1st Grade - English Language Arts

Avon Lake City Schools 

Curriculum Framework

1st Grade ELA

Course Overview:

Students in first grade are provided an environment rich in reading and writing opportunities to help them develop skills and strategies to use in any educational setting. The focus in English Language Arts (ELA) at the first grade level is to teach our young learners to build upon the foundational skills learned in Kindergarten in order to learn to read, write, and communicate more independently with confidence.  The Skills strand of the Core Knowledge Language Arts program teaches students the decoding skills needed for independent reading. The Knowledge strand of the Core Knowledge Language Arts program is designed to help students build the background knowledge and vocabulary critical to listening and reading comprehension. Through introducing, presenting, and discussing read-alouds in each domain, teachers build students’ listening and reading comprehension and oral language skills.

Textbook (Title and Publishing Company): 

Core Knowledge Language Arts, Amplify

Online/Supplemental Materials:

Heggerty Phonemic Awareness

Assessments: 

NWEA MAP

mCLASS

Curriculum & Benchmark Assessments 

Content/Topics/Learning Goals

Subject to Pacing and Schedules

1st Quarter- 

  • Foundational Skill Unit 1

    • Identify 5 short vowel sounds and 25 consonant/consonant digraph sounds

    • Spell words with double-letter spellings

    • Identify Tricky Spellings ‘th’ >/th/, /th/ and ‘s’

    • pronounced /s/ or /z/

    • Consonant digraphs (‘ch’, ‘sh’, ‘th”, ‘ng’)

    • Identify Tricky Words (review from K)

    • Read stories in the decodable Reader

    • Answer story questions


  • Knowledge Domains 1-2 (Fables and Stories; The Human Body)

    • Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary

    • Deepen comprehension through “Somebody Wanted But So Then” strategy

    • Set a purpose for listening and understand the meaning behind sayings and phrases

    • Begin to explore the genre of narrative writing

    • Deepen comprehension through “Somebody Wanted But So Then” strategy

    • Set a purpose for listening and identify important information in a text

    • Explore informational writing through collecting and synthesizing information in a group then recording it into a body systems booklet

2nd Quarter- 

  • Foundational Skills Unit 2-3

    • Introduce vowel sounds and the most common (or least ambiguous) spelling for each sound. 

    • Read and write words with separated digraphs 

    • Identify nouns (including proper nouns); verbs, verb tense 

    • Practice new Tricky Words.

    • Begin formal instruction in the writing process with a focus on narrative writing.


  • Knowledge Domains 3-5 (Different Lands, Similar Stories; Early World Civilizations; Early American Civilizations)

    • Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary

    • Deepen comprehension through “Somebody Wanted But So Then” strategy

    • Set a purpose for listening and make text-to-text connections;

    • Identify important information in a text

    • Retell stories using story grammar and a correct sequence of events

    • Compare and contrast fairy tales and folktales

    • Explore informational writing by collecting information and recording it in timelines, charts, graphic organizers, and using the information to write a

paragraph

3rd Quarter- 

  • Foundational Skills Unit 4-5

    • Introduces the most common (or least ambiguous) spellings for /r/-controlled vowel sounds. 

    • Explore concept of a syllable and practice with two-syllable words. 

    • Introduce past-tense verb forms ending with –ed as they continue to work with nouns and verbs in phrases. 

    • Introduce adjectives and practice descriptive writing

    • Learn spelling alternatives that make up the advanced code. 

    • Practice making plural nouns 

    • Identify sentence types (statements, questions, and exclamations) and practice creating longer sentences. 

    • Plan, draft, and edit an opinion letter 

  • Knowledge Domains 6-8 (Astronomy; The History of the Earth; Animals and Habitats)

    • Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary

    • Explore informational writing through collecting and synthesizing information, and recording it in charts and graphic organizers

    • Explore opinion writing by stating an opinion and supplying reasons to support it

    • Identify important information in a text

    • Identify the format and parts of a friendly letter and synthesize important facts and information to write a friendly letter

    • Explore informational writing through collecting and synthesizing information, and recording it in a journal and graphic organizers

4th Quarter -  

  • Foundational Skills Unit 6-7

    • Work with several spelling alternatives for consonant sounds.

    • Review nouns and pronouns 

    • Plan, draft, and edit a personal narrative

    • Spelling alternatives for vowel sounds

    • Use conjunctions and commas as well as noun-verb agreement in sentences

    • Practice the writing process by planning, drafting, and editing an informative/explanatory text.

  • Knowledge Domains 9-11 (Fairy Tales; A New Nation: American Independence; Frontier Explorers) 

    • Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary

    • Deepen comprehension by identifying the elements of a fairy tale

    • Set a purpose for listening and compare and contrast literary ideas such as Fantasy and Reality and Hero and Villain

    • Deepen understanding of narrative writing by planning, drafting, and revising a retelling of a favorite fairy tale

    • Deepen comprehension through “Somebody Wanted But So Then” strategy

    • Identify important information and sequence events in a text

    • Explore informational writing through collecting and synthesizing information, and record it in an informative paragraph

Last Updated:

September, 2023