Dr. Michael Kester-Haynes

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 27 (Grade 1 ELA): Synthesizing Across Two Texts

Grade 1 informational reading and writing unit: students compare two texts on the same topic, identify similarities and differences, and write one clear conclusion using details from both sources.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 26 (Grade 1 ELA): Author’s Purpose in Informational Text

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 25 (Grade 1 ELA): Reading Biographies & Timelines

Grade 1 informational reading unit: students explore short biographies, identify main topics and key events, build chronological timelines, and use photos and captions to explain connections.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 24 (Grade 1 ELA): Narrative Pacing & Strong Endings

Grade 1 writing unit: students expand a small moment into a full short story, add meaningful details, build strong endings, and revise and edit for clarity and conventions.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 23 (Grade 1 ELA): Writing Narrative Scenes with Temporal Words

Grade 1 writing unit: students craft small narrative scenes using First/Then/Next/Finally, showing actions, feelings, and simple dialogue with complete sentences.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 22 (Grade 1 ELA): Words & Pictures Together

Grade 1 reading unit: students use illustrations to describe characters, settings, and events, connect pictures to feeling and sensory words, and create visuals to clarify story meaning.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 21 (Grade 1 ELA): Morphology Power – Base Words, Endings & Affixes

Grade 1 foundational skills unit: students decode and build words with -s/-es, -ed/-ing, and prefixes re-, un-, apply word attack strategies, and use new vocabulary in context.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 20 (Grade 1 ELA): Two Stories, Similar Characters or Themes

Grade 1 ELA unit: students describe characters, setting, events in two stories, then compare and contrast adventures using text evidence and collaborative talk.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 19 (Grade 1 ELA): Central Message, Lesson, or Moral

Grade 1 reading unit: students retell fables and folktales with key details, identify the central message or moral, and use story evidence to explain their reasoning.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 18 (Grade 1 ELA): Sharing Findings Clearly

Grade 1 ELA unit: students plan and deliver short presentations using visuals, complete sentences, and clear speech while practicing polite listening and feedback.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 17 (Grade 1 ELA): Explanatory Writing with Labels & Captions

Guide first graders to write and share teaching pages that combine text and visuals. Students learn to use labels, captions, and domain vocabulary to explain real-world topics, showing how pictures and words work together to teach information clearly.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 16 (Grade 1 ELA): Mini-Research – Ask & Answer Questions

Introduce first graders to research through curiosity and discovery. Students learn to ask who/what/where/why/how questions, locate key facts in short texts and visuals, take simple notes, and name their sources—building early research and comprehension skills.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 15 (Grade 1 ELA): Performance Reading & Fluency

Build fluent, expressive reading through poetry performance. First graders practice accuracy, phrasing, and expression across repeated readings—using punctuation, rhythm, and self-corrections—to perform short poems aloud with confidence and clear speaking skills.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 14 (Grade 1 ELA): Poetry Sound & Feeling Words

Engage first graders with poetry that builds sound and meaning awareness. Students explore rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration, identify feeling and sensory words, and read with expressive fluency. They learn how word choice and shades of meaning shape tone and emotion in poems.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 13 (Grade 1 ELA): Informational Structures – Sequence & How-To

Help first graders connect ideas and organize steps with this informational how-to unit. Students practice sequencing with first/next/then, explain cause and effect with because/so, and create labeled visuals that teach—culminating in a shared class how-to project.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 12 (Grade 1 ELA): Organizing & Concluding Opinions

Help first graders strengthen opinion writing with because, and, so linking words and clear closings. Students organize ideas with the Opinion → Reason(s) → Closing frame, revise for flow, and polish sentences with capitals, spaces, and punctuation.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 11 (Grade 1 ELA): Reasons that Support Points

Guide first graders to identify an author’s point and supporting reasons in text and speech. Students listen, question, and write short opinions using text-based evidence—building comprehension, reasoning, and early argument skills aligned with RI.1.8, SL.1.3, and W.1.1.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 10 (Grade 1 ELA): Launching Opinion Writing

Empower first graders to write with voice and purpose in this opinion writing unit. Students learn to state opinions clearly, give strong reasons using because/and, and craft closings that fit—building confidence through speaking, listening, and writing practice.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 9 (Grade 1 ELA): Phonics & Fluency Boost – Short/Long Vowels & Digraphs

Build phonics mastery in Grade 1 with this CVC to CVCe fluency unit—students decode short and long vowels, blend digraphs (sh/ch/th/ck), read high-frequency words, and build prosody for smoother, expressive reading.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 8 (Grade 1 ELA): Informative Writing – All-About Sentences

Boost Grade 1 informational writing with this 1-week unit: teach topic sentences, facts/definitions, and simple closings—plus quick revision and CUPS editing (W.1.2).

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 7 (Grade 1 ELA): Main Topic and Key Details

Help first graders master main topics and supporting details with this interactive unit. Students learn to identify what a page is mostly about, choose fitting details, and deliver clear oral retells using RI.1.2 and SL.1.2 standards.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 6 (Grade 1 ELA): Introducing Nonfiction Text Features

Teach first graders to use headings, captions, and labeled diagrams to locate key facts, answer questions with evidence, and state a page’s key idea—RI.1.5, RI.1.7.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 5 (Grade 1 ELA): Strong Beginnings & Endings in Narratives

Help first graders write engaging stories with strong leads, smooth transitions, and endings that fit. Students learn to hook readers, connect ideas with and, but, so, because, and finish their narratives with satisfying closure.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 4 (Grade 1 ELA): Building a Small-Moment Narrative

Help first graders become confident storytellers with this small-moment writing unit. Students plan clear beginnings, middles, and ends; use temporal words to show sequence; and add sense details for vivid, organized narratives.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 3 (Grade 1 ELA): Characters, Settings, and Major Events

Build comprehension with this first-grade unit on describing characters, settings, and events using both pictures and words. Students learn to identify who, where, and what happened while applying strong vocabulary and clear sentence structure for vivid story retells.