Grade 1
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Language
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Reading: Foundational Skills
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Reading: Informational
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Reading: Literature
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Speaking & Listening
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Writing
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Writing Foundational Skills
Arizona ELA Standard: 1.RL.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
Comparing Characters
Your young students will compare how two characters have changed in a story.
A Character’s Challenges and Changes
Your 1st and 2nd graders will analyze how a character responded to a challenge.
Characters’ Faults Can Also Be Strengths
Strength and weakness are often two sides of the same coin. Students will explore how a character’s flaw can be a benefit.
Comparing Characters’ Bedrooms
What item’s in a character’s bedroom would reflect their deepest desires? And what if they toured a similar character’s room?
Emoji Stories 🚚
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Emoji Stories 🚗
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Greekymon Studies – Round 3
What might a creature named “Aquacornus Rex” be like?
Greekymon Studies – Round 2
What might a creature named “Hypermnemonicus” be like?
A Character’s Playlist
What playlist of songs best goes with a character’s change over time?
Stories with the Same Problems and Solutions
Have you ever noticed that some stories have awfully similar problems? What if we looked for the most unusual way of solving a repeating problem?
Writing Sample: A Christmas Carol (Cold)
A passage from White Fang to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
Story Starter: A Magical School
Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place in at a magical school.
Story Starter: Somewhere In Space
Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place in space!
The Personalities of Rocks
What would an igneous rock be like? Would it get along with a sedimentary rock? Could they handle the hot personality of a metamorphic rock?
Showing A Character’s Trait
We tell students to ‘show, not tell’ — but that advice is useless until they experience the difference. This lesson makes it click.
Elements of The Fantasy Genre
Every fantasy story has patterns hiding underneath the magic. Once your students see the elements, they’ll spot them everywhere — and use them in their own writing.
Introduce Symbolism with Pixel Art
Create a pixelated icon that represents the essence of a character!
Romeo and Juliet Summary
Romeo and Juliet in just about five minutes.
“Much Ado About Nothing” Summary
Shakespeare’s Much Ado summarized in just five minutes!
Twelfth Night Summary
An animated summary of Shakespeare’s utterly ridiculous “Twelfth Night.”
Hamlet Summary
It’s Hamlet in just about five minutes!
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Nothing could possibly go wrong with a love potion on the loose!
Writing Summaries in Haiku
Let’s write a summary. A very short summary. With VERY strict rules.
Better Stories Part 2: Types of Conflict
If your students’ stories are packed with endless ninja fights or arguments between frenemies, it’s time to expose them to a wider range of conflicts.
Better Stories Part 3: Literary Themes
A typical student narrative includes plot and characters but lacks a larger idea to hold it all together. This is where a lesson on themes comes in…
Better Stories Part 4: Character Archetypes
Are students’ characters a bit flat? Archetypes give them a strong foundation on which to build their own characters as well as a tool to analyze existing stories.