First Grade - ELA
1: Environment
Unit 1: Habitats and Homes
Lesson 2
What Is a Map?
Students are read Me On the Map and then asked specific questions about key details in the text (What is the name of our country? state? town? address?), with repeated practice until they can answer correctly. The lesson prompts students to discuss prior experience with maps and why maps are used, asking them to respond about purpose and use. Activities 2 and 3 require students to locate and answer questions about specific features on map images (e.g., what is beside the refrigerator? what is in front of the couch?), linking map details to explicit questions.
Lesson 3
Guide to Animal Habitats
The Introduction directs an adult to ask the child specific questions about the cover (e.g., Can you point to the title? What do you think this book is about? Who do you think this man is?), and Activity 1 instructs the child to point out and count animals and plants as the story is read. The Skills list explicitly includes "Listen to and answer questions about text read orally (LA)." Activity 5 gives prompts for children to describe what they see and answer questions about the chosen habitat.
Lesson 4
Animals Live and Grow
Day 2 Reading and Questions gives seven explicit text-based questions (e.g., "What season is it... How do you know?", "Why does Nana tell the boy to give the plants a drink?") that students are asked to answer. Multiple prompts ask students to recall and explain details from the book ("Ask your child what he learned about how animals survive and grow..."). Activity 2 asks students to analyze the organisms they recorded and find specific consumer/energy-source relationships in each habitat, requiring them to identify and answer questions about key details from the text and related resources.
Lesson 5
Discovering Animal Habitats
The lesson begins with "Questions to Explore" and asks students to recall examples from Crinkleroot's Guide to Animal Habitats, prompting them to answer questions about habitats. Activity 2 contains explicit question prompts (e.g., "Do you know what we call the habitat where deer, bears, and foxes live?") that require students to answer key-detail questions about habitat texts/pictures. Activity 1 and the Option 2 pages ask students to read or sound out habitat names, label illustrations, and discuss what they see, linking answers to details in the pictured text and vocabulary lists.
Lesson 8
Animal Care
Students are asked specific comprehension questions after hearing The Salamander Room (e.g., What kind of animal did the boy find? Where did he find it? What kind of environment did the salamander need?). The Skills section explicitly lists "Answer questions about a text," and Activities prompt students to respond to questions about pets (e.g., What do pets need? What would happen if we didn't provide a healthy environment?). Students create and discuss habitat details in Activity 3, connecting their answers to story details and real-world needs.
Lesson 9
Animal Designs
Students are asked to name the animal and the habitat in each picture and to read the caption in each box, then analyze how each animal moves and circle the body parts that help movement. Students analyze pictures on the "You Can't Live There" page, decide which animals do not belong in each habitat, and explain why each animal would not live there. In Option 2 students read movement words and write the name of each habitat, then think of an animal that fits and act out the movement.
Lesson 10
Amazing Animals
The lesson lists the skill "Respond to critical questions about a text (LA)" and asks children to "listen critically to text read aloud." Activity 2 presents scenario questions (e.g., "What will happen to the starfish's arm?" "What can lizards do to hide themselves?") that students are prompted to answer. Activity 1 has students analyze illustrated informational text about animal changes and Activity 3 asks students to read word problems aloud and respond to questions about the animals.
Lesson 11
Amazing Me
Students are asked questions about short read-aloud scenarios in Activity 1 (e.g., "You are outside playing, and it gets very cold. What do you do?") and expected to respond. Students are asked to read or attempt to read their own recorded example aloud in Activity 3, and ideas are recorded for the child to read back. The Skills list explicitly includes "Read or attempt to read own story," indicating some practice with reading and responding to text-like material.
Unit 2: Weather
Lesson 1
Reading the Skies
The lesson includes Activity 1 where students are asked to look at the book cover, predict what the story is about, and answer direct questions after reading (e.g., "What type of weather is best for playing outside?"; "How does it make you feel when it rains?"). The Skills list explicitly names "Listen critically to text read aloud" and "Respond to text read aloud," and it includes "Make predictions about a story," which requires answering questions about story details. The wrapping up and introduction prompts also ask students to describe and discuss story-related ideas tied to weather and seasonal details.
Lesson 2
Types of Precipitation
Students are asked specific text-based questions after reading Oh Say Can You Say What's the Weather Today? (e.g., identifying habitats in pictures, describing characters when hot or cold, and noting new information). Students reread targeted pages and discuss the different types of precipitation shown on those pages and on Whatever the Weather, matching pictures to labels on the activity pages. During the rain experiment and the wrap-up, students describe what is happening (why rain forms), count raindrops, and answer questions about why precipitation is important and where drinking water comes from.
Lesson 3
Measuring and Charting Weather
The lesson directs an adult and child to "Look at the book, Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats" and asks the child to describe what the weather can be like in different habitats, prompting discussion of temperature, precipitation, and sky conditions. The lesson also asks the child to answer questions such as what would happen if an animal's habitat got too warm or cold and to give examples of how weather helps provide what plants and animals need to live and grow.
Lesson 4
Simulating Weather
The lesson includes explicit question prompts such as the opening "Questions to Explore" and the wrap-up prompt "Ask your child what happens in the sky to cause it to rain," which ask children to respond to key factual points. During the cloud experiment students are asked to "explain what happens when you release the bottle and what happens when you squeeze the bottle," requiring them to answer questions about observed details. The Weather Song activity asks children to read the song aloud and respond to questions about words on the page (e.g., "Can you find the word clouds?"), which involves interacting with printed text.
Lesson 5
Fall
Students are prompted to answer specific questions about an illustrated scene in Activity 1 (e.g., "What are the people wearing?", "What do the plants and trees look like?", "What do you think the weather feels like?"). In Activity 2 students answer comprehension questions about a graph (e.g., "What does this graph show us?", "Which color has the fewest leaves?", "Which color has the most leaves?"). The Wrapping Up section asks students to explain what happens to the weather in the fall and to describe what they enjoy doing in the season.
Lesson 6
Winter
The lesson asks the child to find winter pages in the book Whatever the Weather and to describe what he sees in the pictures, and it prompts the child to compare those details to the winter where he lives. The Getting Started and Activities include explicit oral questions (e.g., "What season follows fall?" and "How is the weather in the winter different from the weather in the summer?"). Activity 1 also has the child attempt to read the story aloud after dictating and illustrating it, connecting discussion to portions of a text.
Lesson 7
Spring
Students are prompted to answer oral comprehension questions such as "what the poem was about" after each poem and to draw a line from the poem to the picture that best tells the story. The Getting Started and Wrapping Up sections instruct adults to ask students what the weather is like in spring and what special things happen, and to ask what a seed needs to become a plant. Activities ask students to attempt to read poems, identify rhyming words, and link text details to illustrations, which requires answering questions about key details in the text.
Lesson 8
Summer
Students are prompted to answer direct comprehension questions in Activity 1 (e.g., "Can you describe the environment of the picture?" "What is happening in the picture?" "Could these activities happen in the winter? Why or why not?"). In Activity 2 students read a short passage about Jessie's summer, choose words to fill blanks from a provided word bank, and read the completed story aloud. The Introduction and Facts sections prompt students to answer questions about seasonal order (e.g., "what season follows spring?") and weather details.
Unit 3: Community
Lesson 1
On the Town
After reading On the Town, students are asked specific comprehension questions such as "What is a community?", "What places did Charlie visit in his community?", and "Why did Charlie write down the places he visited…?" Students are prompted to predict from the book cover ("Ask him what he thinks the book might be about") and to discuss similarities between Charlie's journey and their own community in Activity 3, then draw and write sentences about Charlie visiting a place.
Lesson 2
My Community Environment
Students read Me on the Map and are asked to locate and discuss streets, buildings, and the river on the book's map and to state the purpose of community places and the people who work there. Students examine books in Activity 3, describe the communities shown in illustrations, copy titles, draw simple illustrations of each community, and discuss similarities and differences across texts. The skills list and Activity 4 prompt students to prepare and use questions (e.g., "Ask questions that lead to understanding" and preparing interview questions) which supports questioning behavior.
Lesson 3
Jobs in the Community
Students read or are read books about community workers (Activity 6) and read short labels and a model paragraph about community helpers (Activity 1 and Activity 4). Students are asked to describe what a worker does and how the job helps the community when looking at pictures or after observing a worker (Activity 1 and Activity 3). Students are prompted to record and answer questions about their observation chart (e.g., which worker did you see most/least) after tallying sightings (Activity 2).
Lesson 6
A Good Community Citizen
Students are asked to listen and respond: the Skills section lists "Listen responsibly to text read aloud (LA)." Activity 1 directs an adult to read a list of actions and asks the child to decide if each person is being a good citizen and to explain how she made her decision. Multiple prompts (e.g., "Ask your child what it means to be a good citizen" and requests for the child to describe examples) require students to answer questions about presented text or scenarios.
Lesson 7
A Citizen with Character
Students read "A Lesson in Honesty" and answer explicit comprehension questions such as "Did Riley do anything wrong? What?" and "What should Riley have done?". Students hear or read "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," then illustrate and write or dictate a sentence for the beginning, middle, and end, and discuss the story's moral. Students read additional books and complete an Actions and Consequences activity in which they identify characters' actions and record resulting consequences.
Lesson 8
Rules and Laws
Students listen to and read the short story "The House with No Rules" and then answer multiple comprehension questions about what happens in the story, what they would and would not like, and whether they would stay in the house and why. Students read six home-rule sentences aloud (or with assistance) and explain which rule is most important and why, providing reasons for their choices. Students read a set of statements and decide whether each is a rule, a law, or both by placing items on the appropriate web, demonstrating comprehension of the statements' meanings.
Lesson 9
Caring for Our Communities
Students are prompted to answer explicit comprehension questions after the story, including sequencing (beginning, middle, end) and factual questions such as where Katy lives, what she likes about her community, whether people are happy, and what Katy does to be a good citizen. Activities ask students to identify good and bad community details in paired pictures and to discuss settings in books and movies, which requires answering questions about key story details and setting. Several guided prompts (e.g., "Ask your child the following questions") directly require students to respond to questions about the text.
2: Similarities and Differences
Unit 1: Amazing Attributes
Lesson 2
Animal Attributes
Students are prompted to describe how they know which objects are living (Activity 1 Option 1) and to circle/list living and nonliving items on activity pages, which requires identifying details about items. Activity 2 asks students to look at Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats and to identify body parts in the pictures and discuss how animals use those parts, which asks and answers questions about details in a book's illustrations. The wrapping up section directs students to describe ways animals are alike and different, which elicits question-and-answer discussion about key attributes.
Lesson 5
How Old?
Students are asked to read or listen to questions on the "Guessing Ages" page and decide which question they would ask each pictured person (Activity 2, Option 1). Students are prompted to write a question for each person based on age and to record and reread those questions, practicing capital letters and question marks (Activity 2, Option 2 and Option 1). Students also practice responding by matching ages to pictures (drawing lines or pasting numbers) and by ordering pictures from oldest to youngest, which requires using details in the images to make decisions (Activity 1 and Activity 2).
Lesson 10
Earth Materials: Rocks, Soil, and Water
The lesson includes multiple teacher-presented comprehension prompts to ask after reading (e.g., "Can you name three solids…," "Can you describe any liquids pictured…," "Describe the habitat of the pond," and "How are the characters similar and different?"). Students are directed to locate key details in the texts and illustrations (e.g., find rocks in illustrations, find animals described in the glossary, compare covers and writing between the two books). The Skills list explicitly includes asking and answering questions about what a speaker says and using text features to locate key facts, reinforcing question-and-answer practice tied to the texts.
Unit 2: Senses
Lesson 1
My Five Senses
Before reading My Five Senses, students are asked to locate the title and author's name and to predict what the story might be about. After reading, students are asked specific comprehension questions tied to the text—e.g., name the five senses, identify the body part for each sense, which sense finds color, which senses recognize shape, and when they use multiple senses. Activities also ask students to refer to a Senses Word List while reading and to identify beginning letters and important words in the text.
Lesson 2
Senses and Body Parts
Students listen to a read-aloud of "Jackie's Day at the Pet Store" and are instructed to pick up and glue the sense organ when Jackie uses a sense, requiring them to attend to and identify specific details in the text. Activity 2 has an adult read situations aloud and asks the child to point to the sense organ they would use, which has students answer questions about details in short scenarios. The Skills list also includes "Listen responsively to text read aloud" and "Identify the title and author of a book," showing attention to text-related details.
Lesson 4
Hearing and Seeing
The lesson has the teacher read The Magic School Bus and asks students specific comprehension questions (e.g., what happened when the bus driver flipped the green switch; whose nose and mouth the bus traveled into). Early activities prompt the child to explain how they know two objects are the same or different and to listen to short spoken descriptions and decide what place is being described, requiring students to answer questions about key details heard in text. The skills list includes "Listen responsively to text read aloud" and activities ask students to describe and record their responses to read-aloud content.
Lesson 7
Using All of Our Senses
After reading pages of My Five Senses, an adult asks the child which senses the boy in the story used and how he used each sense, prompting direct question-and-answer about text details. The Skills section lists interacting with the reader when text is read aloud (questions, comments, and ideas), which encourages student engagement with questions about read-alouds. Activity 3 asks the child to look through books and identify ways characters use their senses, requiring students to locate and state key details from text.
Lesson 8
Writing About Our Senses
Students read short written clues in the Sensing Logic activity and mark/eliminate pictures until they identify which pictured item matches the clues. In A Sensible Report students read a paragraph about popping popcorn, fill in sensory-detail blanks, and then attempt to read their completed report aloud. The introduction and wrap-up prompt students to answer teacher questions (e.g., describe an apple using senses; state sensing words for objects).
Final Project
A Sensible Party
Students are instructed to read the sample "Party Planner" sheet so they know what a plan looks like. In Game 1 students compare their own party plan with the sample to find similarities and differences, which requires attending to specific details in the sample text. The activity pages ask students to record ideas and supplies in a table based on the sample, which requires extracting information from that written model.
Unit 3: We're the Same, We're Different
Lesson 2
Physical Characteristics
Students listen to the short story "Different Friends" and answer explicit comprehension questions such as retelling the story, identifying the beginning/middle/end, and explaining characters' motivations (e.g., whether Susan or Casey wanted to play). Students sequence event boxes from the story and discuss physical differences between the characters. The activity prompts a second reading to support answering and sequencing questions about key details.
Lesson 4
Interests and Hobbies
Students are directed to go to the library, find books about a chosen interest, and then answer the five prompts on the "My Interest" sheet (e.g., "What is something you already knew about your interest?" and "What is a question you have about _______?"). In the Hobby Survey activity, students read the survey questions aloud and interview three people, recording answers to questions such as "What is your hobby?" and "How would you describe your hobby?".
Lesson 5
Shapesville
As the story is read, students identify each character's shape, count sides and angles, and describe physical characteristics (color, sides, angles, eye color). After reading, students answer targeted comprehension prompts: Did you enjoy the story? What doesn't matter in Shapesville? How do the shapes look different on the outside? How are the shapes' personalities different? What are some of the interests of the shapes? Students also select a shape that represents them and explain why, draw it, and dictate a short description of personality and interests.
Lesson 6
Different Families
Students are asked to read specific pages of A Life Like Mine and discuss the different people, foods, homes, and health details depicted in the text. Students are prompted to name the basic needs presented in the book and to draw illustrations representing each need, showing attention to key factual details. Students are directed to look through the book to identify pictures of families and to describe clothing, physical characteristics, activities, and interactions shown in those pictures. Wrapping-up prompts ask students how their family is similar to and different from other families in the book, which requires referencing key details from the text.
Lesson 7
Different Homes
Students read pages 26-35 of A Life Like Mine and are asked to identify and describe the different homes shown in the text, including the materials used to build them. Students are prompted to answer why people have homes, to recall what a natural resource is, and to identify materials used in their own homes. Students respond to wrap-up prompts about whether they would enjoy living in a different type of home and why, and they describe the type of home they would like to live in.
Lesson 8
Different Holidays and Traditions
Students are directed to read about holidays in encyclopedias or on websites and to look at pictures in scrapbooks (Activity 1), which provides source texts and images for discussion. Activity 2 explicitly prompts an adult to ask the student specific questions about information found online (e.g., What are the people celebrating? What types of activities are they engaged in?). The Getting Started section lists open exploration questions (e.g., Why is it important that there are differences among people and families?) that students are invited to discuss.
Lesson 9
Different Modes of Transportation
Students are asked to give examples of ways people in their town get from place to place and to explain how people travel great distances, which prompts verbal question-and-answer. Students are directed to look through books/websites (including A Life Like Mine) and identify modes of transportation in pictures, finding details in a text's illustrations. Several activities ask students to talk about or write responses (e.g., draw and tell a story, circle or write the best mode) based on pictured scenarios.
Lesson 10
Wants and Needs
Students are asked to listen to and discuss specific text sections (read pages 46-51, 56-61, and 66-71) and to discuss why children need education, play, and love, which requires answering text-based questions. The opening "Questions to Explore" and the "Wrapping Up" prompts ask students to respond to questions about similarities, differences, and meanings drawn from the material. Activity 4 directs students to survey others and then "discuss the different items that people shared and whether or not their needs were truly needs," prompting discussion grounded in collected information.
Lesson 11
Being Part of a Group
Students are asked to read pages 98–113 of A Life Like Mine and discuss what it means to have an identity, a nationality, and a religion. Students are prompted to discuss ways their nationality or religion is similar to and different from the children in the book. Students are also asked to think of reasons that people might join a group and to read aloud or attempt to read their own completed paragraph about a group.
3: Patterns
Unit 1: Identifying and Creating Visual Patterns
Lesson 1
What Is a Pattern?
Students read the picture book Busy Bugs and are asked to identify the title and author and to guess what the story is about. The lesson prompts students to follow the text and to describe specific features on pages 6–11 and 12–25 by answering questions such as "What types of patterns do you see?" and "Have you ever seen a pattern? Where?" These prompts require students to answer questions about details shown in the text and illustrations.
Lesson 2
Recognizing Types of Patterns
Students are prompted to reread the book Busy Bugs and are asked to point out ABAB and AABB patterns in that text. The wrapping-up prompts ask the child to explain the difference between ABAB and AABB patterns and how to decide which pattern appears in the book. The handwriting activity asks students to write or copy a sentence about Busy Bugs, which requires them to produce a text-based response.
Lesson 4
Extending a Pattern
Students recreate, extend, and repeat given sequences of objects (Activity 1, Activity 2, Option 1/2) and answer questions about each pattern by completing sentence prompts or circling the correct answer on the Student Activity Page. Students are asked what comes next in a pattern and to extend patterns using manipulatives (e.g., shapes, Legos, coins). Students also explain how they extend a pattern and identify whether patterns are ABAB, AABB, or ABBA.
Unit 2: Patterns in Sounds, Words, and Actions
Lesson 1
Word Patterns
Students reread Bear Hugs, copy or dictate the names of animals from the text, and are asked to identify the habitat where each animal lives, which requires locating and reporting specific details from the text. Students read a variety of nursery rhymes, identify and record rhyming words they hear, pick a favorite rhyme, and act out or illustrate it, which involves recalling details from the rhymes. The teacher prompts students with questions such as asking them to name rhyming words for given words and to label repeating word parts on activity pages.
Lesson 3
Poetry Patterns
Students are asked to identify what each poem is about and to point out word patterns when an adult reads poems aloud ("Ask your child what each poem is about," "Ask your child if she hears any word patterns"). Students are prompted to circle rhyming words on the activity page and to guess missing rhyming words when lines are left out ("Leave out the second rhyming word ... see if she can guess the word"). Students pause and recite or predict rhyming words during the song activity, practicing answering questions about text details ("pause and let her guess which rhyming word might come next").
Lesson 5
Story Patterns
Students are prompted after reading to predict what will happen next and to answer specific questions such as "What happened at the beginning of the story? What happened in the middle? What happened at the end?" (Activity 1). Students complete Story Pattern Boxes (Option 1 and 2) by sequencing events and writing or dictating a sentence for the beginning, middle, and end, which asks them to identify important events. Students are also asked to "talk about the important events of the story" and to describe the pattern that a story follows.
Final Project
Patterns Video
The lesson asks students to locate patterns in books and poems and explicitly says "for the word/rhyming and book patterns, he can read the words from a book or poem and explain the pattern." The script pages prompt students to record where they found the pattern, the elements the pattern is made of, and the sequence (First comes, Then, Then), which requires students to state specific details from a text or example. The opening "Questions to Explore" (Where are patterns found? How can sounds, words, and motions form patterns?) directs students to consider and answer questions about observed examples.
Unit 3: Patterns in Your World
Lesson 1
Patterns in Nature
Students listen to a read-aloud of pp. 1-11 and are asked to identify and describe the pattern in each picture. The lesson includes explicit comprehension prompts such as: Were there any patterns that you had seen before? Were there any patterns you had not seen before? Can you think of any other patterns in nature that could be added to the book? Students also complete matching, drawing, and labeling activities that require them to locate and describe patterns shown in the text and pictures.
Lesson 7
Patterns at Home
Students listen to a read-aloud of the Pattern book and then are asked to identify specific patterns from the book (e.g., checkerboard, repeating, circular) with page references. The scavenger hunt directs students to describe each pattern they find, requiring them to attend to and report key details in the text and illustrations. Additional prompts ask students to name shapes and count sides/angles and to respond to questions about patterns in the house, which elicit answering and explaining observations tied to the reading.
Lesson 9
Counting Patterns
The lesson lists the skill "Answer questions about a story read aloud (LA)" and includes Activity 3 where students listen to the "How Many Clowns?" story, place clown faces in the car as they enter, and fill in blanks in the story. Students also retell or create their own version of the clown story while recording the number of clowns, and they act out the story with cut-out pieces. The activities require students to track and record specific story details (how many clowns at each point).
Lesson 11
Patterns in Graphs
Students are prompted to read graph titles and labels, discuss the data, and describe patterns (Activity 1). They are asked specific comprehension questions such as "What does this chart tell us?," "How many types of people are on the chart?," and to predict John's books read on the next Tuesday based on the graph. In Activity 3 students decide which charts/graphs have patterns and describe patterns using labels like ABAB or AABB, and the Wrap Up asks students to describe how to find patterns in graphs and charts.
4: Change
Unit 1: Changes on Planet Earth
Lesson 1
What Causes Change?
Students are prompted to answer questions such as "what it means for something to change" and "how she knew it had changed," and they match before-and-after picture cards and decide what changed between pairs. Students complete sentence stems on the "Write About a Change" page (e.g., "Once I saw __________ change." and "__________ changed because __________.") and are asked to attempt to read their own dictated paragraph aloud. The skills list explicitly includes "Read or attempt to read own dictated story," indicating students will read and respond to their own writing.
Lesson 2
What Changed?
Students are prompted to read Part 1: Things Change and to answer specific questions tied to pages in the book (e.g., identifying the crushed cookie as a physical change on page 20 and the ripening banana as a chemical change on page 23). After reading, students are asked direct comprehension questions such as naming examples of physical changes, defining a chemical change, and identifying whether burning is a physical or chemical change. The wrap-up asks students to explain different ways change can happen and to give examples, which requires recalling and describing key details from the text.
Lesson 3
Changing Position
The Reading And Questions section directs the child to examine the book cover and answer what is happening in the picture and what the book will be about, and it provides four explicit comprehension questions with expected answers. Activity 1 asks students to use the index to find the words "gravity" and "inertia," locate the indicated pages, and copy the sentences from the text that contain those words. The introduction and wrapping-up prompts ask the child to explain ways objects change position, encouraging oral explanation and answering about text-related details.
Lesson 4
Changes in the Environment
Students are prompted to read Part 2: Seasons Change (pp. 27-44) and are encouraged to answer questions about the changes described on specific pages (e.g., water freezing/evaporating, pupa to butterfly, leaves growing). Students are asked to listen responsively to text read aloud and to answer questions about how seasonal changes occur when the text or pictures are discussed. Students are also asked to describe changes that take place in the natural environment and to explain what causes those changes after reading or viewing the text.
Lesson 6
Changes in the Sky
Students are prompted to respond to explicit questions in the lesson (the "Questions to Explore") and are asked throughout activities to describe and explain observations (e.g., "Ask your child to describe how objects on Earth change" and "Ask him what you are doing now" during rotation/revolution activities). Students list adjectives and phrases about the Sun and Moon on the Student Activity Pages and discuss why the Sun is important and how the Moon shines. The wrapping up section asks students to describe positional changes of sky objects, prompting them to answer targeted content questions.
Lesson 7
Living Things Change
Students are prompted to review specific pages of the book Changes Happen All Around You (pages 30-31 and 34-37) and to discuss how animals change. The lesson instructs adults to ask the child questions such as how and why the lizard changed, whether the rabbit's coat change happens quickly or slowly, and to give examples of changes in animals. On the "Changes in Living Things" activity page, students answer specific questions for each picture pair (Did it change in size? number? place? shape?) and circle words that describe the change and mark whether the change was fast or slow.
Lesson 8
Plants and Change
Students read specified pages of National Geographic Readers: Seed to Plant and then answer directed comprehension questions (QUESTION #1 and QUESTION #2) about uses of plants and similarities/differences between plants and animals. Students are prompted to use the table of contents to locate the section "What Do Plants Need?" and to read those pages, then describe what plants need to grow. Students are also asked to list and describe plant parts and to compare observations and predictions from a plant growth experiment, which requires answering questions about key details from the texts and activities.
Lesson 9
Heat Causes Change
Students are prompted to review specific pages (pages 14-15 and 18-19) in the book Changes Happen All Around You and are asked questions at the start (e.g., whether they have seen anything burn). Throughout activities, students are asked and answer many questions about observations and causes (e.g., "Ask her how the ice is changing," "Ask her what she thinks will happen," "How did the candle change?" and "Was it a physical or chemical change?"). The wrapping up section asks students to explain how heat caused the changes and to identify other examples.
Lesson 10
Chemical Changes
Students are asked to identify each example on the "Chemical or Physical Change?" activity page as chemical or physical, checking boxes for each paired item. Students are prompted to explain how they made each decision after completing the activity sheet. The wrapping up prompt asks students to describe the difference between physical and chemical change and to give an example of each, requiring short verbal or written answers about details.
Unit 2: Characters Change
Lesson 1
What's in a Name
Students are given an explicit set of four comprehension questions with answers about Chrysanthemum (e.g., how she felt about her name, why she changed her mind, how words affect others, and how Mrs. Twinkle changed opinions). In Activity 3 (Feeling Phrases) students identify what the author communicates about Chrysanthemum from specific phrases and illustrate her feelings. In Activity 5 (Characters Change) students list characteristics of Chrysanthemum at the beginning and end of the story and write short sentences explaining how she changed.
Lesson 2
Why Worry?
The lesson includes a read-aloud of Wemberly Worried followed by four explicit comprehension questions (e.g., Did she need to be worried? Why or why not?) that students are asked to discuss and answer. The "Characters Change" activity asks students to describe how Wemberly changed from the beginning to the end and to write or list details about her character at both points. The wrap-up prompts ask students to explain which story they preferred and why, encouraging students to cite story details in discussion.
Lesson 3
Is It a Problem?
The Reading And Questions section lists four explicit questions with answers about key story details (how the problem is illustrated, how it grows, how the boy addresses it, and the lesson learned). The Beginning, Middle, and End activity asks students to identify and order key events for three stories, requiring them to locate important details. Multiple prompts instruct students to answer orally or in writing (for example, asking what Wemberly and Chrysanthemum's problems were and what the three main parts of a story are called).
Lesson 4
Comparing Characters
Students are prompted to answer questions such as which story and character were their favorite and why, and to explain how all three stories are similar. Students dictate three-sentence summaries (beginning, middle, end) of each story and answer specific comprehension questions on the "Two Stories, Same Problem" page (e.g., "How are the characters' situations similar?" and "What can we learn from both characters?"). Students complete a cause-and-effect matching activity using events from the texts, linking specific causes in the stories to their effects.
Lesson 5
The Raft
Students are asked and prompted to answer specific who/what/where/why questions at several points in the text (multiple Question #1–#5 sets across Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3) about the boy, Grandma, the raft, animals, and events. Students complete a Story Elements organizer that requires them to identify characters, setting, problem, and solution for each story and match problems to solutions, which requires answering key-detail questions. Students also discuss and answer inferential why/how prompts (e.g., why the boy changes, why the author used certain phrases) and complete activities that require citing details from the story (selecting sentences with "I," matching vocabulary in context).
Lesson 6
Positive and Negative Change
The lesson asks the child specific comprehension questions about a read-aloud (e.g., "How do you think the rat feels about himself?", "Do you think the other animals should avoid the rat?", "How could the rat respond..."). It prompts the child to identify cause-and-effect examples from stories they read and to match cause/effect statements on activity pages. The lesson also asks the child to think about and describe how characters changed and what caused those changes, and to recall positive and negative effects from texts in the unit.
Final Project
My Own Story
Students complete a "Problem and Solution" page that asks them to describe the character at the beginning, identify the problem and solution, state what caused the problem, explain how the character got to the solution, and describe how and why the character changes. Students are asked to discuss characters, setting, beginning/middle/end, and to explain the problem and how the character comes to a solution during the planning and dictation stages. Students also participate when the adult reads the dictated story aloud and they discuss which parts of the story will go on which pages.
Unit 3: A First Look at History - Change Over Time
Lesson 2
Understanding Time
Students are prompted to answer questions during reading in Activity 2: the teacher is instructed to read pages of Telling Time and then ask questions such as "Were you born in the past, present, or future?" and "Did dinosaurs live in the past, present, or future?" The Introduction and Activities ask students to name something that happened in the past, talk about something happening now, and explain the difference between past, present, and future. Activity prompts also ask students to identify books that take place in the past or future and to discuss changes that have happened or are happening.
Lesson 3
Communities Change
Students are asked specific comprehension questions after reading (e.g., "Where did the story happen? Who are the characters? How did the environment change?"). Students use the text to identify animals and artifacts (Activity 4 and Activity 6) and to point out differences in communities (Activity 3). Students place events from the story in chronological order by cutting, numbering, and pasting timeline events (Activity 2), which requires attending to key details in the text.
Lesson 4
Past and Present
The lesson contains multiple teacher prompts that require the child to answer questions about details in the text and illustrations (e.g., "How did people in the past dress differently than we do today?", "How were their homes different?", "How was their transportation different?"). Activity 3 asks students to compare a character's daily life to their own after reading specific pages about Hori, Caius, Marcus, or Robert and to answer targeted questions about similarities and differences. The Skills list and activities direct students to use text features to locate key facts and to identify sequence and details from The Usborne Time Traveler pages referenced in the activities.
Lesson 5
Exploring the Past
Students are prompted with 'Questions to Explore' (e.g., 'Why do communities change?') and are asked to recall the three time periods from the book. Students look through specified book pages and draw, write, or dictate descriptions about homes, clothes, food, and transport to complete culture charts. Students write one sentence about each element of culture for a chosen culture and present that information to the family, which requires reporting key details from the text.
Lesson 6
Predicting Future Change
Students read brief written scenarios in Activity 1 and respond to direct questions such as "How will this change your family?" and "How might your teeth change in the future?" Students record or dictate their answers on the Student Activity Pages and later categorize outcomes as positive or negative in Activity 2. In Activity 3 students generate a written/drawn personal text about a change and attempt to read what they dictated, connecting comprehension to their own writing.
Lesson 7
People of the Past
Activity 1 directs students to read a simple biography and answer specific questions (Did this person live in the past?, How would you describe this person?, What did this person do to make a positive change?). Activity 2 has students reread short descriptions, point to the individual described, and place pictures/descriptions in chronological order, requiring attention to key details. The Wrapping Up prompts ask students to define a biography and describe people from the past who made positive changes, reinforcing comprehension of main details.
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 1
Letter Sounds Review I
Students are asked to locate and count sight words in the Weekly Message (Activity 3.1 asks "Can you find the sight word 'the'... How many times is 'and'... What about 'a'?"). During Reader #1 (Activity 5.3) students are prompted to observe the cover and answer "What else do you see on the cover?" and to share observations as they read pages. The lesson also includes reading prompts that ask students to check meaning (e.g., "Does that word make sense here?") and to use pictures to figure out words.
Lesson 2
Letter Sounds Review II
Students are asked to read the reader The Pig Can, read the title, describe the cover, and respond to the teacher prompt "What do you think this book is about?" Students are asked a comprehension question after reading ("Do you think the pig and the cat can fit in the box?") and are asked to explain their thinking. Earlier activities also ask students to point to punctuation and to answer questions about details from a short vowel video and the Weekly Message (e.g., identify letters or which words they can spell).
Lesson 3
Letter Sounds Review III
Students are asked to read the reader The Bug, describe the cover and read the text aloud while pointing to each word. After reading The Bug, 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?" In Activity 1.1 students are also asked to use a hint in the Weekly Message to answer, "Based on the hint, what vowel do you think you're going to work with this week?", pointing to words like "jog" and "hot."
Lesson 4
Letter Sounds Review IV
On Day 5 (Activity 5.2), students read The Cat, the Pig, the Dog, and the Fox and are asked explicit comprehension questions such as "Why are the dog and the fox napping at the end of the book?" and "Why aren't the cat and the pig napping?" In Activity 1.1 the child is asked, "How many sentences does this message have?" and directed to find sentence end marks, requiring the child to answer a question about the text.
Lesson 5
Adding s, More Word Families, Ending with ck
The lesson asks the child to read Reader #5 (Ducks Are Fun) and then answer the question, "Which duck do you think is having the most fun? Why?", prompting comprehension about a story detail. In Activity 1.1 the child is asked to read the Weekly Message and answer explicit questions about the message (e.g., how many sentences does this message have?) and to identify sentence-ending punctuation. Activity 4.3 also asks the child to use the picture to figure out the meaning of an unfamiliar word ('don'), which prompts using text details and illustrations to answer a question.
Lesson 6
Open Syllables and Digraph th
During Activity 5.2 students read the reader This Is... and are then asked specific questions about the text such as "What kind of pet does Dan have?" and "Which of the animals in the book do you think you'd prefer as a pet?". Activity 5.1 and other teacher prompts also ask students questions about sentence features (e.g., "What kind of letter does every sentence begin with?") and encourage students to read and point to words while answering prompts.
Lesson 7
Consonant Digraphs ch, sh, wh, ph
Activity 3.3 has the student preview the reader and answer a predictive question ("What do you think will happen in this book?"). After reading They Get Wet, the student is asked specific comprehension questions tied to key details: "Where is the ship at the beginning of the book?", "Why are the rat and the cat wet at the end?", and "Why do you think the rat and the cat are on the ship?". These tasks require the student to locate and state key details from the text and to provide a reasoned answer.
Lesson 8
Blends with s
Activity 4.3 asks the student to read Meg and Dan and the Sled independently and then answer three comprehension questions about the story (e.g., why they fell off the sled, why they stop for a snack, and what snack the student would choose). The activity instructs the child to point to each word as she reads and then respond to the teacher's questions about events near the end of the book.
Lesson 9
Blends with l
Students read Reader #9 — The Club on their own and then answer specific comprehension questions provided (e.g., "What color are the flags that are flying above the club?" and "What do the kids do at the club?"). The lesson also prompts oral responses after reading (encouraging students to point to each word as they read and then answer the listed questions). Additional prompts in the Weekly Message ask students to notice and respond to a question about the word "blend," giving more practice with responding to teacher-posed questions about text details.
Lesson 10
Blends with r
The activity for Reader #10 asks the child to read One Can and then answer specific comprehension questions: "Where are the ducks swimming to?" and "What are the kids running on?" The child is encouraged to read the book aloud and point to each word as she reads before answering those questions. The prompts require the child to recall and state literal key details from the text.
Lesson 11
Ending Blends
During Day 4 Activity 4.2, students read the reader At Camp and then answer explicit comprehension questions provided: "What do the kids do at camp?", "What are the kids hunting for?", and "What do you think your favorite camp activity would be?" Activity 1.1 has students read the Weekly Message aloud and follow along, providing additional opportunities to attend to text details while listening and reading.
Lesson 12
Double ll, ss, ff, zz (FLOSS)
Students read the reader Huff and Puff and are asked specific comprehension questions such as "What insects are shown in the book?" and "Why is everyone huffing and puffing at the end of the book?" (Activity 4.3). Students re-read the Weekly Message, are prompted to point to and read known words, and complete tasks that require locating details in the message (circle end marks, highlight digraphs, underline sight words) (Activity 1.1).
Lesson 13
Glued Sounds ng and nk
After reading Reader #13 (King Hank), the child is asked specific comprehension questions such as "Where do the king and his friends sleep?" and "What color drinks do the king and his friends drink?" The lesson also includes an open-ended prompt—"What would you want to do if you were a king?"—that requires the child to respond about the text and relate personally to it.
Lesson 14
Three-Letter Beginning Blends
Students are instructed to read the reader Spring Has Sprung! on their own and then answer specific comprehension questions: "What do the kids do at the track?" and "What do the kids do at the pond?" The lesson also prompts a follow-up personal question: "What are some things that you like to do in the spring?" These tasks require students to identify and articulate key details from the text.
Lesson 15
More Ending Blends
In Activity 5.2 students read 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?" Students are prompted to read the book aloud, point to each word, and then answer those questions. A third prompt, "What would you like to see if you went down a river on a raft?", asks students to respond about the text and make a personal connection.
Lesson 16
R-Controlled Vowels (ar)
Students are instructed to read the reader Which? When? What? on their own and to "answer the question on each page as she reads," which requires answering text-based questions (Activity 4.2). After reading aloud, students are asked explicit follow-up questions about the book's content (e.g., "What else might you find in a barn on a farm?"), prompting them to respond about key details. Earlier, students practice using question words (which, what, when) and are asked to come up with questions using those words (Activity 1.3), giving them experience both asking and answering questions.
Lesson 17
Semester Review
Activity 4.1 asks students to identify and name characters (Meg, Dan, King Hank, dog, fox, cat, pig) and to talk about what the characters do (they swim, camp, sing, go on a raft trip). The teacher prompts students to state which reader is their favorite and explain why, requiring students to answer questions about text details. The "Planning My Reader" and "What Characters Do" pages ask students to record characters and their actions when creating their own reader.
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 1
Long Vowels a and i with Silent e
After reading the short reader In the Fall, students are asked three explicit comprehension questions: what Lin and Dev like to do in the fall, what Lin does while Dev makes cakes, and which fall activity the student likes best. The lesson instructs students to read the text, point to each word as they read, and then answer those specific questions about details in the story. The wrapping up activity also asks students to point to words in the Weekly Message related to long a and long i after rereading, connecting text reading with prompted questioning.
Lesson 2
Long Vowels o, u, and e with Silent e
On Day 5 (Activity 5.1) students read the reader They Chose To Doze independently and then answer teacher-posed comprehension questions such as "What did the family do on their trip?" and "Who fell off of the mule?". The lesson also prompts the student to point out quotation marks and to read the story aloud before answering the questions. These prompts require students to identify and respond to key details from the text.
Lesson 3
Hard and Soft c and g
On Day 5 (Activity 5.2) students read the reader These Mice and are asked to answer three specific comprehension questions about the story's details (what the mice use for beds, what they sit on to eat cake, and why the mice like their home). Across earlier activities the adult prompts students with questions such as "What do you notice about the sound of c in these words?" and asks students to explain how they know pronunciations, requiring short-answer responses about observed details.
Lesson 4
More R-Controlled Vowels (er, ir, or, ur)
Students read The Bird Is Third on their own and then read it aloud to an adult (Activity 5.2). After reading, students are asked specific comprehension questions: "Who won the race?" and "Which animal came in last?" and a follow-up discussion question: "Are you surprised that the cat won the race? Who did you think would win? Why?" These tasks require students to identify and explain key details from the text.
Lesson 5
Long a Spellings ai, ay
Students read The Gray Day and then answer specific comprehension questions provided by the teacher (e.g., "What do the boys play with indoors?"; "What animal do they see on the drain outside?"; plus prompts asking for predictions and opinions). In Activity 1.1 students are asked to point to and identify specific details in the Weekly Message (two words with Bossy R, a word with long u by silent e, and four two-syllable words). These activities require students to locate and respond to key details in short texts.
Lesson 6
Long e Spellings ee, ey, ea
On Day 5 (Activity 5.1) students read the reader What Do You Eat? and are asked specific comprehension questions: "What does the worm eat?" and "How many beans are the birds eating?" The instructions direct an adult to ask these questions and to have the child answer them after reading the story. The Wrapping Up section also directs the child to reread the Weekly Message and point to words with the long e sound, reinforcing text-focused interaction.
Lesson 7
Long i Spellings y, igh, ie
On Day 5 (Activity 5.1) students read The Dark Night on their own and then read it aloud to an adult, after which they are asked explicit comprehension questions such as "What do Tom and Val see in the sky?" and "What do Tom and Val dream about?" The activity also asks students to show and read words they find in the Sight Words Search and to point to long i words in the Weekly Message, requiring them to identify and respond about details in text. The Fill in the Blanks activity (Day 3) asks students to read sentences and choose words that make sense, which practices answering questions about sentence-level details.
Lesson 8
Long o Spellings ow, oa, oe
Students read The Slow Boat independently and then answer explicit comprehension questions: "How many boats are in the race?" and "What color is the boat that wins the race?" They also answer a prompt that requires a personal response tied to the text ("If you were on a boat, would you want it to go fast or slow?"). Additionally, students are asked to reread the Weekly Message and point to or name long o words, which requires locating and identifying details in the short text.
Lesson 9
Long u Spellings ue, ew, ou
On Day 5 (Activity 5.1) students read the reader Would You Eat It? and are asked specific comprehension questions: "What does Tom add to the stew?" and "What color does Val add to the stew?" as well as a follow-up personal-response question. The wrap-up asks students to reread the Weekly Message and point to words that have the long u sound, requiring them to locate and identify textual details. Earlier activities also prompt students to point to and read words they know in the Weekly Message, which requires retrieving details from text.
Lesson 10
Other Long Vowel Patterns
On Day 5 (Activity 5.1) students read The Wild Colt and then answer specific comprehension questions posed to them: why the colt is hard to find, how the man stops the colt from bolting, and whether they would want to care for or train a wild colt. Activity 1.1 also prompts students to identify and respond to a question about the Weekly Message ("Do you see any words in the message that are unusual in some way?"), which requires them to attend to details in a text and offer a response.
Lesson 12
Other Vowel Sounds oi, oy
On Day 5 (Activity 5.1) students read Reader #12 — The New Toy and are asked specific comprehension questions to answer: "What sound does the toy make?," "What do you think Dan's new toy is?," and "What is your favorite toy? Why?". After the reading students are asked to read aloud and respond to these questions with answers about the text.
Lesson 13
Other Vowel Sounds ou, ow
Activity 5.1 directs the child to read The Hound and the Owl and then answer specific comprehension questions: "What does the hound do during the day?" "What does the hound do at night?" and "Why do you think the hound howls at the owl?" Day 5 also instructs the child to reread the Weekly Message and to point to words with the /ou/ sound and explain usage, which prompts verbal explanation of text-related details.
Lesson 14
Other Vowel Sounds aw, au
On Day 5 students read Reader #14 — The Pups on their own and then read it aloud to the teacher. After reading, students are asked explicit comprehension questions such as "Where do the pups sleep?" and "What are some of the things the puppies in the story do?" The activity also prompts an open-ended question: "What else do you think puppies like to do?"
Lesson 15
These Make More Than One Sound: oo and ea
Activity 5.1 has students read Reader #15 (The Bad Bear) independently and then answer explicit comprehension questions such as "What are some of the naughty things the bear does?" and "What happens when the bear's mom finds her?". Activity 4.2 has students complete a "Question Words" page in which they read question words and fill blanks to create full questions (e.g., "Where is the beach?"), practicing formation of questions. The wrapping-up prompts also ask students specific questions about texts/messages for recall and understanding.
Lesson 16
Silent Starts: kn, wr, gn
Students read The Gnats independently and then read it aloud to an adult (Activity 5.2). After reading, the adult asks specific comprehension questions about key events, e.g., "What do the gnats do to the kids at the playground?" and "What do the gnats do at the picnic?", and the student is expected to answer them. The activity also includes an open-ended question ("What do gnats do that you think is annoying?") that asks students to provide a text-related response.