Grade: 1
Unit: 1
Title: Alphabet Books and Children Who Read Them
Essential Question
Key Content: The student will…
Why is it important to ask
questions while reading?
 Use pictures, illustrations, and details in a text to generate questions and
describe key ideas.
 Participate in shared research and writing projects, create a class
ABC book.
 Listen to one another in conversations and speak one at a time.
 Use choral reading to perform a poem.
Unit Focus
Questioning is foundational to learning, ideas are
processed through inquiry, thought, and conversation,
students perform shared research based on a class
question. Class creates an ABC book about a topic
paying close attention to sentence formation and
proper punctuation; students write about healthy habits
and support their writings with facts; students apply
their knowledge of questioning to poetry and perform
the poetry as a choral reading.
Insert text here
Vocabulary and Terms to Emphasize
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alphabet books
author
capitalization
illustrator
informational
key details
periods
poems
question marks
questions
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research
shared research
stories
topic
Code
Dates of Instruction: _______________________
 Use capitalization (names, places, dates) and punctuation.
 Write an informative essay on a healthy living topic.
Standard
Concept
RL.1.1
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
Questioning
RI.1.1
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
Questioning
Know basic features of print, such as distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word capitalized and
ending punctuation).
Understand spoken words, syllables, and sounds by being able to distinguish long and short vowels,
produce single-syllable words by blending, isolating, and segmenting sounds in single-syllable words.
Decode grade 1 level words: know spelling-sound correspondence for consonant diagraphs and regularly
spelled one-syllable words; vowels and final e; number of syllables in a word and that every syllable must
have a vowel; decode two-syllable words; read inflectional endings; read first grade irregularly spelled
words.
Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension (i.e., grade level text fluency with
comprehension and use context to confirm, or self-correct).
Concepts of Print
RF.1.1
RF.1.2
RF.1.3
RF.1.4
W.1.7
SL.1.1
L.1.1
L.1.2
Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore “how-to” books and use to write
sequential directions).
Work with a partner or in groups discussing grade 1 topics/texts, following rules (e.g., listening to others,
taking turns, etc.), and continue the conversation over multiple exchanges, ask questions to clarify.
Understand and communicate with those from different cultural backgrounds.*
Use standard English grammar in writing/speaking (upper-and lowercase letters; common, proper, and
possessive nouns; noun/verb agreement; correct pronoun agreements (e.g., they, them, their); tense;
adjectives; conjunctions; determiners; prepositions; and complete simple and compound sentences).
Use standard conventions of English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing (dates and
names of people, end punctuation, commas, conventional spelling patterns, and common irregularly
spelled words, spell words phonetically).
*Indicates standard specific to NY only.
Phonological Awareness
Phonological Awareness
Sight Words
Fluency
Directions
Sequencing
Cooperative Learning
Listening Skills
Clarifying Questions
Cultural Diversity
Language Conventions
Language Conventions:
Capitalization
Punctuation
Spelling
Grade: 1
Unit: 1
Title: Alphabet Books and Children Who Read Them
Dates of Instruction: _______________________
Suggested Activities/Investigations/Demos:
1.
DISCUSSION/ART CONNECTION: To demonstrate how asking questions help to open the mind and think deeply about something, share the
picture The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci (see Resources). Ask the students to study it closely for a few minutes and write down any
questions they have about what they see. Ask students to complete a think-pair-share about the painting and try to come up with additional
questions with their partner (e.g., What kinds of things are they doing? Who is Jesus eating with? What is Jesus saying to them?). Ask for groups
to share some of the questions that they wrote down. Write them on the board. For each question, ask if there is another question that they are
now wondering (e.g., What’s on the table? What are they eating? Do you recognize anyone in the painting?).
2.
DISCUSSION/READING/INFORMATIONAL: Read an ABC book, such as Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z, by Lois Ehlert.
Ask students to raise hands when they hear the name of a fruit that they do not know. Complete a Venn diagram graphic organizer with the
class to compare and contrast two fruits or vegetables.
Strategies
Think-pair-share
Graphic Organizer: Venn Diagram
Use Family Pictures, by Carmen Lomas Garza as a resource for discussing the importance of family dinner. This activity would make a
connection to Social Studies Unit 1 – My Family and Other Families and Unit 2 – History of My Family.
3.
LANGUAGE/WRITING: As a follow up to reading Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z, ask students to tell you their favorite
fruit. Record their answers on a chart. Remind students to answer the question with a complete declarative response, such as “My favorite fruit is
a strawberry.” Discuss the end punctuation. Remind students to listen to one another and speak one at a time. Ask students to draw a picture of
their favorite fruit and write one or two sentences about the fruit.
4.
READING/LITERARY: Use a shared reading format as you read the book Alphabet Mystery, by Audrey Wood, (or another appropriate readaloud book). Pause periodically and encourage students to ask questions and make predictions. Prompt students to use illustrations and details
in the text to describe key ideas.
5.
DISCUSSION/POETRY/FLUENCY: The theme of the poetry in this unit is the love of books and language. By visually displaying the poems,
students will review sight words and see how the poem is written (i.e., with lines and stanzas). Using a simple poem from Good Books, Good
Times!, by Lee Bennett Hopkins, encourage the students to read along repeating the lines and to ask questions until they understand the poem.
Use choral reading strategy by assigning groups to read different sections. Create a class poem by replacing the word “good’ with another
adjective or replacing the nouns with other people places or things.
6. WRITING/INFORMATIVE: Give students this prompt: “Children should eat healthy foods, exercise, and take care of their bodies.” Discuss some
ways to stay healthy. Provide each student with a copy of a basic web graphic organizer and ask them to write facts about how to keep our
bodies healthy. Students should use their web to create an informative essay about healthy habits. As students write, check that they are using
proper punctuation and capitalization and that they are correctly responding to the prompt.
7. WRITING/SHARED RESEARCH: Using the ABC books as a model, generate some ideas for writing a class ABC book. Allow the class to
suggest ideas (e.g., names, authors, animals, insects). After ideas have been shaped into a research question, have children vote on a theme for
the class ABC book. Once the theme is chosen, collect (and research using a variety of texts and digital resources) ideas for each letter of the
alphabet. Assign each student a letter in the book. Each page should include an upper and lower case letter, the key word, an illustration, and a
sentence using the key word. Review proper punctuation and capitalization.
Shared Reading
Choral Reading
Graphic Organizer: Basic Web
Grade: 1
Unit: 1
Title: Alphabet Books and Children Who Read Them
Dates of Instruction: _______________________
Cross-curricular Connections
Resources
Religion/Values: How do children see themselves as part of the church community? Do they volunteer?
Brainstorm ideas and write ideas on the board (e.g., Do they donate their old toys/clothing to the needy?).
Art: Have students draw a picture of what their table would look like if Jesus was coming to their home for dinner.
What would they do to prepare?
For ABC book ideas:
http://www.readwritethink.org (Search keywords “abc books”.)
http://www.abcgallery.com/L/leonardo/leonardo4.html The Last
Supper.
For related poems, search:
http://poemhunter.com/
Other:
www.sadlierreligion.com/webelieve
Assessing Student Understanding
 Using a picture, or the cover of a text, ask students for some questions they might ask to
deepen their understanding of the ideas that the picture conveys.
 Distribute a simple poem for students to read and have students work in pairs to generate
three to five questions they have about what the poem is about.
 Provide students with a prompt and ask them to write a short informative essay in response
to the prompt. Check that students use proper capitalization (names, places, dates) and
punctuation (periods and question marks), and that they use facts to support their essay.
 Allow students to contribute a new piece of information during shared research with a
partner. Ask students how their information contributed to the topic they were researching.
 When a classmate is speaking, check that all students are listening and understand not to
interrupt.
Teacher Notes/Reflections