Grade 1 Teaching Center
Reading, critical thinking, and citizenship skills for first grade
Here is everything you need to teach each week's issue.
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 Week 1
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 Week 2
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 Week 3
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 Week 4
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Find out about different types of owls.
National Standard
Science (NSES)
Characteristics of organisms
Common Core Standard
Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.
Goal
Children will understand that owls are birds that are active at night.
Objective
Children will be able to compare and contrast two kinds of owls using a chart listing characteristics of the owls.
Concepts of Comprehension©
Comparing is noticing how two or more things are alike. Contrasting is noticing how they are different. After students finish answering the questions, ask them to review the text to find other ways that the owls are the same or different. List those on an easel pad. (Possible answers: Both owls have feathers. An elf owl is small, uses a woodpecker’s nest, and eats caterpillars. A great horned owl eats rabbits and cats.)
Link
See an owl hunt for a mouse.
Literature Connection
• Black Out! Animals That Live in the Dark, by Ginjer L. Clarke
• Little Hoot, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
• The Littlest Owl, by Caroline Pitcher
• Night Animals, by Susan Meredith
• Owls: Hunters of the Night, by Elaine Landau
• Raccoons Are Night Animals, by Joanne Mattern
Before Reading
Think Critically: Set a purpose for reading by asking questions about the cover photo. Ask: What animal is on the cover of this issue? When might you see an owl? How might an owl find food in the dark?
Background Information
• Owls are birds of prey—they hunt for the food they eat.
• Most owls are nocturnal and hunt at night. Owls use their night vision and keen hearing to locate their prey.
• An owl’s large eyes cannot move in their sockets. The owl must turn its head to see in different directions.
• What an owl eats depends on its size. Smaller owls eat insects and mice. Larger owls eat rabbits, squirrels, and even skunks!
• Most owls catch their prey with the talons on their feet.
During Reading
Mini Activity: Share with children an interactive diagram showing the anatomy of an owl at www.animal.discovery.com/tv/spring-watch/animal-tours/horned-owl/horned-owl.html. Follow up by creating pairs of word cards that name parts of an owl’s body. Invite students to play a memory game with them.
After Reading
Reinforce Main Idea: After reading the section called “Baby Owls Are Saved!” on page 3, let students describe the story’s big idea.
Language Arts Extension: As children examine page 4 of their issues, point out that the information about owls is shown on a chart, which is a text feature that helps organize information. Ask: What other kinds of information might we show on a chart? Provide picture books about owls, and encourage children to complete this sentence frame: My favorite owl is the _____ because _____. Have children draw pictures of their owls. Invite students to share their sentences.
Adaptation: Create word cards using vocabulary from this week’s issue (owl, wings, feathers). Give a word definition or a clue. A student who responds with the correct word gets the card and a point. The student with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Read fire safety tips.
National Standard
Science (NSES)
Personal safety
Common Core Standard
Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text.
Goal
Students will gain an understanding of how people can stay safe if there is a fire.
Objective
Students will be able to identify several important fire safety tips.
Concepts of Comprehension©
Drawing Conclusions is when you figure out what a text means by using what you already know and information from the text. After reading, review each safety tip. Guide students in understanding why each tip is important. Ask: What might happen if a smoke alarm does not work? Why shouldn’t people go back into a building that is on fire? Why should everyone in the family know two ways out of each room and have a special place to meet? Why should you stay close to the floor and crawl to get out of a building or a room that is on fire?
Link
Extend learning with interactive games and quizzes about fire safety.
Literature Connection
• Fire Drill, by Paul DuBois Jacobs and Jennifer Swender
• Fire Safety in Action, by Mari C. Schuh
• Fire Station, by Wiley Blevins
• Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill, by Jamie Harper
Before Reading
Think Critically: Explain that Fire Prevention Week is in October. Ask: How might a fire start? How can people stay safe during a fire? How do firefighters help people? What gear do firefighters have to wear when they go into burning buildings? How might that help keep them safe?
Background Information
• The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has been the official sponsor of Fire Prevention Week since 1922. Fire Prevention Week is October 9-15, 2011. This year’s theme is “It’s Fire Prevention Week. Protect Your Family From Fire!”
• Sparky the Fire Dog is the mascot of the NFPA.
• Many fires start in kitchens. Misuse of stoves is the number-one cause of home fires, according to the NFPA.
• One way to escape a smoke-filled room is to “stay low and go.” Smoke rises. It is important to stay low to the ground. Drop, crawl, and go!
• Stop, drop, and roll if your clothes are on fire. (Stop immediately where you are. Moving or running may fan the flames. Drop to the ground. Cover your face with your hands, and roll over and over. That helps put out the flames.)
During Reading
Mini Activity: Hang a white or gray sheet over two chairs. Explain that the sheet represents smoke from a fire. Invite students to practice how to stay low and go by crawling under the sheet. Reinforce the idea of staying low.
After Reading
Make Connections: Remind students to talk with their families about places to meet in case of fire. Ask: What places do you see in your mind when we talk about outdoor family meeting places?
Science Extension: Ask each student to draw a floor plan of his or her home, including windows and doors. Instruct students to draw arrows that indicate at least two safe ways out of each room. Invite them to practice their fire escape plans with their families.
Language Arts Extension: Teach students about text features. Use highlighting tool to highlight the numbers of the safety tips in the digital edition. Explain that the writer used numbers to help separate the four different tips.
Adaptation: Invite students to sit in a circle. Ask each one to take a turn naming a fire safety rule. Students will benefit from saying and hearing the rules.
See how pumpkins grow, and learn about different kinds of pumpkins.
National Standard
Science (NSES)
Life cycles of organisms
Common Core Standard
Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
Goal
Children will understand that the growth of a pumpkin occurs in a sequence.
Objective
Children will be able to name the steps in a pumpkin’s growth.
Concepts of Comprehension©
Vocabulary in Context means figuring out the meaning of a word by looking at the words and sentences around it. After reading the poem, discuss the vocabulary words sprout, blossom, and vine. Ask: How can you find out what those words mean from the poem? How do the words around those words help you understand their meanings? Read the sentences containing those words. Guide students in figuring out their meanings.
Link
See a pumpkin music video.
Literature Connection
• Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin, by Mary Serfozo
• Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden, by George Levenson
• Pumpkins, by Ken Robbins
• Pumpkin Town! by Katie McKy
• The Runaway Pumpkin, by Kevin Lewis
Before Reading
Tapping Prior Knowledge: Ask students what they know about pumpkins. Display a pumpkin. Ask: What are pumpkins? How are pumpkins like other fruits you know? How are they different? What do you like best about pumpkins?
Background Information
• Pumpkins are fruits that are harvested in the fall after growing all summer.
• Pumpkins are in the same family as melons and squashes.
• The growth cycle of a pumpkin begins in the spring. First leaves and flowers grow, and then the fruit appears.
• Pumpkin varieties have interesting names, such as Munchkin, Small Sugar, and Spooktacular.
• Pumpkins can weigh from just a few ounces to more than 500 pounds. They can be white, orange, or red.
During Reading
Mini Activity: Explain that sequence is an order of steps or events that take place. Explain that a pumpkin grows in a sequence of steps. Ask: What other things take place in a sequence of steps? (building a house, baking cookies, and so on) Let groups of children use props and act out the steps in the growth of a pumpkin.
After Reading
Language Arts Extension: Guide students in creating a song about pumpkins. Write it on a whiteboard, and sing it to the tune of a song. Example (sung to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell”): “Pumpkins onthe vine / Pumpkins on the vine / When one gets nice and fat /It will become mine!”
Science Extension: Write a simple sentence about a pumpkin’s growth on an easel pad. (Example: The pumpkin was finally big and orange.) Ask students to predict what will happen next. Write their predictions under the sentence.
Language Arts Extension: Write a fiction story about pumpkins. In your writing center, place sheets of paper with this sentence frame: “Once upon a time there was a pumpkin named _________.” Encourage students to write stories about pumpkins. Share stories, and bind them in a class booklet titled Make-Believe Pumpkin Stories.
Adaptation: Let children go on a scavenger hunt through the issue. Ask them to find and point to the photos or words for seeds, flower, vine, and so on.
Discuss how to deal with bullies.
National Standard
Social Studies (NCSS)
Civic ideals and practices
Common Core Standard
Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.
Goal
Children will understand what bullying is and why it is better to get along with others than to be a bully.
Objective
Students will be able to identify several ways to deal with bullying.
Concepts of Comprehension©
Character refers to the looks, traits, thoughts, actions, and relationships of a person or an animal in a text. Explain to students the definition of character. Ask students to brainstorm some words that might describe a child who is a buddy. (Possible answers: friendly, kind, helpful, respectful, patient, good, fair, polite, dependable, honest, loyal, thoughtful, and so on.)
Link
Print out a puzzle, and let kids read the tips about how to deal with bullies.
Literature Connection
• A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue, by Julia Cook
• Bullies Never Win! by Margery Cuyler
• Bully B.E.A.N.S., by Julia Cook
• Bye-Bye, Bully! A Kid’s Guide for Dealing With Bullies, by J. S. Jackson
• Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns About Bullies, by Howard Binkow
Before Reading
Make Connections: Invite students to discuss bullying. Ask: What is bullying? How might someone bully another person? If someone hurts your feelings, what should you do? If someone bullies you by hitting or pushing you, whom should you talk to?
Background Information
• Experts say that each day 160,000 kids miss school because of the fear of being bullied and 43 percent of young people today have been affected by cyberbullying.
• This year, U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama held a conference at the White House about preventing bullying. Teachers, parents, and students from across our country came together to discuss the effects of bullying and the efforts people are making to stop it.
• In response to several tragedies last year linked to bullying, the president said that everyone needs to do more to prevent bullying and to make schools and communities safe for all children.
• The National Crime Prevention Council has announced the release of new resources for educators to help them prevent bullying. The resources include lesson plans, tips, and other materials intended to strengthen prevention efforts in schools. For additional information, visit www.ncpc.org/topics/bullying.
During Reading
Reading Comprehension: While reading the section titled “What Can You Do If a Bully Bothers You?” (pages 2–3), assess understanding by asking students to paraphrase responses or suggest other appropriate responses to the questions.
After Reading
Mini Activity: Let students create small posters with illustrations using this heading: “Bye-Bye, Bullies!” Put them in the classroom or hallway.
Language Arts Extension: Ask students to use puppets to role-play bullying scenarios (hitting, teasing, rejecting). Ask: How might the puppet feel when someone hits him or her? How can the puppet stand up for himself or herself? Discuss responses. Explain that a person can speak in a strong voice but not be mean to someone else. Model examples of responses, such as: “Stop hitting! I don’t want you to hit me!”
Adaptation: Place a line of tape on the floor, designating one side “right” and the other side “wrong.” Show a word card, and say the word (for example, grab, push, or share). Students should step to the right side if the word you say is right and to the wrong side if it is not.
