First Grade - ELA
1: Environment
Unit 1: Habitats and Homes
Lesson 3
Guide to Animal Habitats
Students are asked to listen to Crinkleroot's Guide to Animal Habitats read aloud and, as the story is read, to point out the animals and plants living in each habitat, which requires describing the story's settings using key details. Students complete a "Habitat Journey" activity that has them order the habitats Crinkleroot visited, which practices identifying the sequence of events in the story. Early prompts ask students to identify Crinkleroot on the cover and predict who he is and what he will do, engaging students in thinking about a character and making predictions about events.
Lesson 4
Animals Live and Grow
Students listen to Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt and answer targeted questions: Q1 asks what season it is and "How do you know?" (asking students to cite details to describe the setting). Questions 2–5 prompt students to explain events (waiting to plant, giving plants water, harvesting) and reasons for actions, and Q7 asks how animals help the plants (identifying character roles/actions).
Lesson 5
Discovering Animal Habitats
Students are asked in Activity 1 and Activity 2 to identify and describe animals found in six habitats (forest, ocean, rainforest, polar, savanna, desert) and to discuss what they see in the pictures. Students draw additional animals in each habitat, label habitats (Option 2), and describe the plants, animals, and natural resources found in each habitat. Activity 3 asks students to draw a favorite animal habitat and label animals and their food and water sources, and the Wrapping Up asks students to describe each environment they explored. These tasks require students to describe settings and the creatures that live there using details from pictures and their drawings.
Lesson 6
Exploring Animal Habitats
Students are asked to create "A Day in the ______: A ______'s Life," where they draw an animal (character), fill in the habitat (setting), and dictate a short story that begins "I am a ____. I live in the ____" and continues with "One day I ____." Students are prompted to think about what the animal eats, where it gets water, other animals it might encounter, and what it spends its time doing, and to record and read the resulting narrative. Students also draw and label observations from a real habitat, answering questions about where plants are, what animals are doing, and how animals move, which provides key details about setting and actions.
Lesson 8
Animal Care
Students listen to The Salamander Room and answer direct questions such as "What kind of animal did the boy find?" and "Where did he find it?", which prompts identification of characters and setting. Students are asked "What kind of environment did the salamander need?" and "Could the boy give the salamander the kind of habitat it lived in when it was in the forest? Why or why not?", which asks them to use key details about the setting and consequences. Students design a shoebox habitat and answer questions like "What do pets need?" and "What would happen if we didn't provide a healthy environment?", which has them apply story details to describe needs and environmental characteristics.
Lesson 9
Animal Designs
Activity 4 asks students to tell a creative story about an animal that ends up in the wrong habitat, describe how the animal gets there, what happens to it, and how it finally gets back home, and to draw the animal first in its correct habitat and then in the wrong habitat. In Activities 1–3 students name animals and habitats, act out movements, and explain which animals do not belong in pictured habitats, practicing description of setting and character actions with key details.
Lesson 10
Amazing Animals
Students are given narrated scenarios in Activity 2 where they pretend to be animals (a starfish at the bottom of the deep ocean; a lizard on a green leaf) and are asked how they would feel and what they would do. In those scenarios students explain major events (a starfish losing an arm, a lizard being chased and using camouflage) and are prompted to state outcomes (the starfish's arm will grow back; lizards can change color to hide). The lesson asks students to analyze the "Amazing Changes" page and to present dramatic interpretations, supporting practice in talking about animal characters and their actions.
Unit 2: Weather
Lesson 2
Types of Precipitation
Students are asked after reading Oh Say Can You Say What's the Weather Today? to find each pictured habitat and describe its weather, which addresses identifying and describing settings. Students are also asked what the characters looked like when they were hot and when they were cold (pp. 26-29), which prompts description of characters' appearances and reactions. The read-aloud and follow-up discussion questions ask students to reread specified pages and discuss details, giving opportunities to use picture and text details.
Lesson 5
Fall
Students are asked to look at the "It's Fall!" picture and answer questions about what the people are wearing, what the plants and trees look like, what the people are doing, what the sky looks like, and how the weather feels. Students circle three favorite items in the picture, write the names of those items, identify beginning letters, and use each word in a sentence about the scene. Students write sentences describing the illustrated scene on the provided lines, which requires using key details from the picture to describe people and the setting.
Lesson 6
Winter
In Activity 1, students are asked to find winter pages in the book Whatever the Weather and describe what they see in the pictures, including similarities and differences with their own winter environment. In the same activity, students dictate (or write) a personal winter story, illustrate it, and attempt to read it aloud, practicing sequencing and describing events in their own narrative.
Lesson 7
Spring
In Activity 1 children are asked to read each poem, say what the poem was about, and either match the poem to an illustration or create an illustration that helps tell the poem's story. The poems (e.g., "Hatch!", "Growing Flower") contain clear events and simple characters (a chick, a child) and settings (field, rain) that students are prompted to identify through discussion and drawing. The matching and illustration tasks require students to connect textual details to visual representations of story events and scenes.
Lesson 8
Summer
Students complete a short fill-in-the-blank story about Jessie's family trip by choosing words for setting and actions and then read the completed passage aloud (Activity 2). Students are asked to illustrate the completed story (Option 2), which asks them to represent setting and events visually. In Activity 1 students answer questions that require them to describe the environment, say what is happening, and explain how the children feel in a pictured scene.
Unit 3: Community
Lesson 1
On the Town
Students are asked after reading the story to identify "What places did Charlie visit in his community?" and "What do you think was Charlie's favorite place?", which prompts them to name and recall settings and a character preference. Activity 3 asks students to draw a new page showing a unique place Charlie could visit and to write or dictate a sentence about Charlie visiting this place, which has students produce descriptive details about setting and a character's action. The vocabulary and fill-in-the-blank activities require students to place community locations into sentence context, reinforcing identification of settings.
Lesson 2
My Community Environment
In Activity 3, students look through books and describe the communities found in the illustrations, select three books, copy each title, and draw a simple illustration of the community in each story. Activity 1 has students listen to Me on the Map, identify the town map features (streets, buildings, river), and trace paths between buildings while discussing the purpose of each place. Activity 2 has students label places on a poster and write or dictate brief descriptions of how each place serves the community.
Lesson 3
Jobs in the Community
Students are asked to read or attempt to read books about community workers and to "read or attempt to read own story" (Skills and Activity 6), giving them exposure to texts about characters. Students are asked to describe what they saw when observing a community worker (Activity 3) and to record one simple sentence about how each worker helps citizens (Activity 5), practicing describing a person and their actions. Students write a "When I Grow Up" paragraph (Activity 4), producing narrative details about a chosen worker's actions and role.
Lesson 7
A Citizen with Character
Students retell "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" by illustrating and writing or dictating sentences for the beginning, middle, and end, which has them identify major events. Students read and respond to "A Lesson in Honesty," answering questions about Riley's actions and predicting what will happen next, which has them describe character behavior and events. Students read books with characters exhibiting traits and record actions and consequences, which has them describe character actions and the outcomes using examples from the stories.
Lesson 8
Rules and Laws
Students hear or read the short story "The House with No Rules." Students answer guided questions such as "What kinds of things happen in the house with no rules?" and "Would you stay in the house with no rules? Why or why not?", which ask them to identify events and react to the setting. Students are also asked what they would and would not like about the house, prompting discussion of aspects of the setting and consequences of actions.
Lesson 9
Caring for Our Communities
Students read the story "When One Person Cares" about Katy and are asked explicit comprehension questions such as what happens at the beginning, middle, and end, where Katy lives, and what she does to be a good citizen. The skills list includes "Demonstrate a sense of story (beginning, middle, and end)," and extension activities ask students to identify and discuss settings in picture books and movies. Activity 2 asks students to compare two pictured communities and mark specific good and bad elements, prompting them to describe setting details.
2: Similarities and Differences
Unit 1: Amazing Attributes
Lesson 10
Earth Materials: Rocks, Soil, and Water
Students are asked to compare characters directly (e.g., "How are the characters similar and different?" with answers noting the child and adult pairings) and to identify who is telling the story in the Skills list. Students are prompted to describe settings (e.g., "Describe the habitat of the pond" and comparing the two book covers and worlds over/under). The Skills list also includes comparing and contrasting the adventures and experiences of characters in stories, and several reading questions require students to provide concrete descriptions based on the text and illustrations.
Unit 2: Senses
Lesson 2
Senses and Body Parts
Students listen to or create a story about Jackie and are asked to identify where the story will take place and to plan a beginning, middle, and end (Option 2). Students listen to the read-aloud "Jackie's Day at the Pet Store," track when Jackie uses each sense, and pick up or glue the corresponding body part as events occur (Option 1). Students sequence events by gluing sense organs at the appropriate times, and the story includes a clear setting (pet shop) and a sequence of major events (entering the shop, seeing animals, finding a puppy, touching and tasting, deciding to keep the puppy).
Lesson 4
Hearing and Seeing
Students listen to The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses read aloud and answer targeted questions such as "What happened when the bus driver flipped the green switch?" which asks them to identify a major event. Students are asked to describe Ms. Frizzle (character) and to identify locations the bus travels into (a policeman's eye, a dog's nose, Ms. Frizzle's mouth), which requires naming settings. The Skills section also lists "Listen responsively to text read aloud" and "Describe experiences and ideas orally," supporting students' practice in describing story elements aloud.
Lesson 6
Experimenting With Our Senses
Activity 3 asks the child to tell a story about a time he ate or drank his favorite flavor, records that story, and encourages him to read it aloud. The Skills section lists "Use descriptive words in speech and writing (LA)," supporting practice in adding sensory detail to spoken and written language. Activity 4 has the child write or dictate a sentence about something he smelled or tasted, giving additional practice with descriptive writing.
Lesson 7
Using All of Our Senses
Students are asked, after reading My Five Senses (pages beginning at page 21), to identify which senses the boy in the story used and how he used each sense. Activity 3 asks students to look through books and identify ways the characters in stories are using their senses, with Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear given as examples. The Nature Walk and activity pages require students to record what they hear, see, smell, and feel, reinforcing attention to sensory details tied to characters' experiences.
Lesson 8
Writing About Our Senses
Students are asked to illustrate a memorable event and write one sensing word, phrase, or sentence for each of the five senses on the "Sensing My Day" pages, which has them describe an event using sensory details. In "A Sensible Report" students examine popcorn before and after popping, fill in sentences about how it felt, sounded, smelled, and tasted, and draw before/after pictures, practicing writing sensory descriptions of an event. The introduction and activities prompt students to use adjectives and sensing words to create detailed images, and students attempt to write and read their sensory reports.
Unit 3: We're the Same, We're Different
Lesson 1
You're Special
Students complete a fill-in-the-blank "You Are Special" paragraph using answers to prompts such as name and where you live, then read and share that personal story aloud. The activity asks students to answer questions about what makes them happy or sad and what they look forward to, which require them to provide key personal details. The Skills list also includes "Discuss, illustrate, and dramatize stories," indicating opportunities for oral sharing and dramatization.
Lesson 2
Physical Characteristics
Students retell the "Different Friends" story and answer targeted questions about what happened at the beginning, middle, and end, and they sequence event boxes to put major events in order. Students describe the physical characteristics of the two main characters (Susan the ladybug and Casey the caterpillar) and complete hands-on activities that require identifying, drawing, or pasting facial features and other body parts. Students create their own friendship story with at least two characters and are asked to choose where the story will take place.
Lesson 3
Different Personalities
Students record and illustrate the main characters from a favorite movie or cartoon and are asked to think of two words to describe each character's personality (Activity 3). Students use vocabulary from Activity 1 (personality words) and paste or write those words around pictures of characters, practicing selection of descriptive words. In Activity 2 students identify personality traits for themselves and others and compare/shared traits, reinforcing use of descriptive details about people/characters.
Lesson 5
Shapesville
Students identify the shape of each character as they listen and count the number of sides and angles. Students describe each character's physical characteristics (color, sides, angles, eye color) and review personality traits and interests. Students draw, color, and write or dictate descriptions of a chosen shape on the "What Is Your Shape?" sheet and answer comprehension questions about how the shapes look and act.
Lesson 6
Different Families
Students read selected pages of A Life Like Mine that profile individual children (Vincent, Natalie, Michael, Ivana) and locate each child's country on a map, giving opportunities to refer to people and places in the text. Students identify pictures of families and describe clothing, physical characteristics, activities, homes, and how family members interact with one another. Students compare and contrast their own family with families in the book using sentence prompts or a Venn diagram and draw illustrations to support their descriptions.
Lesson 7
Different Homes
Students are asked to read pages 26–35 of A Life Like Mine and identify and describe the different homes shown in the book, including the materials used and reasons people have homes. Students are prompted to identify materials used to build their own home and to explain that homes provide shelter and family space. Students sketch and construct a "dream home," record country names for homes found, and write a sentence about their home, all of which require describing aspects of homes and settings. Students are asked in wrapping-up questions to describe the type of home they would like and explain why homes around the world look different.
Lesson 9
Different Modes of Transportation
Students are asked in Activity 3 to draw a picture of themselves taking a mode of transportation to a destination and to tell a story about that trip, which they record and attempt to read aloud. Activity 4 asks students to write or copy a sentence about a mode of transportation they have taken, prompting simple narrative/sentence production. The wrapping up activity has students act out travel modes and describe examples of times they might choose particular ways of traveling.
Final Project
Differences Make the World Go 'Round
Students create a book comparing themselves and a child from another country and fill in character details such as names, hobbies, and clothing. Students identify and describe settings by completing prompts about location, homes, transportation, food, and holidays. Student activity pages prompt students to write sentences like "I live in..." and "(name) lives in..." and to illustrate those details, which requires supplying specific descriptive information.
3: Patterns
Unit 2: Patterns in Sounds, Words, and Actions
Lesson 1
Word Patterns
Students identify characters by copying or dictating the names of animals from Bear Hugs and then identify the habitat where each animal lives (Activity 4). Students sort animal names into habitat groups and can draw habitat pictures, practicing setting identification. Students read and act out or illustrate a favorite nursery rhyme (Activity 2) and are asked to distinguish that storybooks have a beginning, middle, and end in the introduction.
Lesson 3
Poetry Patterns
Students are asked to read poems and answer "what each poem is about," and to discuss, illustrate, or dramatize a story or poem. A named character, "Sammy Square," appears in one poem, and students circle rhyming words and can illustrate that poem. In the song activity, students identify a sequence of events (we'll find a fox, put it in a box, and then we'll let it go) and are invited to write another verse describing actions.
Lesson 5
Story Patterns
Students are prompted to identify and describe the beginning, middle, and end of a story through questions (e.g., "What happened at the beginning/middle/end?") and by sequencing pictures and writing or dictating a sentence for each part. Students are asked to talk about important events, predict outcomes, and retell events after reading new short stories. Students are introduced to the term "characters" and asked to think about who will be in their own story, plan those characters, illustrate them, and act out their stories with puppets or dolls.
Final Project
Patterns Video
Students complete a Story Pattern student page that asks them to name the pattern, list what it is made of, and sequence events with prompts: "First comes..., Then..., Then...". Students prepare and practice spoken descriptions of each pattern to include in a video, and they are instructed to use examples from books for the story pattern. The activity asks students to describe the parts of patterns and the steps in a story pattern.
Unit 3: Patterns in Your World
Lesson 9
Counting Patterns
Students listen to and interact with the 'How Many Clowns?' story by placing clown faces in a car as they enter, filling in blanks for the number of clowns, and then telling their own version of the clowns' story. The Skills list and activities ask students to 'Listen to a story read aloud,' 'Answer questions about a story read aloud,' and 'Act out a story,' which prompts oral retelling and dramatization. The handwriting activity asks students to write a sentence about the clowns in the car, encouraging a brief written response about story content.
4: Change
Unit 1: Changes on Planet Earth
Lesson 5
Changes in Location
Students complete picture-based sentences (Where Did He Go?) by supplying prepositions to state where the cat is (e.g., on top, under, beside). Students cut out a mouse and move it to positions described by sentences (Mouse in the House), and some options ask students to write simple sentences describing the mouse's location. Students go outside or look around a room and record three or four sentences that describe the relationship of objects (e.g., "The bush is beside the tree"), and they follow and give spoken directions that change their own location relative to objects.
Unit 2: Characters Change
Lesson 1
What's in a Name
Students answer comprehension questions that ask how Chrysanthemum felt before and after school and why (Questions #1 and #2) and how Mrs. Twinkle changed classmates' feelings (Question #4). Students interpret author's phrases to identify Chrysanthemum's feelings and illustrate her face (Activity 3: Feeling Phrases). Students list three words/phrases describing Chrysanthemum at the beginning and end of the story and write sentences about how she changed (Activity 5: Characters Change).
Lesson 2
Why Worry?
Students listen to a read-aloud of Wemberly Worried and answer questions about specific incidents (the party, Halloween, and school), which requires recalling major events. Students complete a "Characters Change" page that asks them to describe how Wemberly was at the beginning and at the end and to explain why she changed. Students compare Wemberly and Chrysanthemum, discussing similarities, differences, and how the characters change over the course of their stories.
Lesson 3
Is It a Problem?
Students identify the beginning, middle, and end of What Do You Do With a Problem? (Activity 4) by ordering events and using a storyboard/answer key to show major events. Students complete a "Characters Change" page (Activity 5) that asks them to name how the boy is described at the beginning and end and to explain why he changed. Students answer guided reading questions (Q1–Q4) about how the problem is illustrated, how it grows, how the boy handles it, and what he learns, which requires them to refer to story details and events.
Lesson 4
Comparing Characters
Students use Venn diagrams to list similarities and differences between characters (Chrysanthemum, Wemberly, and the boy), prompting them to describe character traits, situations, families, and illustrations. Students dictate three- or four-sentence summaries that require one sentence for the beginning, one for the middle, and one for the end, so they retell major events and the story arc. Students answer guided questions (e.g., "How are the characters' situations similar?" and "What can we learn from both characters?") and complete cause-and-effect matching drawn from story events.
Lesson 5
The Raft
Students answer targeted comprehension questions across three days that ask who the characters are, what is in Grandma's living room (setting details), what the boy finds at the river, and what he paints on the raft (major events and reasons). Activity 7 (Story Elements) has students glue the character, setting, problem, and solution for each story, and Activity 8 (Characters Change) asks students to compare the boy at the beginning and end and explain how he changed. Additional tasks ask students to select sentences with "I," match vocabulary tied to story details, and discuss why the boy's feelings changed, all prompting use of specific story details.
Lesson 6
Positive and Negative Change
Students read a character description (the rat in the barn) and answer directed questions about how the rat feels, how others respond, and possible positive or negative responses. Students create and dictate a new ending showing how the rat changes, then read and discuss how and why the change occurred. Students reflect on characters from other stories (What Do You Do With a Problem?, Chrysanthemum, The Raft, Wemberly) and discuss choices and outcomes, and they illustrate and write or dictate sentences describing a personal change with descriptive wording.
Final Project
My Own Story
Students are asked to identify 2–3 characters and write three traits for each, and to decide which character changes (Part 2). Students are asked to illustrate the setting on paper and to keep the story to one or two places (Part 3). Students complete a Problem and Solution organizer that asks how the character is described at the beginning, what caused the problem, how the character got to the solution, and how the character changes from beginning to end (Part 4), and then dictate a story that follows a beginning, middle, and end and emphasizes the problem, solution, and character change (Parts 1, 5).
Unit 3: A First Look at History - Change Over Time
Lesson 3
Communities Change
Students are asked direct comprehension questions such as "Where did the story happen?" and "Who are the characters?" which requires them to identify the setting and characters. Students sequence and describe major events by cutting, numbering, and pasting events on a vertical timeline (Options 1 and 2) to place story events in chronological order. Students compare communities, point out differences in transportation, clothing, homes, and identify animals and artifacts from the story, using pictures and text to support their descriptions.
Lesson 4
Past and Present
Students read first-person "day in the life" sections (Hori, Caius, Marcus, Robert) and are asked to point out differences in setting, clothing, and activities. The Skills list and activities direct students to "identify the sequence of events in a story," to review that a story has a beginning, middle, and end, and to tell and record an adventure set in a past time period. Activity 4 and the "How Am I Different?" prompts ask students to state "One thing the young person did is," "One way the young person is different from me is," and "One way we are the same is," which requires describing characters and aspects of setting using details from the text and illustrations.
Lesson 6
Predicting Future Change
Students read short scenarios (e.g., "Your dad has gotten a new job in a different town") and answer questions about how the change will affect their family or others. In Activity 2 students write sentences describing a positive change and its result and a negative change and its result. In Activity 3 students dictate and write a description of a personal change and draw how they were before and after the change.
Lesson 7
People of the Past
Students are asked to describe a historical person directly by the question "How would you describe this person?" and to write a sentence about a historical person (Activity 4). Students identify what each person did to make positive changes through questions like "What did this person do to make a positive change?" and by matching descriptions to pictures in Activity 2. Students sequence individuals from oldest to most recent, which requires using key details (years and descriptions) to place events in order.
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 2
Letter Sounds Review II
Activity 5.3 asks students to read the reader The Pig Can, read the title, and describe what is on the cover. The activity asks students to answer and explain their thinking about a story event: "Do you think the pig and the cat can fit in the box?" Students are asked to read the book twice and point to each word as they read, supporting comprehension of the text.
Lesson 3
Letter Sounds Review III
In Activity 5.2 (Reader #3 — The Bug), students read the title, describe the cover, and read the book aloud while pointing to each word. After reading, students answer guided comprehension questions: "What is the bug able to do?" (actions/events), "What does the bug want to be able to do?" (character goal), and "Why can't he do that?" (problem/reason). These prompts require students to identify the character (the bug) and describe events and motivations from the story.
Lesson 4
Letter Sounds Review IV
In Activity 5.2 students read The Cat, the Pig, the Dog, and the Fox and then answer comprehension questions aloud. Students are asked explicit questions about character actions at the end of the book: "Why are the dog and the fox napping at the end of the book?" and "Why aren't the cat and the pig napping?" These tasks require students to describe what characters did and explain reasons for those actions.
Lesson 5
Adding s, More Word Families, Ending with ck
Students read Reader #5, Ducks Are Fun, first on their own and then aloud to an adult. After reading, students are asked the comprehension question, "Which duck do you think is having the most fun? Why?" The lesson also encourages students to re-read a previous reader (The Cat, the Pig, the Dog, and the Fox), providing additional opportunities to engage with characters in short texts.
Lesson 6
Open Syllables and Digraph th
Students read Reader #6 (This Is...) aloud and answer comprehension questions, including "What kind of pet does Dan have?" Activity 5.1 has students reconstruct sentences that include characters and actions (e.g., "The man ran with his pet."). Activity 5.2 asks students to identify character names (Meg, Dan, Sam) and to name the pet, which requires attending to a character detail.
Lesson 7
Consonant Digraphs ch, sh, wh, ph
In Activity 3.3 students read the short reader They Get Wet and are asked to predict "What do you think will happen in this book?" After reading, students are asked targeted comprehension questions: "Where is the ship at the beginning of the book?" (setting), "Why are the rat and the cat wet at the end?" (major event and cause), and "Why do you think the rat and the cat are on the ship?" (character purpose/motivation). These prompts require students to identify setting, characters, and major events using details from the text.
Lesson 8
Blends with s
The lesson asks the child to read the reader "Meg and Dan and the Sled" independently and aloud (Activity 4.3) and then asks comprehension questions such as why Meg and Dan are no longer on the sled (they fell off after they hit a spot and slid) and why they stop for a snack. The activity asks the child to point to each word as she reads, and to answer three targeted questions about events near the end of the story.
Lesson 9
Blends with l
Students read Reader #9 — The Club on their own and are asked specific comprehension questions after reading (e.g., "What color are the flags that are flying above the club?" and "What do the kids do at the club?"). Students are prompted to point to each word as they read, then to answer questions that identify setting details (flag color, club) and activities/major events (swim, stack blocks, have fun).
Lesson 10
Blends with r
Students read the short reader One Can and are asked comprehension questions that require identifying settings (e.g., "Where are the ducks swimming to?" and "What are the kids running on?"). The activity instructs students to read on their own while pointing to each word and then answer questions about details from the text.
Lesson 11
Ending Blends
Students read Reader #11 "At Camp" independently and aloud, pointing to each word as they read. Students answer comprehension questions such as "What do the kids do at camp?" and "What are the kids hunting for?", which require identifying the setting (camp) and major activities/events. Students are asked to state a personal preference ("What do you think your favorite camp activity would be?"), prompting them to discuss camp activities as events.
Lesson 12
Double ll, ss, ff, zz (FLOSS)
On Day 4, Activity 4.3 students read the reader Huff and Puff on their own and then answer comprehension questions such as "What insects are shown in the book?" which asks them to identify characters. The activity also asks "Why do you think the insects are following the kids?" and "Why is everyone huffing and puffing at the end of the book?" which prompt students to explain events and causes. Students are asked to point to each word as they read the book aloud, supporting text-based recall of story details.
Lesson 13
Glued Sounds ng and nk
Students read the reader King Hank on their own and aloud to an adult (Activity 4.3). After reading, students answer targeted questions about the text that ask for specific details: where the king and his friends sleep (in bunk beds) and what color drinks they drink (pink). The lesson also prompts students to revisit the Weekly Message to find words that end with ng or nk, encouraging review of text details.
Lesson 14
Three-Letter Beginning Blends
Students are asked to read Reader #14 Spring Has Sprung! independently and aloud, and then answer comprehension questions such as "What do the kids do at the track?" and "What do the kids do at the pond?" The activity directs students to point to each word as they read and to name actions (sprint, splash, squint, squish) associated with locations mentioned in the story, which connects events to settings.
Lesson 15
More Ending Blends
Students read The Raft Trip on their own and aloud, pointing to each word as they read. After reading, students answer questions that identify which animals are on the bank of the river (naming characters and setting) and which animals nap on the raft (identifying a story event). Students write and read dictated sentences that reference characters and setting (e.g., "An elk slept on the bed," "The rafts drift on the pond").
Lesson 17
Semester Review
Activity 4.1 asks students to point to or name characters in readers (Meg, Dan, King Hank, dog, fox, cat, pig) and to talk about the different things those characters do (they swim, camp, sing, go on a raft trip). Activity 4.2 provides a "Planning My Reader" page with a "Characters:" box and a separate "What Characters Do:" prompt and asks students to create their own reader with something different happening on each page. Several drawing-and-writing pages give students space to illustrate scenes and write about what happens on each page.
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 1
Long Vowels a and i with Silent e
Students read Reader #1 — In the Fall independently and aloud (Activity 5.1). They are asked explicit comprehension questions that require identifying what Lin and Dev like to do in the fall and what Lin does while Dev makes cakes, which asks students to name character actions and events. Students are also asked to point to words with long a or i when rereading the weekly message, reinforcing attention to details in text.
Lesson 2
Long Vowels o, u, and e with Silent e
Students read the reader They Chose To Doze and answer comprehension questions such as "What did the family do on their trip?" which asks them to list major events (rode in a car, ate snacks, slept, rode mules, slid on ropes). They are asked "Who fell off of the mule?" which prompts them to identify a character and a key action. The teacher points to the illustration and explains the dome and slope, giving students vocabulary tied to the story's setting.
Lesson 3
Hard and Soft c and g
Students read the reader 'These Mice' on their own and then answer specific comprehension questions (e.g., what the mice use to make beds, what they sit on to eat cake, and why they like their home). Students also write and read sentences that reference story elements (e.g., 'Many mice are in the cage.') during sentence dictation. These activities require students to identify characters (mice) and elements of the setting (their home, cage, objects like yarn and dice).
Lesson 4
More R-Controlled Vowels (er, ir, or, ur)
Students read Reader #4, "The Bird Is Third," independently and aloud (Activity 5.2). After reading, students answer comprehension questions that ask them to identify characters and events ("Who won the race?" and "Which animal came in last?"). Students are also asked to explain their reaction to the outcome ("Are you surprised... Who did you think would win? Why?"), prompting them to reference story details.
Lesson 5
Long a Spellings ai, ay
Students read The Gray Day on their own and then answer targeted questions such as "What do the boys play with indoors?" and "What animal do they see on the drain outside?," which prompt them to identify story details about events and setting. Students are also asked inferential questions like "What do you think the boys would do if they went outside?" that require them to think about story events. In sentence dictation, students write lines from the story ("The train is on the track."; "The trail is that way."), reinforcing specific event- and setting-related details.
Lesson 6
Long e Spellings ee, ey, ea
Students read the reader What Do You Eat? independently and aloud and then answer comprehension questions such as "What does the worm eat?" and "How many beans are the birds eating?" During Day 5 they are prompted to read the story and respond with specific factual details from the text. The activities also require students to read sentences from the reader aloud and to reread the Weekly Message, reinforcing attention to story wording and specific details.
Lesson 7
Long i Spellings y, igh, ie
Students read Reader #7 — The Dark Night on their own and then read it aloud. After reading, students answer specific comprehension questions such as "What do Tom and Val see in the sky?" and "What do Tom and Val dream about?" which ask them to identify character actions/experiences and elements of the story setting using details from the text.
Lesson 8
Long o Spellings ow, oa, oe
On Day 5 students read The Slow Boat on their own and then read it aloud to an adult. They answer direct comprehension questions such as "How many boats are in the race?" and "What color is the boat that wins the race?" Students are also asked a follow-up personal-response question: "If you were on a boat, would you want it to go fast or slow?"
Lesson 9
Long u Spellings ue, ew, ou
Students read the reader Would You Eat It? independently and aloud (Day 5, Activity 5.1). They answer explicit comprehension questions about characters and events (e.g., "What does Tom add to the stew?" and "What color does Val add to the stew?") and are asked to point to words with the long u sound in the Weekly Message. These activities require students to identify specific details about characters and story actions.
Lesson 10
Other Long Vowel Patterns
Students read The Wild Colt independently and aloud and then answer targeted comprehension questions (e.g., why the colt is hard to find; how the man stops the colt from bolting), which requires referring to character actions and story events. Students write and read dictated sentences about characters ("The child is kind." "The colt is blind."), practicing describing character traits. Several activities ask students to read story sentences aloud and identify who or what is happening, reinforcing attention to key details about characters and events.
Lesson 13
Other Vowel Sounds ou, ow
Students read the decodable reader The Hound and the Owl and answer targeted comprehension questions (Activity 5.1). The questions ask students to state what the hound does during the day and at night and to explain why the hound howls at the owl, prompting them to use story details (e.g., stays in the yard, prowls in the town). The lesson also prompts students to point out words and details from the Weekly Message tied to the story reading.
Lesson 14
Other Vowel Sounds aw, au
On Day 5 students read Reader #14 — The Pups on their own and then answer targeted comprehension questions: "Where do the pups sleep?" and "What are some of the things the puppies in the story do?" The activity asks students to recount setting (on a bed of straw) and list events/actions (nap/sleep, eat, chew paws, play with ball, have fun, dream). The follow-up prompt "What else do you think puppies like to do?" asks students to extend from text details to describe character activities.
Lesson 15
These Make More Than One Sound: oo and ea
Students read Reader #15, The Bad Bear, independently and then answer targeted questions asking them to list the naughty things the bear does (plays in the pool, takes books off the shelf, eats bread and cake, wears clothes, plays with toys, naps in the bed). Students answer a question about the outcome when the bear's mom finds her (the mom makes the bear clean up the mess). Students are also prompted to think of additional trouble the bear could cause, which requires using story details to describe character actions and events.
Lesson 16
Silent Starts: kn, wr, gn
The lesson includes Reader #16 — The Gnats, where students read the story and then answer targeted comprehension questions: "What do the gnats do to the kids at the playground?" and "What do the gnats do at the picnic?" These prompts require students to identify actions of characters and recount major events from the story. The lesson also asks, "What do gnats do that you think is annoying?", prompting students to reflect on events and behaviors from the text.