Rooted in Reading 1st Grade April Lesson Plans for Comprehension Grammar Phonics

1st Grade Rooted in Reading April is a Reading Curriculum focused on strengthening reading comprehension. The teacher reads the book throughout the week and models how to think deeply, ask questions, and monitor comprehension. Students practice skills through interactive notebooks, reading passages, reading response printables, and assessments. Daily activities for vocabulary, grammar, and mentor sentences are also included. All lesson plans and activities are aligned with the Common Core Standards and TEKS.

For more information, research, and teacher testimonies on Rooted in Reading click HERE.

Books needed for April:

Farfallina and Marcel by Holly Keller

Wangari’s Trees of Peace by Jeanette Winer

Thunder Underground by Jane Yolen

I Don’t Want to be a Frog by Dev Petty

**Please Note: The week of Poetry (Thunder Underground) is formatted differently. There is not vocabulary or grammar. There is a large focus on poetic devices instead: Alliteration, Repetition, Rhyme

1st Grade Rooted in Reading Units:

Rooted in Reading 1st Grade: Overview

Rooted in Reading 1st Grade: August

Rooted in Reading 1st Grade: September

Rooted in Reading 1st Grade: October

Rooted in Reading 1st Grade: November

Rooted in Reading 1st Grade: December

Rooted in Reading 1st Grade: January

Rooted in Reading 1st Grade: February

Rooted in Reading 1st Grade: March

Rooted in Reading 1st Grade: April

Rooted in Reading 1st Grade: May

What is included in the APRIL unit? Look below!

● Daily Lesson Plans for 4 Weeks

● Book Question Cards

● Reading Passages

● Comprehension Assessments

● Comprehension Focuses:

Character Action

Character Dialogue

Character Traits

Central Idea

Key Details

Text Evidence

Analyzing Poetry

Poetic Devices

Persuasive Text Analysis

Author’s Purpose

● Comprehension Printables/Interactive Notebooks:

Butterfly Life Cycle Printable

Professions that Save the World Graphic Organizer

Earthworm Facts Graphic Organizer

Frog Facts Graphic Organizer

Character Action Printable

Farfallina and Marcel Flap-Ups

Dialogue Cards

Dialogue Printable

Central Idea/Key Details Printable

Central Idea Passage

Key Details Flap-Ups

Poems That Make Us Feel

Analyzing Poems

5 Senses in Poetry Flap-Ups

I Don’t Want to be a frog printable

Toads Printable

Entertaining Flap-Ups

● Nonfiction Readers

Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Professions that Save the Planet

Earthworms

Fascinating Frogs

●  Anchor Charts

Let’s Talk About Characters: Traits and Actions

The Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Professions that Save the Planet

Central Idea for Wangari’s Trees of Peace

Earthworms Can, Have, Are

Analyzing Poem: Earthworm

Fantastic and Fascinating Frog Facts

I Don’t Want to Be a Frog, I Want to be a...

● Vocabulary (not in poetry week)

4-5 Vocabulary Picture Cards for each book

4-5 Vocabulary Writing Prompts

Vocabulary Sentences

Vocabulary Picture/Word Match

● Directed Drawings (with writing pages)

Caterpillar

Marine Biologist

Ant

Frog

● Crafts (with writing pages)

Butterfly

Tree

Mushroom with earthworm

Frog

●  Phonics Focuses

-aw/au word family and shr blend

-ew word family and thr blend

-oi/oy word family and spl blend

-y ending and squ blend

● Phonics Activities for each week

Word Family Digital Poster

Word Family Slider

Word Family Picture and Word Cards with Word Sort

Word Family Spin and Color

Word Family Writing Practice

Word Family Passage

Word Family Assessment

● Blends Activities for each week

Blend Power Points

Blend Digital Poster

Blend Booklet with Student pages to complete

● Grammar:  Rhyming Words

Rhyming Picture/Word Cards

Rhyming Words Work-Mat

Rhyming Words Match

Farfallina and Marcel Partner Play

Find a Rhyme

I Can Rhyme Flap-Ups

Rhyme Time Printable

Reader’s Theatre Quiz

●  Grammar:  Combining Sentences

Combining Sentences Cards

Conjunction Cards

Combining Sentences with AND Puzzles

Combining Sentences with AND Printable

Combining Sentences with BUT Puzzles

Combining Sentences with BUT Printable

Combining Sentences Flap-Ups

Combining Sentences Assessment

●Poetic Devices

Poetic Devices Notebook Prompts

3 Poetry Printables to analyze poems

Digital Posters for: Alliteration, Rhyme, Repetition

Alliteration Flap-Book

Rhyme Match

Repetition Flap-Ups

Poetic Devices Review

Poetic Devices Assessment

● Grammar:  Contractions

Contraction Cards

Contraction Work-Mat

Contraction Match

I Can Create Contractions Pocket Book and Sort

I Spy Contractions with Cards

Contraction Assessment

Disclaimer About Rooted in Reading Books: We try our best to ensure that the books we select for our Rooted in Reading program will be available to you; however, we cannot guarantee any book's availability at any given time.

We encourage you to check multiple places for the books including but not limited to: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Scholastic, Thrift Books, BookOutlet.com, eBay, Abe Books, Half Price Books, Better World Books, and you can make a project on Donor's Choose or check them out from your public library.

More FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Ⓠ There is SO much included, how do I fit it all in?

Ⓐ:  Please do NOT feel like you have to do everything we put into the units.  We try to include everything that a teacher might want, but we realize it is A LOT!  We suggest combing through the units, looking at the expectations of your school/district/state, and deciding which activities would be best for your students.  We do NOT recommend printing class sets of everything, hoping to get to it all. Choose the things that you think YOUR students need, that will be most beneficial, and start there!  Several components can be used during stations, for morning work, or even as homework. Others you may choose to just set aside for another time or not use at all! That’s okay! We want this to work for you AND your students!

Ⓠ Do you have a year overview and planning guide?

Ⓐ:  Yes!  We sure do!  You can find the list of books for the year, the skills we are going to hit, and the standards (Common Core and TEKS) we will cover below!  Please note that as units are created we may switch things up a bit! The TEKS that the units are aligned to are the TEKS that were adopted in 2017 and will be put into place in 2019.  These are NOT aligned with the old TEKS.

Here is our COMPLETE Book List and Year Overview

Ⓠ What is included in the first grade units

Ⓐ:  Each book unit (so 4 a month) will include:  

⇢Daily Lesson Plans for Comprehension, Vocabulary, Grammar, and Phonics

⇢Book Question Cards for Classroom Discussion

⇢Comprehension Focus Digital Posters

⇢Comprehension Printables and/or Interactive Notebook Templates

⇢Comprehension Assessment for the Weekly Read Aloud

⇢Reading Passage with Questions

⇢Anchor Chart Templates

⇢Nonfiction Reader

⇢Nonfiction Activities

⇢Vocabulary Picture Cards with Word, Picture, Definition

⇢Vocabulary Writing Prompts or Activities

⇢Vocabulary Printables/Assessments

⇢Craft with Writing Pages

⇢Directed Drawing with Writing Pages

⇢Phonics Focus Digital Posters

⇢Phonics Printables/Activities

⇢Phonics Reading Passage

⇢Grammar Focus Digital Posters

⇢Grammar Printables/Activities

Ⓠ How are these units different from your 2nd and 3rd grade units?

Ⓐ:  We have followed the same format for 1st grade, but we have made it developmentally appropriate for a first grade classroom.  We do not choose read alouds that are on a first grade reading level because the teacher is reading the story to the class, and guiding their discussions, BUT the activities that correlate with the read aloud are first-grade appropriate.  We believe that books read aloud should vary in level so that ALL students benefit from the instruction. Here are some minor differences in the first grade units:

➧Lined Writing Pages

➧Many options for drawing or writing when responding to the text

➧Phonics Included

➧Directed Drawings have simplified steps and a starting page

➧Crafts are easy to cut and assemble

➧Vocabulary Cards have pictures

➧1st Grade appropriate activities, assessments, passages, and more