EL Education Grade 1

According to the EL Education Grade 1’s website, “Central to EL Education’s curriculum focuses on “habits of character” and social-emotional learning. Students work to become effective learners, developing mindsets and skills for success in college, career, and life (e.g., initiative, responsibility, perseverance, collaboration); work to become ethical people, treating others well and standing up for what is right (e.g., empathy, integrity, respect, compassion); and work to contribute to a better world, putting their learning to use to improve communities (e.g., citizenship, service).”

We are going “very deep” into the following topics.

Here are some of the texts your child will be reading this year. I leveled the books I could and located many books being read aloud online. Some videos below show the words, so your child can follow the text, OR PUT THE CLOSED CAPTIONING ON! You might also want to check these books out from the public library.

Discuss the concepts with your child so that they can grow in knowledge.

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September – October

MODULE 1 ~ Tools and Work

Big Ideas & Guiding Questions

Why do we need tools?

Tools make our lives easier by helping us do work.
Tools help us create things.

How do habits of character help us do work?

Habits of character are behaviors that help us learn and do our work.

How do we create a magnificent thing?

People use tools and habits of character to create magnificent things.

how to teach first graders to read

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Tool Books to Enjoy at Home to Build Comprehension!

The Little Red Pen by J. Stevens and S. Crummel

The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

I Use Science Tools by K. Hicks

Chopsticks by A. Rosenthal

Old MacDonald Had a Workshop by L. Shulman / Level F

Peaceful Piggy Meditation by K. MacLean

Rose Revere, Engineer by A. Beaty / Level M

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by M. Barnett / Level K

Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad by J. Rumford

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by W. Kamkwamba / Level F

The Chickens Build a Wall by J. Dumont

The Pencil by A. Ahlberg

When Sophie Gets Angry, Really, Really Angry by M. Bang / Level K

Billions of Bricks by K. Cyrus / Level K

Interstellar Cinderella by D. Underwood / Level M

Monkey With a Tool Belt by C. Monroe

The World is Not a Rectangle by J. Winter

Tool School by Joan Holub / Level M

Tools by Ann Morris / Level F

A Chef’s Tools by Holden Strauss

My Math Toolbox by Nancy Kelly Allen

Up! Up! Up! Skyscraper by Anastasia Suen

Ready, Set, Build! by Meg Fleming

Drew the Screw by Mattia Cerato

Diggers (Seedlings) by Aaron Frisch

Cranes (Seedlings) by Aaron Frisch

Yasmin’s Hammer by Ann Malaspina

Whose Tools Are These: A Look at Tools Workers Use – Big, Sharp and Smooth by Sharon Katz Cooper

Whose Tools Are These (Community Helper Mysteries) by Amanda Doering Tourville

Tools Rule! by Aaron Meshon

Tooling Around: Crafty Creatures and the Tools They Use by Ellen Jackson

The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinckney

The Clever Stick by John Lechner

Can We Help: Kids Volunteering To Help Their Communities by George Ancona

Building Our House by Jonathan Bean

Brush of the Gods by Lenore Look

Brick by Brick by Charles R. Smith

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November – January

MODULE 2 ~ Sun, Moon, and Stars

Big Ideas & Guiding Questions

Why do authors write about the sun, moon, and stars?

Authors write books to describe, imagine, and explain the objects we see in the sky.

What patterns can we observe in the sky?

The sun and moon appear in different places in the sky during other times of day and year.
Stars are visible during the night but not during the day.
Patterns of motion of objects in the sky can be described and predicted.
Scientists use a process of inquiry to understand patterns and make predictions and comparisons.

How do authors use their knowledge and observations to write a story?

Authors select a topic and observe and study it.
Authors plan out what they want to write by discussing and trying it out.
Authors use beautiful language to show, not tell, about the topic of their choice.
Authors write a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end.

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Sun, Moon, and Stars Books to Enjoy at Home to Build Comprehension!

What the Suns Sees by Nancy Tafuri / Level F

What the Moon Sees by N. Tafuri / Level F

Does the Sun Sleep? Noticing Sun, Moon, and Star Patterns by Martha E.H. Rustad / Level L

What Makes Day and Night by F. Branley / Level N

Kitten’s First Full Moon by K. Henkes / Level I

Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me by E. Carle

Sun and Moon L. Yankey

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky E. Dayrell / Level K

Summer Sun Risin’ by W. Nikola-Lisa / Level L

My Light: How Sunlight Becomes Electricity by Molly Bang

Moon: A Peek Through Picture Book by Britta Teckentrup

Many Moons: Learn About the Different Phases of the Moon by Remi Courgeon

If You Were the Moon by Laura Purdie Salas / Level N

How the Sun Got to Coco’s House by Bob Graham

City Moon by Rachel Cole

Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed

Zoo in the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations by Jacqueline Mitton / Level L

What the Moon is Like (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2) by Franklyn M. Branley / Level N

What Makes Day and Night (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) by Franklyn M. Branley / Level N

Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back: A Native American Year of Moon by Joseph Bruchac / Level P

There is Day and Night (Tell Me Why) by Linda Crotta Brennan

Sunshine Makes the Seasons (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) by Franklyn M. Branley / Level O

Sun Up, Sun Down: The Story of Day and Night (Science Works) by Jacqui Bailey

Sun Up, Sun Down by Gail Gibbons / Level J

The Sun Our Nearest Star (Let’s Read and Find Out Science Level 2) by Franklyn M. Branley

Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei by Peter Sis / Level P

The Reasons for Seasonsby Gail Gibbons / Level M

Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest by Gerald McDermott

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen / Level O

Our Seasons by Grace Lin

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca / Level N

The Moon Seems to Change (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) by Franklyn M. Branley

Moon Rope / Un lazo a la luna by Lois Ehlert

The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons / Level O

Many Moons by James Thurber / Level P

The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky / Level S

If You Decide to Go to the Moon by Faith McNulty / Level N

I Wonder Why the Sun Rises: and Other Questions About Time and Seasons by Brenda Walpole

How the Stars Fell into the Sky: A Navajo Legend by Jerrie Oughton / Level M

Henry’s Stars by David Elliott

Gravity by Jason Chin / Level L

Fly Guy Presents: Space (Scholastic Reader, Level 2) by Tedd Arnold

Flashlight by Lizi Boyd

The Earth Under Sky Bear’s Feet: Native American Poems of the Land by Joseph Bruchac

Coyote Places the Stars by Harriet Peck Taylor / Level M

Coyote in Love With a Star: Tales of the People by Marty Kreipe De Montano / Level M

Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings by Doug Florian

Come Back, Moon by David Sheridan

Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott / Level N

Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott / Level L teach kids to read

February – June

MODULE 3 and 4 ~ Growing As Researchers: Birds’ Amazing Bodies

Big Ideas & Guiding Questions

What makes a bird a bird?

Birds are animals with beaks, feathers, wings, and feet.
There are many different types of birds, and they use their body parts to help them survive.
Despite their differences, there are key features that all birds have in common.

How do birds use their body parts to survive?

Birds have specially designed body parts that help them survive.

How do specific birds use their body parts to survive?

Some birds have unique and specially designed body parts that help them survive.

How do we build our research skills and share our learning?

To write informative texts, writers must read, collect evidence, and discuss their knowledge.

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Birds’ Amazing Bodies Books to Enjoy at Home to Build Comprehension!