats... its food from the bowl"). Students act out and create sentences using their name, then write or copy those sentences and identify the noun and verb by circling/underlining. Multiple activities ask students to complete blanks with nouns and verbs and to copy sentences from books, reinforcing production of simple declarative sentences with correct capitalization and a period.
Lesson 5
Story Patterns
Students are asked to dictate a sentence to describe each event when they glue pictures in order in Activity 1 (Option 1). Students are asked to write or dictate and copy a sentence for the beginning, middle, and end boxes in Activity 2 (Option 2). Students are asked to create their own short story and then copy or write a sentence from the story on handwriting paper in Activity 4.
Lesson 6
Sound Patterns
The handwriting activity asks the child to write about a sound pattern with the prompt, "I heard a pattern that went...," which invites students to produce a complete declarative sentence in writing. The wrapping up section asks the child to describe how to make a sound pattern and earlier prompts (e.g., asking which sense to use and asking what type of pattern was heard) require spoken responses.
Lesson 7
Making Sound and Action Patterns
Students are asked orally to explain how sounds can be used to make patterns and to provide examples, prompting spoken sentence responses. Activity 4 requires students to write or copy a sentence that describes a pattern they made, giving explicit practice producing a written declarative sentence. The wrapping-up questions ask students to describe and demonstrate patterns, which elicits additional spoken sentences about their work.
Unit 3: Patterns in Your World
Lesson 1
Patterns in Nature
Students are asked oral questions (e.g., "Were there any patterns that you had seen before? Which ones?" and "Can you think of any other patterns in nature that could be added to the book?") that require them to produce spoken responses. Activity 4 asks students to write or copy a sentence from the reading on handwriting paper, giving them practice with sentence writing. Students are also asked to label drawings of patterns, which can involve producing short written phrases or sentences describing the pictures.
Lesson 2
Patterns of Growth
Students draw a plant's progress in three stages and are instructed to "write a sentence to record its growth," providing direct practice producing simple declarative sentences. Students are asked to "describe the growth pattern of a plant and a person," which prompts spoken or written sentence production. Activity 2 and Activity 6 have students label plant parts (identifying initial letters or writing words) and copy words multiple times, providing additional practice with word- and sentence-level writing.
Lesson 4
Daily Routines
Students are prompted to produce sentences when Activity 2 asks them to dictate a sentence about each of four steps of a routine and Activity 4 asks them to write or dictate and copy a sentence that describes a routine. The example steps for "A Routine for Dinner" use imperative sentence forms (e.g., "Set the table," "Put food on the table"), showing students encounter and produce command sentences. Activity pages and the accordion schedule require students to record activities in words or simple symbols and write times, providing additional opportunities to write short sentences about routines.
Lesson 6
Seasonal Weather Patterns
Students are prompted to answer direct questions about months and seasons (e.g., "Which month comes after March?" and "Which season comes before summer?"), requiring verbal or written responses. Students are asked to name the four seasons, describe types of weather associated with each season, and identify the month and season on a calendar. Students practice writing by copying the months of the year and filling in missing season names on activity pages.
Lesson 7
Patterns at Home
Students are asked to describe patterns during the Pattern Scavenger Hunt and during discussion prompts (e.g., identifying and describing each pattern they find). Activity 5 (Handwriting) has students write or dictate and then copy a sentence that describes a pattern found in their closet, giving at least one explicit opportunity to produce a complete declarative sentence. The lesson also prompts oral responses to questions such as "Where do we see patterns in our everyday lives?" which requires students to respond in sentence form.
Lesson 8
Symmetrical Patterns
Students are asked to write or copy a sentence on handwriting paper using the prompt: "________ has _________ lines of symmetry," which requires producing a complete declarative sentence. Students are asked oral questions (e.g., to describe whether wings look the same or different, to tell which group has more shapes and how many more) that prompt spoken sentence responses about symmetry.
Lesson 9
Counting Patterns
Students are asked in Activity 4 to write or dictate and then copy a sentence about the clowns in the car. Students are reminded that a sentence needs a noun (subject) and a verb, begins with a capital letter, and ends with a period, and they are asked to identify the subject and verb. Students orally tell their own story about the clowns and record numbers as they continue the pattern, producing spoken sentences in sequence.
Lesson 10
Tracing Patterns
Students are asked in Activity 4 to write or copy a sentence on handwriting paper about his favorite holiday, providing direct practice producing a written sentence. In Activity 1 students are encouraged to tell a story about one or more of the objects they create, prompting oral sentence production. In Activity 2 students are asked to identify the holiday associated with each pattern and to count shapes, which requires them to produce short spoken or written responses.
4: Change
Unit 1: Changes on Planet Earth
Lesson 2
What Changed?
Students are prompted to answer questions about changes in the book and to respond to page-specific questions (e.g., identifying physical vs. chemical changes), which requires producing simple spoken or written answers. Activity 2 asks students to "record a sentence" describing examples of changes, giving them an opportunity to write a complete sentence. Activity 3 has students follow and give commands and switch roles so the child produces imperative sentences when directing how to make changes. The wrap-up asks students to explain different ways change can happen, prompting students to produce declarative explanations.
Lesson 4
Changes in the Environment
Students are asked to write two sentences about a time when weather caused them to change an activity and to write or copy a sentence about their favorite season, showing opportunities to produce complete written sentences. Students are prompted to describe types of weather and to explain causes of environmental changes, which requires spoken sentence production in response to prompts. Several discussion prompts ask students to answer questions and explain situations (e.g., how weather might cause activity changes), providing chances to produce declarative responses orally.
Lesson 5
Changes in Location
Students are asked to write complete declarative sentences describing location (e.g., Activity 2 Option 2: "write simple sentence describing the mouse's location" and Activity 3: "record three or four sentences" such as "The bush is beside the tree."). Students complete sentence stems on the "Where Did He Go?" page and may write entire prepositional phrases after the subject, which practices expanding a basic subject-verb structure. Students follow and respond to imperative prompts in the Wrapping Up section (e.g., "Stand on top of the bed.") and are asked to read and follow written directions.
Lesson 6
Changes in the Sky
Students list adjectives and phrases about the Sun and Moon and either write them or dictate them to an adult, producing written or oral language. Students describe and discuss how the Earth rotates and revolves and explain how the Moon is illuminated by the Sun, producing spoken declarative sentences in response to prompts. Students are asked questions such as whether they know what an adult is doing during the revolve/rotate activity and are prompted to respond, eliciting spoken answers.
Lesson 7
Living Things Change
Students are asked in Activity 4 to write or copy a sentence that describes how something changes in size, which requires producing a complete written sentence. Students are prompted throughout (e.g., Activity 2 and the Introduction) to describe changes, answer questions about what changed, and give examples, which elicits spoken or written sentence responses. Students are encouraged to present dramatic interpretations and to give examples of changes, which involves producing language in response to prompts.
Lesson 8
Plants and Change
Students are asked direct questions (QUESTION #1 and QUESTION #2) and prompted to answer what plants are used for and how plants are similar to and different from animals, which requires producing spoken or written responses. Students record predictions and observations during the plant experiment, writing answers for four labeled cups and comparing observations to their predictions. In Wrapping Up, students are asked to list the parts of a plant on handwriting paper and to describe what plants need to grow and change, prompting written or oral sentence production.
Lesson 9
Heat Causes Change
Students are prompted to write or copy a sentence about an observation in Activity 4 (Handwriting). Throughout the activities, students are asked oral questions (e.g., "What do you think will happen?", "How did the candle change?", "What caused the candle to change?"), which require them to produce spoken responses to prompts. The student activity pages require labeling and short written responses (e.g., labeling states "ice," "water," "steam"), supporting brief written production.
Lesson 10
Chemical Changes
Students are asked direct questions (e.g., "Does the cracking of the eggs represent a physical or chemical change?") that require verbal or written responses. Students complete a worksheet categorizing six scenarios as chemical or physical and are asked to explain how they made each decision. Students are prompted at the end to describe the difference between physical and chemical change and to give an example of each.
Lesson 11
People Change the Environment
Students are prompted to brainstorm positive and negative ways humans change the environment and dictate their ideas to a parent, which requires them to produce spoken or written responses. Students are asked to describe what is happening in each illustration, explain how it is changing the environment, and decide if the change is positive, negative, or neutral, which elicits sentence-level explanations. Students are invited to share ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle and to implement a family plan, which requires responding to prompts with explanatory sentences.
Final Project
Mobile of Change
The lesson includes spoken prompts that students must respond to (e.g., "What if you stayed the same age?", "What if the weather were always exactly the same?"), which requires producing answers to interrogative prompts. Skills list states students will "Express ideas through writing and conversation" and "Use new vocabulary in speech and writing," giving students opportunities to produce sentences when explaining their mobile. Wrapping up asks students to explain their mobile to family members and answer questions such as which example is their favorite and what they learned about changes on Earth, prompting students to produce declarative responses aloud or in writing.
Unit 2: Characters Change
Lesson 1
What's in a Name
Students are asked to rewrite given sentences (e.g., "chrysanthemum loved her name." and "Mrs. twinkle's first name was delphinium.") correcting capitalization, which has them produce complete declarative sentences. Students complete sentence prompts such as "My name is" and "I wish my name were," requiring them to write short personal sentences. Students are instructed to "write a few short sentences about how the character changed," prompting them to produce original sentences about character development.
Lesson 2
Why Worry?
Students are asked to combine pairs of sentences using the conjunctions "and" and "but" (e.g., I had bacon for breakfast. I had eggs for breakfast. → I had bacon and eggs for breakfast.). The "USING 'AND'" activity page directs students to take ideas from Wemberly's story and connect them using 'and' in written responses. The "Characters Change" page includes the prompt "Before Wemberly was __, but now she is __," which requires students to produce a compound sentence using a conjunction.
Lesson 3
Is It a Problem?
Students practice combining simple sentences into compound sentences using conjunctions: Activity 3 has students orally combine pairs of sentences with "or" and a worksheet asks them to rewrite sentence pairs using "or." Students use conjunctions "and," "but," and "or" in Activity 5 where they fill sentence frames (e.g., "Before the boy was ___ but now he is ___") and are asked to identify and circle conjunctions. Students produce written responses when they describe a problem, explain why it worries them, and list steps to tackle it on the "Tackling a Problem" page, which requires composing complete declarative sentences or sentence-like responses.
Lesson 4
Comparing Characters
Students are asked to dictate two story summaries of three or four sentences, with one sentence for the beginning, one for the middle, and one for the end, which requires producing complete sentences. The "I Change" page directs students to "Think Write 3 complete sentences" describing themselves before and after solving a problem. Several activity pages ask students to answer open-ended questions (e.g., "How are the characters' situations similar?", "Which story did you like most? Why?"), prompting students to compose written responses to prompts.
Lesson 6
Positive and Negative Change
Students are asked to dictate a new ending to the rat story (Activity 2), which requires them to produce sentences to complete the narrative. In Activity 3, students are asked to write or dictate a sentence or two describing a personal change and are encouraged to use more interesting words; two model sentences are provided (e.g., "I felt like the world was crashing in around me." and "I jumped with joy!"). The matching and cause/effect activities require students to form cause-and-effect statements (gluing cause, arrow, effect) which can involve composing simple sentences.
Unit 3: A First Look at History - Change Over Time
Lesson 1
People and Families Change
Students are asked to write a sentence about one way they have changed in Activity 3, providing direct practice in producing a written sentence. In Activity 5 students dictate ideas about how the family has changed, fill in prompts such as "My family used to..." and "Now my family is...", and read their ideas aloud, practicing sentence production in response to prompts. In Activity 6 students record predictions with names and ages and label their drawings, giving additional opportunities to produce written sentences and phrases.
Lesson 2
Understanding Time
Students complete the three-frame activity titled "Yesterday I," "Today I," and "Tomorrow I will," writing or drawing responses that require producing declarative sentences about past, present, and future events. Students answer explicit oral questions such as "Were you born in the past, present, or future?" and "Did dinosaurs live in the past, present, or future?", responding to interrogative prompts. Students are asked to explain the difference between past, present, and future, prompting them to produce spoken or written sentences that describe temporal concepts.
Lesson 3
Communities Change
Students are prompted to answer comprehension and discussion questions (e.g., Where did the story happen? Who are the characters? Which child would you like to be? When would you have most liked to visit Maple Street?), which requires them to produce spoken responses. Students are asked to write a sentence about The House on Maple Street on handwriting paper (Activity 7), producing at least one complete written sentence. Students are asked to explain differences and describe habits (e.g., How would life have been different in the past? What would have been hard?), which elicits expanded spoken sentences.
Lesson 4
Past and Present
Students are asked in Activity 8 to write a sentence describing how life in the past was different, and several activities ask students to dictate and tell a story (Activity 2 and Activity 3) so students produce connected spoken or written sentences. Activity 7 has students dictate five clues about a time period and then read them aloud to others, which requires composing multiple sentences or sentence-like clues. These tasks require students to produce simple declarative sentences in response to prompts.
Lesson 5
Exploring the Past
Students are asked to draw and write or dictate descriptions for Culture pages (Homes, Clothes, Food, Travel), which requires them to produce written sentences about historical elements. Students will write one sentence about each element of culture on the "Cultural Presentation" pages and then assemble a book, which they will use to give an oral presentation to the family. Students also practice speaking when they present their assembled book to family members.
Lesson 6
Predicting Future Change
Students are asked to write sentences in response to prompts in multiple activities: Activity 2 asks them to "record a sentence" describing a positive change and its result, Activity 3 has students dictate a description of a personal change and attempt to read it, and Activity 4 asks students to write or copy a sentence about a change on handwriting paper. The student activity pages provide specific prompts (e.g., "How will this change your family?", "How might this change the feelings of the child who receives the toys?") that require written responses.
Lesson 7
People of the Past
Students are asked orally questions in Activity 1 (e.g., "Did this person live in the past or is this person living in the present?" and "How would you describe this person?") that require spoken responses. Activity 3 asks students to think of a change, write down their ideas, and discuss what they need to do, prompting written and spoken sentence production. Activity 4 explicitly asks students to write a sentence on handwriting paper about a historical person they learned about.
Final Project
My Past, Present and Future
Students are prompted to write sentences in response to framed prompts such as "I was different because," "Now I am," "In the future I will be," "My family was different in the past because ______," and "In the past I did / Now / In the future I will." Option 2 explicitly instructs students to write or dictate the sentence "In the past __________" and "Today __________" for three cultural elements. Students compile these responses into a book or comparison pages and are asked to read and present their work to family.
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 2
Letter Sounds Review II
Students are asked to read and identify sentence-ending punctuation (Activity 1.1 asks them to circle the period and question mark and discusses the exclamation point). Students read aloud pages from The Pig Can and are prompted to read questions with rising intonation and to point to each word as they read (Activity 5.3). Students are prompted to answer a comprehension question about the reader ("Do you think the pig and the cat can fit in the box?") and to explain their thinking, which elicits spoken responses.
Lesson 4
Letter Sounds Review IV
Students build and complete simple sentences using the Making Sentences cards (Activity 5.3), filling in blanks such as "the cat ran to a _____" and reading the completed sentences aloud. They are encouraged to create their own sentences (e.g., "the _____ has a _____", "a _____ can _____") and to read and point to simple sentences on the Reading Sight Word Sentences sheet (Activity 3.1). The weekly message activity also has students identify sentence end marks (period, question mark, exclamation point) and count sentences.
Lesson 5
Adding s, More Word Families, Ending with ck
Students identify and circle periods, exclamation points, and question marks and practice reading a Weekly Message with louder voice for an exclamation and rising intonation for a question (Activity 1.1). Students write full sentences from dictation, practicing capitalization, spacing, and ending with periods (Activity 5.3). Students read a short reader and answer a prompt ("Which duck do you think is having the most fun? Why?"), which elicits a spoken or written response to a question (Activity 4.3).
Lesson 6
Open Syllables and Digraph th
Students reconstruct and read complete declarative sentences by putting cut-up words in order in Activity 5.1 (We sat on the log; The man ran with his pet; The cats are on the path). Students write and read declarative sentences during the sentence dictation activity (The path was wet and hot; We are with them). Students read an exclamatory sentence aloud with expression when prompted to notice and use exclamation points in Reader #6, and students practice capitalization and sentence boundaries when forming and writing sentences.
Lesson 7
Consonant Digraphs ch, sh, wh, ph
Students write and read complete sentences during the Sentence Dictation activity (e.g., "The moth is on the dish." and "I chat with a fox in a hut."). Students are prompted to produce and extend sentences in the Life Application activity by making up silly sentences and taking turns adding words that begin with the same sound (e.g., "The shop is in ship shape"). The curriculum also prompts students to answer comprehension questions (e.g., "What do you think will happen in this book?") which requires them to respond in sentence form.
Lesson 8
Blends with s
Students practice writing full sentences in Activity 5.2 (Sentence Dictation) where they listen to teacher-read sentences and write them (e.g., "The fox has a snack in the shack."). Students identify sentence boundaries and punctuation in Activity 1.1 by circling periods and exclamation points and are reminded that sentences begin and end. Students read the Weekly Message and Reader #8 aloud, pointing to words and answering comprehension questions, which engages them with complete sentences in reading and oral response.
Lesson 9
Blends with l
Students use the Making Sentences cards (Activity 5.1) to read words, create sentences, fill in blanks, and then read their sentences aloud; they are encouraged to expand sentences by replacing words and to create three or four more sentences. In Sentence Dictation (Activity 5.2) students write full sentences from oral prompts and are reminded to think about how sentences begin and end. Reader comprehension questions (Activity 4.3) and prompts in the Weekly Message ask students to answer or produce sentences in response to questions.
Lesson 10
Blends with r
Students are asked to write full sentences during Activity 5.3 (Sentence Dictation), where they hear and then write declarative sentences such as "I have one trick," "They can run on a track," and "The frogs crash on the deck." The skills list and instructions prompt students to recognize sentence boundaries and read sentences when finished, and Activity 4.2 asks students to read a short reader aloud, pointing to each word. Several writing activities require students to copy or write whole words and sentences (e.g., writing sight words and copying words like "fret, broth, crisp").
Lesson 12
Double ll, ss, ff, zz (FLOSS)
Students write and punctuate a full declarative sentence when asked to write "The bugs buzz." (Activity 4.1). Students make up and write sentences using sight words, including an interrogative example ("What were you doing with all that candy?") and a declarative example (Activity 1.3). Students complete dictated sentences on handwriting paper (Activity 5.2) and identify end marks, including an exclamation point, by circling end punctuation in the Weekly Message (Activity 1.1).
Lesson 13
Glued Sounds ng and nk
Students use the Making Sentences cards (Activity 5.2) to build sentences from word cards and are given sentence starters to prompt sentence production. In Activity 5.3 students write sentences that are dictated to them and then read back the sentences, practicing sentence-beginning capitalization and sentence boundaries. The lesson also has students create sentences from sight words and word-building activities, encouraging them to produce simple declarative sentences aloud and in writing.
Lesson 14
Three-Letter Beginning Blends
Activity 5.2 (Sentence Dictation) asks students to write three complete declarative sentences as they are read aloud (e.g., "The shrimp swim in the tank."), with a reminder to pay attention to how sentences begin and end. The Life Application and Wrapping Up sections prompt students to make up silly sentences using three-letter blends and to share new words they can spell, encouraging students to produce original sentences. Activity 4.3 includes oral comprehension questions that require students to answer prompts about the reader.
Lesson 15
More Ending Blends
Activity 5.1 directs students to write three dictated sentences and to pay attention to how sentences begin and end; the three examples are complete declarative sentences (An elk slept on the bed. Each kid can swim. The rafts drift on the pond.). Activity 5.2 has students read a short reader and then answer teacher-posed questions (e.g., "What animals are on the bank of the river?"), which requires students to respond to interrogative prompts. Earlier items remind students to read sentences aloud and to point to each word, reinforcing sentence boundaries and complete-sentence reading.
Lesson 16
R-Controlled Vowels (ar)
Students write three dictated interrogative sentences (When do you use a golf club? Which part is best? What can we do in the yard?) and are reminded to notice how sentences begin and end and that questions end with question marks. Students are asked to generate questions using the sight words "which," "what," and "when," producing their own interrogative sentences. Students answer questions in the reader (Which? When? What?), giving oral or written responses to prompts.
Lesson 17
Semester Review
Students are asked to write sentences in Activity 3.2 (Sentence Dictation) where they copy three full sentences: "The dogs slept in the yard." "They drink milk in a glass." and "I can spell a lot of words." The skills list and review items ask students to "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence" and to practice "Beginning sentences with capital letters" and "Ending sentences with periods, question marks, and exclamation points." Activity 4.2 (My Own Reader) directs students to plan and write their own short book using words and sentences they know, and Activity 3.3/3.2 emphasizes paying attention to how sentences begin and end. The sight-word activity models a question word ("how") with the example "How do you sound out words?"
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 1
Long Vowels a and i with Silent e
The Skills section lists that students will "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," and Activity 5.2 (Sentence Dictation) directs students to write sentences while paying attention to how sentences begin and end and that questions end with a question mark. In Activity 5.2 students write an interrogative sentence ("Will you bake a cake?") and a declarative sentence ("The kids bike on the path.").
Lesson 3
Hard and Soft c and g
Students write and read complete declarative sentences in Activity 5.3 (dictating and writing "The red gem is huge." and "Many mice are in the cage."). The Skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," and the teacher prompt reminds students to "pay attention to how sentences begin and end." Activity 5.2 asks comprehension questions that require students to answer orally, providing additional brief spoken sentence practice.
Lesson 4
More R-Controlled Vowels (er, ir, or, ur)
Students write dictated sentences in Activity 5.3, specifically copying and then reading two full declarative sentences: "It is rude to burp." and "The herd is in the barn." Students are asked in Wrapping Up to use each sight word in a sentence, which requires them to produce original simple sentences. After reading the reader, students answer comprehension prompts (e.g., "Who won the race?" and "Are you surprised... Why?"), providing spoken responses to prompts.
Lesson 5
Long a Spellings ai, ay
Students write and read dictated sentences during 'Sentence Dictation' (e.g., "The train is on the track.") and are reminded to pay attention to how sentences begin and end. Students are asked to make and speak silly long a sentences in the Life Application activity, which requires them to produce complete sentences using target words. The Skills list and Weekly Message activities ask students to recognize distinguishing features of a sentence and to read sentences aloud, supporting sentence-level awareness.
Lesson 6
Long e Spellings ee, ey, ea
Students use word cards to create and read sentences in Activity 4.2 (Making Sentences), including provided sentence starters that prompt them to place words into complete sentences. Students write dictated sentences in Activity 5.2 (Sentence Dictation) and are asked to pay attention to how sentences begin and end. The spelling test prompt asks a student to use the sight word "see" in a sentence (example given: "I see the cat."), which models producing a complete declarative sentence.
Lesson 8
Long o Spellings ow, oa, oe
Students write dictated sentences in Activity 5.2 (The toad would float. The goat eats toast.) and are asked to pay attention to how sentences begin and end. Students answer teacher prompts after reading The Slow Boat (e.g., "How many boats are in the race?" "What color is the boat that wins the race?"), which elicits oral responses. Students reread the Weekly Message and read sentences aloud, practicing recognition of sentence boundaries and basic declarative sentence structure.
Lesson 9
Long u Spellings ue, ew, ou
Students write and read complete sentences during Sentence Dictation (e.g., "The goat can chew." and "Who has a clue?") and read aloud and respond to Weekly Message and reader questions (answering "What does Tom add to the stew?" etc.). Students complete Fill-in-the-Blanks sentences by selecting and writing target words to make grammatically complete sentences. Several activities require students to read, write, and point to whole sentences while paying attention to how sentences begin and end.
Lesson 10
Other Long Vowel Patterns
Students write and read simple declarative sentences in multiple activities (Activity 3.1: write "The colts bolt." and "The snakes molt."; Activity 5.2: sentence dictation of "The child is kind." and "The colt is blind."). Students are prompted to use sight words in sentences (Activity 1.3) and take turns producing sentences aloud. Instructions repeatedly remind students to think about how sentences begin and end, and students read sentences they have written aloud for practice.
Lesson 11
Long Vowel Sounds Review
Students are asked to write words from a Word Bank into sentences so each sentence makes sense (Activity 3.1 Fill in the Blanks) and then read those sentences aloud. Students complete longer fill-in-the-blank story sentences using a word bank (Activity 5.3) and read the completed story. The lesson's skills list explicitly includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," indicating practice with sentence form and features.
Lesson 12
Other Vowel Sounds oi, oy
Students make sentences using Making Sentences cards and given sentence starters (e.g., "The _____ swim by the ____.") and read those sentences aloud (Activity 4.1). Students write dictated sentences including a declarative sentence ("The boys play with the toy.") and an imperative sentence ("Use your voice.") during Sentence Dictation (Day 5, Activity 5.2). Students answer oral comprehension prompts and questions about the reader (e.g., "What sound does the toy make?" and "What do you think Dan's new toy is?"), producing responses to interrogative prompts (Day 5). Students are asked to create silly sentences using learned words, providing opportunities to produce additional sentences (Life Application).
Lesson 13
Other Vowel Sounds ou, ow
Students write two dictated sentences in Activity 5.2 ('The brown cow is in town.' and 'The scout found an owl.') and are asked to pay attention to how sentences begin and end. The skills list explicitly includes 'Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence.' Students also read sentences aloud after writing them.
Lesson 15
These Make More Than One Sound: oo and ea
Students write declarative sentences during Sentence Dictation (they write "She took the hat off the hook." and "The bread is good."). Students complete the Question Words page by filling blanks to create interrogative sentences (e.g., "Where is the beach?", "Which food do you like more?"). Students are asked to use sight words in a sentence and to answer comprehension questions after reading the reader, which requires producing sentences orally or in writing.
Lesson 17
Year-End Review
Students complete the "Sentence Writing" pages by looking at pictures and writing one or two sentences, and they are reminded to think about how sentences begin and end. The skills list explicitly includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence" and "Beginning and ending sentences." Students are asked to read their written sentences aloud, providing practice in producing simple declarative sentences.