Top
10 EC
FIRST GRADE ELA CURRICULUM GUIDE
Priority
Knowledge Targets Reasoning Targets
ISS Student Friendly Learning Target
(NCSCOS)
E, M, I, N
Competency Goal 1: The learner will
develop and apply enabling strategies and
skills to read and write
Student-Friendly Language:
I can use letters and sounds to make words.
1.01 Develop phonemic awareness and
demonstrate knowledge of alphabetic principle:
a.Count syllables in a word
I can clap out the parts of a word.
b.Blend the phonemes of one-syllable words
I can put sounds together.
c. Segment the phonemes of one-syllable words
I can say the sounds in a word.
d. Change the beginning, middle, and ending
sounds to produce new words (E-2)
I can change the beginning, middle, and end
sounds to make a new word.
e. Create and state a series of rhyming words
that may include consonant blends (e.g. flag,
brag)
I can hear and say rhyming words.
E-1
E-2 (d)
Vocabulary:
Syllables
Rhyming
Consonants
Vowels
Chunks
Combine
Blend
Beginning
Middle
End
Performance/ Skill
Targets
Combine letter
sounds to make a one
syllable word
Phonemic Awareness
NC K-2 Literacy
Assessment
Identify the
beginning, middle
and end of words
Count the syllables in
words (NC Lit. Assess.
9)
Product Targets
X
Perform how many
syllables by clapping
(snapping, stomping)
Combining sounds to
make words
(NC Lit. Assess. 5, 6, 7,
8)
Make new words by
changing beginning,
middle, and end (NC
Lit. Assess. 13, 14, 15)
Rhyming Words (NC
Lit. Assess. 1 and 2)
Student-Friendly Language:
I can use words I know to read words I
don’t know.
1.02 Demonstrate decoding and word
recognition strategies and skills:
Student-Friendly Language:
I can read words with long vowels.
I can read words with short vowels.
a. Generate the sounds from all letters
and appropriate letter patterns which
E-1
(a,b,c,f)
E-1
Vocabulary:
Letters
Sounds
Vowels
Consonants
Distinguish between
long and short vowel
sounds
Distinguish between
Read words with
consonant blends
Read words with long
and short vowels
X
FIRST GRADE ELA CURRICULUM GUIDE
should include consonant blends and
long and short vowel patterns
Blends/blending
Patterns
a vowel and
consonant
patterns (CVC; CVCe)
Identify letter sounds
Student-Friendly Language:
I can use sounds I know to figure out new
words.
b. Use phonics knowledge of sound-letter
relationships to decode regular onesyllables words when reading words
and text
E-1
Student-Friendly Language:
I can read my 1st grade sight words.
c. Recognize many high frequency and/or
common irregularly spelled words in
text (e.g., have, said, where, two)
E-1
Identify letter blends
Vocabulary:
Decode
Phonics
Syllables - Parts
Blend letter sounds to Read one-syllable
read one syllable
words
words using different
strategies:
-Stretch it
-Blend it
-Chunk it
X
NONE
Read high frequency
words
X
Compound words
Contractions
Apostrophe
Root (base) words
Combine two words
to make a contraction
and/or compound
words
Read compound words
X
Vocabulary:
High Frequency
Sight Words
Irregular (tricky words
that don’t follow the
rule)
Identify high
frequency words
Student-Friendly Language:
I can use words I know to read compound
words.
I can use words I know to read contractions.
1.02 Demonstrate decoding and word
recognition strategies and skills:
d.) Read compound words and contractions
Student-Friendly Language:
I can use known words to read words with
different endings.
1.02 Demonstrate decoding and word
recognition strategies and skills:
e.) Read inflectional forms (e.g., -s, -ed, -ing)
and root words (e.g., looks, looked, looking)
E2
E2
Suffix
Root (base) words
Find the base (root)
word and suffix
Read words with
inflected endings:
 ed /t/
 ed /d/
 ed (/ed/)
 s
 ing
X
Student-Friendly Language:
I can make and read word families.
M
Vocabulary:
Word Families
Sort words by word
families
Read word families
X
Read contractions
FIRST GRADE ELA CURRICULUM GUIDE
f.
Read appropriate word families
Student-Friendly Language:
I can check my own reading by asking: Does
that make sense? Sound right? Look right?
1.03 Use pronunciation, sentence meaning,
story meaning, and syntax to confirm accurate
decoding or to self-correct errors
Student-Friendly Language:
I can check my own reading by using
different strategies.
1.04 Self-monitor decoding by using one or
two decoding strategies (e.g., beginning letters,
rhymes, length of word, ending letters)
I can read a book by myself for 15 minutes.
1.05 Increase vocabulary, concepts, and
reading stamina by reading self-selected texts
independently for 15 minutes daily. Selfselected texts should be consistent with the
student’s independent reading level
Chunks
E2
Sentence order
(syntax)
Self correct
Decode
Build word families
Fix my errors when
reading
Use clues to decode
words
Order words to give
the sentence meaning
Use clues to make
sense of what I am
reading
Recognize my errors
when reading.
E2
E2
Show ability to self
correct
Use strategies to read
by myself
X
Letter
Word
Strategy
Rhymes
Chunking
Blend
Independent
Choose correct
strategy to decode
words
X
Self-select book to
read independently
for 15 minutes or
more.
X
X
Vocabulary:
Fiction
Non-fiction
Prior Knowledge
Compare/contrast
prior knowledge to
fiction and nonfiction text
Use prior knowledge to
explain what you have
read
X
Competency Goal 2: The learner will
develop and apply strategies and skills to
comprehend text that is read, heard, and
viewed
2.01 Read aloud independently with fluency
and comprehension any text that is
appropriately designed for emergent readers
2.02 Demonstrate the familiarity with a variety
of texts (storybooks, short chapter books,
newspapers, telephone books, and everyday
print such as signs and labels, poems, word
plays using alliteration and rhyme, skits and
short plays)
Student-Friendly Language:
I can read and understand fiction and nonfiction stories by:
2.03 Read and comprehend both fiction and
I
M
E-1
FIRST GRADE ELA CURRICULUM GUIDE
non-fiction text appropriate for grade one
using:
-Using what I already know to understand
the story.
a. Prior knowledge
b. Summary
Add
B, D?
(already know)
Connections
I can ask questions.
c. Questions
d. Graphic Organizers
E-1
Student-Friendly Language:
I can summarize both fiction (make-believe)
and non-fiction (real) stories
I can retell both fiction (make-believe) and
non-fiction (real) stories.
2.03 Read and comprehend both fiction and
non-fiction text appropriate for grade one
using:
b.) Summary
Student-Friendly Language:
I can use thinking maps to tell about both
fiction (make-believe) and non-fiction (real)
stories.
2.03 Read and comprehend both fiction and
non-fiction text appropriate for grade one
using:
d.) Graphic organizers
E2
Student-Friendly Language:
I can use what I know along with new
vocabulary to make connections to a text.
2.04 Use preparation strategies to anticipate
vocabulary of a text and to connect prior
knowledge and experiences to a new text
E2
E-1
Vocabulary:
Fiction
Non-fiction
Question words
Connections
Graphic organizers
Fiction/ non-fiction
Character
Setting
Plot
Cause & effect
Before & after
Positional words
Retell
Graphic organizers
Fiction/ non-fiction
Character
Setting
Plot
Cause & effect
Before & after
Positional words
Choose an appropriate
graphic organizer to
help me understand
the story.
Vocabulary:
Connections
Experiences
Relate
Vocabulary
Comprehend
Explain
Formulate questions
about the text
Ask and answer
questions about the text
X
Analyze story to find
the main idea
Find the main parts of a
story (summarize)
X
Categorize text as
fiction or nonfiction.
Retell the story in my
own words.
Analyze story to find
the main idea
Use graphic organizers
to identify parts of a
story
X
Connect personal
experiences to the
experiences that happen
in the story
X
Distinguish between
fiction and nonfiction.
Compare/Contrast
life experiences to
what happens in the
story
*See NC K-2 Literacy
Assessment p.52
FIRST GRADE ELA CURRICULUM GUIDE
Text to text
Text to self
Text to world
Student-Friendly Language:
I can predict what will happen next in the
story.
2.05 Predict and explain what will happen next
in stories
M
Student-Friendly Language:
I can check my understanding by using
different strategies.
2.06 Self-monitor comprehension by using one
or two strategies (questions, retelling,
summarizing)
Student-Friendly Language:
I can discuss and explain how, why, what-if,
when, and where after hearing or reading a
story
2.07 Respond and elaborate in answering
what, when, where, and how questions
2.08 Discuss and explain response to how,
why, and what if questions in sharing
narrative and expository texts
E2
2.09
Read and understand simple written
instructions
M
Competency Goal 3: The learner will
make connections through the use of
oral language, written language, and
media/ technology
E2
Know how to make
connections based on
their prior experiences
Vocabulary:
Predict
Sequence
Explain
Summarize
Explain
Describe
Elaborate
Expository
Retell
Identify
Question
Discuss
Narrative
Explain
When- setting (time)
What- plot (and
critical thinking type
questions)
Where- setting (place)
Howproblem/solution
Why- cause/effect
(fiction), p.53 (nonfiction)
Predict what will
happen next in the
story using prior
knowledge and
picture clues
X
X
Choose correct
strategy to
understand what I
have read
Show understanding by
using correct strategies
(questions, retelling,
summarizing)
X
X
X
Think critically about
what the question is
asking.
Justify answers to
how, what, when,
and why questions.
FIRST GRADE ELA CURRICULUM GUIDE
Student-Friendly Language:
I can make connections from the story to my
own life.
3.01 Elaborate on how information and events
connect to life experiences
E2
Life experience
Compare/contrast
Cause/effect
Connections
Student-Friendly Language:
I can use vocabulary to understand similar
stories.
3.02 Recognize and relate similar vocabulary
use and concepts across experiences with texts
E2
Vocabulary within
stories
Compare & Contrast
Graphic Organizers
Student-Friendly Language:
I can tell about words I have heard or read
in a story.
3.03 Discuss unfamiliar oral and/or written
vocabulary after listening to or reading texts
E2
Vocabulary within
stories
3.04 Share personal experiences and responses
to experiences with text:
 Publishing non-print texts
 Discussing interpretations
Recording personal responses
3.05 Recognize how particular authors use
vocabulary and language to develop an
individual, recognizable voice
3.06 Discuss authors’/speakers’ use of different
kinds of sentences to interest a reader/listener
and communicate a message
M
I
I
Compare and
contrast events in the
story to events in life:
- Text to self
- Text to text
- Text to world
Recognize and
understand
vocabulary within
stories by using
picture clues, prior
knowledge, and word
clues from the text.
X
X
X
X
KWL
Discuss and
understand
vocabulary within
stories by using
picture clues and
prior knowledge.
X
X
FIRST GRADE ELA CURRICULUM GUIDE
Writing
Student-Friendly Language:
I can tell why the author put a period,
question mark, or exclamation mark at the
end of a sentence.
I can tell why the author used capital letters
in a sentence.
3.07 Compare authors’ uses of conventions of
language that aid readers including:
 Kinds of sentences
 Capitalization of first word in a
sentence and proper names
 Punctuation to end a declarative and
E2
Comma
Period
Question mark
Exclamation
Quotation
Proper names
Capital and lower case
letters
Compare kinds of
sentences including
use of punctuation
and capitalization.
X
X
X
X
X
Use the descriptive
language of the story
X
X
Determine the kind
of sentence that the
author wrote by using
punctuation and
capitalization rules.
interrogative sentence
Competency Goal 4: The learner will
apply strategies and skills to create oral,
written, and visual texts
4.01 Select and use new vocabulary and
language structures in both speech and writing
contexts (e.g., oral retelling using exclamatory
phrases to accent an idea or event)
Student-Friendly Language:
I can name the characters, setting, and plot
of the story.
4.02 Use words that describe, name
characters and settings (who, where) and tell
action and events (what happened, what did __
do) in simple texts
M
E-1
Vocabulary:
Who
What
Where
When
Characters
Setting
Action
Plot
Describe
Problem
Solution
Know parts of a story
Student-Friendly Language:
I can tell about the beginning, middle, and
end of a story.
I can use detailed words when retelling the
E-1
Vocabulary:
Oral
Written
Sparkle words
FIRST GRADE ELA CURRICULUM GUIDE
Adjectives
Specific
Describe
Label/Name
Action
Verbs (Action words)
story.
4.03 Use specific words to name and tell
action in oral and written language (e.g., using
words such as frog and toad when discussing a
nonfiction text)
4.04 Extend skills in using oral and written
language:
 Clarifying purposes for engaging in
communication
 Using clear and precise language to
paraphrase messages
 Engaging in more extended oral
discussions
 Producing written products
 Completing graphic organizers
4.05 Write and/or participate in writing by
using an author’s model of language and
extending the model (e.g., writing different
ending for a story, composing an innovation of
a poem)
Student-Friendly Language:
I can write in different ways.
4.06 Compose a variety of products (e.g.,
stories, journal entries, letters, response logs,
simple poems, oral retellings) using a writing
process
I
N
E2
Compose
Story
Journal
Log
Poems
Letters
Writing process
Product
Organize writing to
produce the correct
product.
Vocabulary:
Coding
Phonics
Organize and sort
words according to
spelling patterns
Use the correct process
to write
*See NC rubric
Write the finished
product.
Create a variety of
writing products.
Determine the
components of good
writing.
Writing
Competency Goal 5: The learner will
apply grammar and language
conventions to communicate effectively
Student-Friendly Language:
I can use what I know to spell three and four
letter words.
E-1
Use word patterns
(word families) to
correctly spell three and
X
FIRST GRADE ELA CURRICULUM GUIDE
5.01 Use phonic knowledge and basic patterns
(e.g., an, ee, ake) to spell correctly three- and
four-letter words
Student-Friendly Language:
I can write and spell words independently
(by myself).
Patterns
Consonant
Vowel
Silent “e”
Rules
E-1
Vocabulary:
Temporary (inventive)
Correct spelling
four letter words
Give examples of
three and four letter
words using spelling
patterns
Give examples of
temporary and
conventional spelling
words
5.02 Apply phonics to write independently,
using temporary and/or conventional spelling
Student-Friendly Language:
I can write all my upper and lowercase
letters correctly.
5.03 Write all upper and lower case letters of
the alphabet, using correct letter formation
Student-Friendly Language:
I can write complete sentences.
Read back what is
written (students)
M
E-1
5.04 Use complete sentences to write simple
texts
Student-Friendly Language:
I can write sentences using capitals and end
marks.
5.05 Use basic capitalization and
Use temporary spelling
to demonstrate
knowledge of letter
sounds
M
Vocabulary:
Alphabet
Capital (upper)
Lowercase
Form
Identify all lower and
uppercase letters
Vocabulary:
Complete
Incomplete
Subject
Verb
Predicate
Action word
Punctuation
Capitalization
End marks
Vocabulary:
Nouns
(proper/common)
Periods
Discriminate between Use correct letter
upper and lowercase
formation to write
letters
upper and lowercase
letters
Distinguish between
complete and
incomplete sentences
Use complete sentences
to express a complete
thought
Write and spell
words
independently using
temporary and/or
conventional
spelling.
Write upper and
lowercase letters
X
Fix an incomplete
Use complete sentences
sentence by making it to write a simple story
into a complete
sentence
Give examples of
complete sentences
Examine a sentence
for correct
capitalization and
punctuation.
Make a complete
sentence using basic
capitalization and
punctuation skills
X
FIRST GRADE ELA CURRICULUM GUIDE
punctuation:
 First word in a sentence
 Proper names
 Period to end declarative sentence
 Question mark to end interrogative
sentence

Student-Friendly Language:
I can check my writing using different
strategies.
5.06 Self-monitor composition by using one or
two strategies (e.g., rereading, peer
conferences)
5.07 Use legible manuscript handwriting
Questions marks
Exclamation points
Capitalization
Punctuation
Beginning
End
E2
Reread
Peer conferences
Be familiar with the
writing checklist or
rubric
M
Choose correct
strategy to
understand what I
have written
Use writing checklist or
rubric
X