Unit Plan 32 (Grade 1 ELA): Writing Information Booklets with Text Features

Focus: Multi-page booklet; headings, labels, captions

Grade Level: 1

Subject Area: English Language Arts (Writing • Informational Reading • Vocabulary)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

First graders become teachers by creating a multi-page information booklet on a familiar topic (animals, weather, community helpers, hobbies). They’ll study mentor texts to learn how headings, labels, and captions help readers, then plan, draft, revise, and publish a booklet that uses text features to explain clearly.

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…

1. Plan and write an informative booklet that names a topic, supplies facts across multiple pages, and provides a sense of closure (W.1.2).
2. Locate and use text features (headings, labels, captions; optional table of contents/glossary) to find and present key facts (RI.1.5).
3. Use topic vocabulary and common relational words (e.g., above, below, next to, before, after) to make explanations precise (L.1.6).
4. Present pages that match their headings, include labeled pictures/diagrams, and short captions that teach.

Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 1

• W.1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts, and provide some sense of closure.
• RI.1.5 Know and use various text features (headings, tables of contents, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text.
• L.1.6 Use acquired words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships.

Success Criteria — student language

• I can write a cover/title and 3–4 pages with headings.
• I can add labels to my picture and a caption that tells something new.
• I can use topic words and position/time words (e.g., next to, under, first, after).
• I can finish with a closing page that tells what my booklet was about.