literacy activity for grade 1

Check out my new shop for resources to MAKE TEACHING MORE FUN !

No products in the cart.

Reading Activities for 1st Graders

1st grade is an important year for building reading skills! At this level, students dive a little deeper into reading and work on developing their comprehension and fluency. To get this practice, you’ll need lots of reading activities for 1st graders at the ready! Here are a few of my favorite low-prep activities to make your planning a breeze.

Reading Passages

Guided Reading Passages are an excellent way to structure your small group reading lessons each week. These specific passages include a lesson plan example, vocabulary cards, pre-reading activity, 3 levels of reading passages with vocabulary words and comprehension questions, a comprehension graphic organizer, and a writing response page. Plus, there are three different passages for each story at three different levels. This allows all the students in the class to practice the same reading skill, and learn about the same topic, but at a level that is good for them!

Reading on the Move

Reading is typically a stationary task, which can make younger students antsy — including first graders. My solution to this problem is Reading on the Move! Combining fluency practice with a little physical activity is the perfect way to keep students engaged and help them get the practice they need. There are plenty of Reading on the Move resources available, including holiday themed versions! From stories, to simple sentences, to festive Christmas passages, check out all of my Reading on the Move resources to get your plans set for the year.

Phonics Reading Mats

Teachers love that these Phonics Reading Mats help their beginning or struggling readers get the phonics practice they need in order to break the code of reading! Students begin by stretching through the sounds in a word family or blend. Then, they will continue to read words practicing that phonics skill as well as sentences and a short story. Students will have to strictly rely on their phonetic skills to read. These correlate well with the Science of Reading and research on dyslexia!

Comprehension Notebooks

Comprehension notebooks are a great way to incorporate regular reading comprehension practice into your curriculum. Each week of these 1st Grade Reading Comprehension Notebooks includes an original text for students to read or have read to them. Each day, the students will practice a comprehension skill related to the text for the week. The great thing about the resource I linked to is that there’s also a digital version, which is perfect for distance learning!

Roll and Read

Roll and read activities make fluency practice a fun game! To play, students roll their dice to see which passage to read. This is a super versatile activity, since you can use any passages that you’d like your students to work on. For instance, I’ve created a Nonfiction Roll and Read , Roll and Read for Beginning Readers , and a bundle of differentiated fluency Roll and Read !

Interactive Reading Passages

Reading comprehension is so important for young learners. It’s a skill that they’ll use for years to come, and not just in their English classes — in all subjects! These Interactive Reading Passages can be read to younger students to work on listening comprehension or more advanced readers can read the passages independently.

These are perfect for creating interactive notebooks with your students. Copy the passage and have students glue them onto the left side of the notebook. Then, the interactive graphic organizer can be completed and glued into the right side of the notebook. The students will have access to the reading passage where they can go back and highlight evidence in the text for completing their organizer.

Decodable Passages

This Decodable Phonics Passages & Boom Digital Passages with Comprehension resource is a fantastic tool for beginning readers or those struggling with reading difficulties. It includes 48 decodable passages for plenty of practice. The task cards are the perfect way for Kindergarten and 1st grade students to work on their phonics skills. They can also be used for 2nd graders who need extra practice with their phonetic sounds.

These low-prep reading activities for 1st graders make it easy for your students to get the reading, fluency, and comprehension practice they need. Enjoy!

Related Products

Decodable Phonics Passages & Boom Digital Passages with Comprehension

Fluency Folders – Phonics Based Fluency Practice

Fluency Sentences

Fluency Phrases

Similar posts.

1st Day of School Tips

It’s time for another Linky Party and this one is all about the 1st day of school.  This will be my 12th year of teaching and…

Sight Word Games

Learning sight words is such an important skill for beginning readers.  Goodness gracious though!  Who came up with some of the spellings of our common sight…

Phonics Activity Book

Teachers know that phonics instruction is essential for teaching students how to read. Therefore, they spend hours developing creative lessons and activities to make phonics lessons…

Tips for New Teachers…and Maybe Even Veteran Teachers

I will begin my 14th year of teaching on Monday.  I can’t even believe that I have been teaching for that long…especially since I’m only 29. …

How is it almost December?

Seriously!  How is it almost December?  This school year is just flying by.  My little man turned one this past weekend, and I swear it was…

Phonics-Based Spelling Assessments

Do your students seem to struggle more and more with spelling each year? A large part of this may be due to how much technology society…

I am also completed graduation and looking for good opportunity. Thank you for sharing.

Heya in order to start with. I teach literature at a mixed school in my area. It is classed as the British equivalent of a American K-12 school in addition. I did a entire week of lessons based on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs with a year one class last week. First of all I read the book to the whole class. Nice to meet you and best wishes too. They were all at their own desks listening to me read. The children loved it. So did I in fact. We made colourful mind maps to use.

After I had finished reading the book I next did a quick themed spelling test. It consisted of ten words that were all taken from the novel in question. In pairs with my help the kids even made some brief summary notes on their unique impressions of the story as well. That was a lot of fun.

They had to devise a fun version of an additional scene to add to the book. Finally we worked very hard on a class cartoon book of pictures depicting some of the scenes in a art lesson. Other planned group activities included a thank you letter to the author and another class activity revolved around math. I got them to write a short paragraph to describe the characters one by one at one point during one lesson. One lesson was devoted to thinking skills.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Helpful Links

Shop M y Account Blog About Me Contact Me Subscribe

new in the shop

Decodable Word List Phonics Bookmarks

Best sellers.

Digital Phonics Word Work – Ultimate Bundle

1st Grade Reading Passages for Guided Reading- Bundle

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

Lost your password?

Don't have an account yet? Sign up

• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

Need a resource? Head over to the shop and save 15% off your first purchase! SHOP NOW

• Text Messaging
• Facebook Group
• Search this website

Proud to be Primary

Be inspired, motivate kids, and make a positive impact in your classroom.

9:00 am By Proud to be Primary Leave a Comment

14 Effective & Fun First Grade ELA Worksheets & Literacy Centers

Planning and implementing literacy activities for each day of the month takes a lot of work. Teachers always look for ways to take First Grade ELA planning off their plates. Monthly literacy centers, worksheets, and mini-readers will save the day! These printable resources will free up your time so you can focus on the kids.

Best Practices for Teaching First Grade ELA Standards

First grade ELA standards include covering phonics, phonemic awareness, grammar, sentence writing, reading fluency, and comprehension. These are just some of the standards touched on!

There’s a lot to cover, and it can get overwhelming. Luckily for you, these monthly literacy activities will help!

Table of contents

First-grade standards kids need to know, when to teach first grade ela standards, how to teach first grade ela skills, activities to teach 1st grade ela standards, free literacy worksheets to try, more first grade ela ideas & activities.

Picture this: Each reporting period, you have a lengthy list of standards to cover before report cards go home. You’re stressing over how you will teach everything to the kids in time.

Yup! Been there, done that!

The monthly literacy centers and worksheets I will introduce in this post have everything you need to cover all of the standards. Everything is already mapped out for you, so you just print and use it in your centers, as morning work , in small groups, or as you see fit.

Picture this: You have already created your lesson plans and taught the prescribed ELA material, but some students aren’t grasping the concepts. You need something to help reinforce each skill, but they’re tired of the same materials.

Try something new!

These monthly literacy activities have differentiated worksheets and printables to make things exciting and student-centered. The consistency of the resources will help students complete their work independently, but the scaffolded topics will allow them to be challenged each month as they practice and build new skills in fun ways.

Around the world, first grade literacy standards are very similar. While they might differ slightly, the basic premise is pretty much the same.

Here is a brief list of first grade literacy standards you must most likely cover in the classroom!

General ELA Skills

• Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
• Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
• Describe characters, settings, and major story events using key details.
• Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
• Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.

Reading: Foundational Skills

• Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation).
• Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
• Distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words.
• Orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant blends.
• Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words.
• Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes).
• Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
• Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.
• Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• Write opinion pieces that introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.
• Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
• Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.
• Use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.
• Spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions.
• Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 1 reading and content, choosing flexibly from various strategies.
• Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
• Define words by category and by one or more key attributes (e.g., a duck is a bird that swims; a tiger is a large cat with stripes).
• Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., note places at home that are cozy).
• Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs differing in manner (e.g., look, peek, glance, stare, glare, scowl) and adjectives differing in intensity (e.g., large, gigantic) by defining or choosing them or acting out the meanings.

Please keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list. There are plenty more standards that these cross over with and more that build from these foundational skills.

Literacy standards should be taught during all literacy blocks. Whether you are teaching a whole group lesson or working on a specific skill with a small group of children, you should focus on standards covered in the grade.

One of the easiest (and most fun) ways to teach standards is to incorporate them into activities. These activities can be completed independently, as a small group, and even in a whole group setting.

Begin by teaching a skill in a whole group setting over the course of a week or more. Then, reinforce the skill by working one-on-one with students at your teacher’s table or in small groups. Use mini readers, worksheets, short passages, and fun games to encourage them as they dive into the skill.

Next, add the skill into activities they can complete independently or with a partner. These can be literacy center worksheets, games, morning work , exit tickets, or early finisher activities . The key to teaching ELA skills is offering them to students in various ways and differentiating them based on necessity and skill level.

Do you want activities that are meaningful, standards-based, and planned for you each month? With this monthly bundle of First Grade Literacy Activities , you can simply print and use it in the classroom. No extra planning is needed!

This is what you will find in each month.

6 Types of 1st Grade Literacy Centers

Each of the literacy centers offered has 3 versions, so you can use them plenty throughout the month. Each center comes with a recording sheet to keep students accountable and on track.

Sorting Activity – Students sort images and words into appropriate categories depending on the skill for that month. Ideal to complete as a class, in small groups, or with a partner.

Find the Pair – Using cards with pictures, students will sort into pairs or another way depending on the language skill being studied that month. After all pairs are made, they record their answers.

Puzzles – Students will piece together three-piece puzzles depending on the skill being studied that month. Once all puzzles are completed, they can fill in the recording form with the words.

Clip Cards – Using clips, students find all of the images that match the sound type being studied in the center of the card. Once they are done clipping the cards, they can use one of the given forms to record their answers.

Build the Sight Words – Students will love this hands-on building center where they trace, write, and build sight words. Building materials can include tiles, magnets, playdough, or any other classroom materials!

Task Cards – Task cards make practicing literacy skills a breeze. Kids will work through the cards and fill out their answers on the recording sheet.

6 Types of First Grade ELA Worksheets

Each worksheet has 3 differentiated versions, so you can use them with different groups of students throughout the month.

Color by Code – Kids will enjoy coloring these fun, mystery pictures that are revealed as they color. They will look at the picture and color each space to correspond to the key and skill being practiced.

Find & Color – Use these worksheets to practice identifying and finding sounds. Students will love looking through a page of fun pictures to find the ones with a specific sound!

Sentence Work – These worksheets provide two ways for kids to practice sentence structure: sentence building and sentence practice. Each month, the focus changes and builds in difficulty.

Crack the Code – Kids will love using their Code Chart to crack the code for the mystery words. The recording sheet is provided at three levels to support all students!

Spin & Color – Students spin a spinner and find an image that matches. Great for literacy centers, word work, or small groups. Skills change each month, and multiple versions make differentiation a breeze!

Around the Room Scoot – Get students out of their chairs and moving around the room as they search for picture cards and practice spelling words. Differentiated recording sheets are provided!

Reading Materials

Decodable Reader – Print the decodable readers for students to work on fluency independently or in small groups. You can also have students read them in whole group lessons.

There is one decodable reader each month offered in 3 leveled versions for differentiation. There is a black-and-white version, a color version, and a version with no illustrations, so students can add their own illustrations to show meaning.

Decodable Passages – The decodable readers also come as short passages with two versions for differentiated reading comprehension practice.

Monthly Literacy Centers, Worksheets, & Readers

Make planning a breeze with this innovative, easy-to-use Literacy Centers & Worksheets Bundle by Proud to be Primary that is  Science of Reading aligned ! You will have  everything you need  to teach students year-round during literacy centers, small groups, morning work, and more. There’s something for every day that keeps kids occupied and learning!

This bundle is packed with resources that  teach and review essential literacy skills . By mastering these skills, students will develop the confidence to decode words, manipulate sounds, write sentences, and read stories. This practice will help your students become stronger, more well-rounded readers. 

Interested in monthly literacy activities and worksheets? Below is a list of monthly resources available for 1st grade.

• August 1st Grade Literacy Activities
• September 1st Grade Literacy Activities
• October 1st Grade Literacy Activities
• November 1st Grade Literacy Activities
• December 1st Grade Literacy Activities
• January 1st Grade Literacy Activities
• February 1st Grade Literacy Activities
• March 1st Grade Literacy Activities
• April 1st Grade Literacy Activities
• May 1st Grade Literacy Activities
• June 1st Grade Literacy Activities

Try 6 of the Literacy Worksheets mentioned above in your classroom with this FREEBIE!

Click the image below to grab a copy.

phonics activities

reading comprehension activities

literacy centers

PIN for Later

You may also enjoy these posts:

Reader Interactions

Leave a comment cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• Shop Our Site
• Social-Emotional learning
• Classroom Management
• Teaching Ideas
• Directed Drawing
• Best-Sellers
• Social-Emotional Learning
• Sight Words
• Non-Fiction

Join more than 100,000 proud primary teachers!

Sign up for exclusive access to teacher freebies & weekly emails filled with teacher tips, lesson ideas, and resource suggestions sent straight to your inbox!

Filter Results

• clear all filters

Resource Type

• Guided Lessons
• Lesson Plans
•  Hands-on Activities
• Interactive Stories
• Online Exercises
• Printable Workbooks
• Science Projects
• Song Videos

middle-school

•  Fine arts
•  Math
•  Early Literacy
•  Reading Comprehension Strategies
•  Reading Genres and Types
•  Writing
•  Grammar
•  Science
•  Social emotional
•  Social studies
•  Arts & crafts
•  Holidays
•  Offline games
•  Pop Culture & Events
•  Seasonal
•  Common Core

First Grade Reading Activities

1st Grade Reading Worksheets

• Kindergarten
• All subjects

92 1st Grade Reading Worksheets

A fantasy story: spooky!

Read this story in a spooky voice! In this reading worksheet, your child will listen to and read a short story, then draw what comes next and create a title for the story.

Above, on, below

Draw it! In this coloring math worksheet, your child will draw pictures on, above, and below other objects.

Above, on, below, part 2

Find it! In this coloring math worksheet, your child will identify whether objects are above, below, or on the ground.

It's the opposite! In this language arts worksheet, your child gets practice identifying antonyms such as on/off, light/dark, and night/day.

Beginning and ending sounds

In this early reading worksheet, your child gets practice identifying, writing, and sounding out vowels, first letters, and last letters in common one-syllable words.

Checking grammar

Want to play teacher? In this language arts worksheet, your child will check the work to determine which sentences are written with correct grammar and punctuation.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that join sentences. In this writing worksheet, your child gets practice combining two sentences into one using different conjunctions.

Connect-the-dots dinosaurs

Connect the dots to discover the hidden pictures in this coloring math worksheet. It lets kids practice counting and number sequencing to 40, with a little extra practice reading number words.

Learn how to use a dictionary! In this language arts worksheet, your child learns why dictionaries are helpful and how to use one.

Finish the picture

Complete this castle! Your child will identify geometric shapes, review positional prepositions, and follow directions in this coloring math worksheet.

• Kindergarden

Yes! Sign me up for updates relevant to my child's grade.

Please enter a valid email address

Thank you for signing up!

Server Issue: Please try again later. Sorry for the inconvenience

Free 1st Grade Reading Comprehension Worksheets

Download these FREE 1st-grade reading comprehension worksheets and use them in class today! These PDF worksheets are designed for readers at a grade 1 level and include fun, leveled stories with colorful images that 1st-grade students will enjoy.

Worksheet 1

Title: my new puppy, worksheet 2, title: the big tree.

This next worksheet is another short story for 1st-grade students. This time, students will read a short description of a big, colorful tree in the yard and then must answer 4 reading comprehension questions about the passage.

Worksheet 3

Title: jenny gets ready for school, worksheet 4, title: whiskers.

To help first-grade students with detail retention and critical thinking, this next worksheet asked students to read the passage and answer four true or false questions.

Worksheet 5

Title: charlie the hungry caterpillar, more worksheets.

I hope you and your students enjoy these 1st-grade reading comprehension worksheets. Before you go, check out all our Grade 1 Worksheets and our many reading comprehension worksheets on a variety of topics. As always, these are FREE to use in your lessons.

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar

Teaching Expertise

• Classroom Ideas
• Teacher’s Life
• Deals & Shopping
• Privacy Policy

1st Grade Reading Comprehension Activities: 29 Strategies And Resources

January 10, 2024 //  by  Eileen Zajac

First grade is such an important time for a child. They are becoming more independent in a variety of ways! One of the most important aspects of this independence is their reading. Reading will be the foundation for everything they do in the future. This is why reading comprehension comes in full force during these pivotal developmental years.

Building comprehension skills can be a daunting experience for parents, caregivers, and educators. This is most likely why you ended up here. Keep reading for a total breakdown of some of the best comprehension strategies that can be both used at home and in the classroom!

Keeping It Fun

1. puzzle retelling.

In first grade, we LOVE puzzles. This is why puzzle retelling builds such excellent comprehension skills. Using background knowledge helps kids to be confident and excited about a comprehension activity. Puzzle retelling is also super easy to set up!

Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers

2. Five Finger Retell

Any elementary teacher will tell you how much they love the 5-finger retelling comprehension activity. This activity gives students the visual of retelling a story. It’s also, so much fun! Teachers have been known to incorporate finger puppets, a comprehension worksheet, and many different creative comprehension strategies.

3. Sight Word Practice 

Sight word practice is one of the all-important reading and comprehension skills for Grade 1. Creating active readers by building vocabulary through an active vocabulary game is one of the best ways to keep your children engaged. Here are a few great sight word comprehension activities .

Cute story sticks are always a great way to teach sight words ! This is something you can easily make for your classroom and at home!

4. Sight Word Bingo

Bingo is always a favorite! It is great and always a highly rated vocabulary game. Here you’ll find a FREE resource that allows you to generate a bingo card based on the sight words students are learning and the basis of their background knowledge.

5. Color By Sight Word

There are so many colorful reading comprehension reading worksheets that go along with sight word vocabulary. There are tons of these worksheets throughout the web, here is a FREE resource to see how your students and children will respond.

6. Mental Images

First grade is a time of discovery for children. Visualizing and making mental images is an exciting time for young learners. Providing them with the comprehension skills they need for a love of reading. Mental images can be a great way to incorporate writing prompts into your child’s reading comprehension activities.

Mrs. Jump’s class has some great comprehension activities. Here are some mental image comprehension activities!

7. Comprehension Checks

Comprehension checks may not sound that exciting BUT they can always be fun! Your children will love all of the colorful reading comprehension worksheets that come with comprehension checks. You can make them yourself quite easily, which makes them perfect for at home or in the classroom. Here are some resources for your classroom!

8. Brain Movies

Brain Movies are a great way to build student comprehension skills. Making a Brain Movie is easy for you and for your students. Here is a great way to incorporate it into your classroom.

During a read-aloud, pause when you come across a descriptive passage. Have students close their eyes and picture what is happening, while you are reading! This blog gives a great breakdown of how to incorporate this in your classroom and the importance of Brain Movies incorporation.

9. Printable Story Mats

Printable story mats are easy to make and great for comprehension! You can make them any size that fits your needs. You can find a free download online here.

10. Puppets Steal the Show

Puppets are a great way to get your students engaged, active, and laughing. Puppets can be used for a variety of comprehension activities. Here is a blog that gives an amazing breakdown for using puppets to build comprehension skills.

11. Active Reading

Modeling active reading with your students is extremely important when reading anything. It is important to discuss what is happening in the story as you read. This will help your child to understand and empathize with the characters.

Make sure to ask questions that the child can relate to – Have you ever felt this way? What do you think happened? How do you think he/she/it feels? – Provoking and furthering a child’s thinking process will most definitely help their comprehension skills.

Here is a great blog post to help you practice active reading in the classroom and at home.

12. Think-Aloud

Think-alouds are one of the most amazing comprehension tactics! Think-alouds give students the space to make connections in their lives. When practicing the think-aloud comprehension strategy you should always connect a book back to a time that the child can relate to.

By connecting the book to other book’s the child has read, the child’s life experiences, and the ideas and lessons in the book you are helping to build a relationship with books. Here is a great blog that will help you use this comprehension strategy.

13. Read and Answer!

Incorporating media into the classroom has long been a part of the newest curriculum. It can sometimes be difficult to use media effectively in your ELA curriculum. This video can be used as an entire class, or in small groups. Either way, it will help you to assess students on their knowledge of reading aloud or in their heads and answering questions.

Learn More: North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

14. Listen and Comprehend

This is another video that will be perfect for your kiddos to complete on their own or in small groups. Listening to others read is very important for first grade, language development. In this video, students will listen to the story and answer the questions that follow.

Learn More: Hand 2 Mind

15. Reading Comprehension Check-in

Wordwall provides some of the most entertaining lessons on the web! These lessons are created and shared by other teachers. The activity below can be used in both small groups or as a whole group lesson to assess where your students are in their level of comprehension!

Learn More: Worldwall

16. The Random Story Wheel!

The random wheel is such a fun classroom integration. Project this wheel on a smartboard and have students spin on their turn. Whether students answer these questions in small groups or individually, they will love to play. The best part about this random wheel is that it can be used with any story.

17. Open the Box Activity

Another amazing activity offered by Word Wall is “Open the Box”. This activity resembles a bit like the random wheel, but students are asked to click on a box instead of spinning the wheel. Put a twist on this game and use the questions to make your very own classroom board!

18. Teach to Understand

Giving even our youngest learners a clear understanding of exactly what is expected from a lesson is vital to their success. This video provides students and teachers with a better understanding of what it means to visualize. Understanding vocabulary can make explanations and student understanding that much stronger at the end of the day.

Learn More: Shannon McGilloway

19. Visualize Through the Senses

It’s important to remember that most stories that are aimed at your younger students have some sort of connection to their senses. Therefore, using a visualization strategy that connects the story to different feelings that your kiddos might have could be vital to helping them better understand and comprehend the story.

Learn More: Twinkl

21. Visualize Song

Any teacher knows that songs help students to remember and understand different strategies and lessons. Just like with anything else, making a song for visualizing a story will help students refer back to their understanding. This song is great for exactly that and it’s definitely one to get stuck in your head!

Learn More: Teacher Friend

22. Story Retell

Being able to retell the story is part of the common core curriculum in first grade. It’s important to provide students with a variety of different stories throughout your lessons. With some being ones they know by heart and others being totally new. Use this short Tortoise and the Hare read aloud and have students reenact it!

Learn More: Get Set Parents

23. Parts of the Story Song

Well, just like with visualizing, it’s pretty evident that teachers know how important songs are to students’ understanding and comprehension. This song is perfect for being able to retell the story. Students will have a better understanding of the different parts of the story, making it easier for them to understand and retell the story.

Learn More: Jack Hartmann Kids Music Channel

24. Retell the Story

In a world that is centralized around distance learning and working from home, it’s important to have materials ready to go in an event that students won’t be in school. This video does just that and provides details for both students, teachers, and even parents to have a full grasp of the learning objective.

Learn More: Mandy Yates

25. Character Traits

Another very fun activity for reading comprehension is understanding different character traits! A simple and fun way to do this in first grade is to make a poster together about one of the student’s favorite stories. First, read the story together and then create a poster that can be displayed in the classroom.

Learn More: Life Between Summers

26. Dot to Dot 

This is a pre-reading comprehension strategy that can really be tailored for any grade, age, or story! This dot to dot activity with help to activate prior knowledge and build vocabulary that may arise in the story.

Learn More: Invitation to Play and Learn

27. Christmas Word Families

There’s no doubt that reading comprehension and fluidity go hand in hand. Constant practice with students’ reading skills, will ultimately help them to improve their comprehension skills.

28. Retell Activity

This video will walk students through a read-aloud and retelling activity. The best part about this video is that you can take it and complete it with students or send it home for an at-home distance learning activity. Tailor is to your curriculum and enjoy!

Learn More: The Elementary ELL Teacher, Mrs. Brenda Pearson

29. Brown Bear Brown Bear, Game Show Quiz

In all honestly, bringing a game show on the computer into the classroom can be a total hit or miss. Although, this particular game show is right at the level of most first graders! Making it that much more engaging. At the end have your students join the leaderboard and see if you can get to #1.

Addition (Basic)

Addition (Multi-Digit)

Algebra & Pre-Algebra

Comparing Numbers

Daily Math Review

Division (Basic)

Division (Long Division)

Hundreds Charts

Measurement

Multiplication (Basic)

Multiplication (Multi-Digit)

Order of Operations

Place Value

Probability

Skip Counting

Subtraction

Telling Time

Word Problems (Daily)

More Math Worksheets

Reading Comprehension

Reading Comprehension Gr. 1

Reading Comprehension Gr. 2

Reading Comprehension Gr. 3

Reading Comprehension Gr. 4

Reading Comprehension Gr. 5

Reading Comprehension Gr. 6

Reading & Writing

Reading Worksheets

Cause & Effect

Fact & Opinion

Fix the Sentences

Graphic Organizers

Synonyms & Antonyms

Writing Prompts

Writing Story Pictures

Writing Worksheets

More ELA Worksheets

Consonant Sounds

Vowel Sounds

Consonant Blends

Consonant Digraphs

Word Families

More Phonics Worksheets

Early Literacy

Build Sentences

Sight Word Units

Sight Words (Individual)

More Early Literacy

Punctuation

Subjects and Predicates

More Grammar Worksheets

Spelling Lists

Spelling Grade 1

Spelling Grade 2

Spelling Grade 3

Spelling Grade 4

Spelling Grade 5

Spelling Grade 6

More Spelling Worksheets

Chapter Books

Charlotte's Web

Magic Tree House #1

Boxcar Children

More Literacy Units

Animal (Vertebrate) Groups

Butterfly Life Cycle

Electricity

Matter (Solid, Liquid, Gas)

Simple Machines

Space - Solar System

More Science Worksheets

Social Studies

Maps (Geography)

Maps (Map Skills)

More Social Studies

Mother's Day

Father's Day

More Holiday Worksheets

Puzzles & Brain Teasers

Brain Teasers

Logic:  Addition Squares

Mystery Graph Pictures

Number Detective

Lost in the USA

More Thinking Puzzles

Teacher Helpers

Teaching Tools

Award Certificates

More Teacher Helpers

Pre-K and Kindergarten

Alphabet (ABCs)

Numbers and Counting

Shapes (Basic)

More Kindergarten

Worksheet Generator

Word Search Generator

Multiple Choice Generator

Fill-in-the-Blanks Generator

More Generator Tools

Full Website Index

1st Grade Reading Comprehension - Short Passages

Here you'll find printable reading comprehension worksheets with passages written at a first grade level. Each passage includes several comprehension questions that you can use to assess student performance.

Nonfiction Passages

Logged in members can use the Super Teacher Worksheets filing cabinet to save their favorite worksheets.

Quickly access your most used files AND your custom generated worksheets!

Please login to your account or become a member and join our community today to utilize this helpful feature.

Animal Articles

Here you will find longer, full-length reading comprehension passages for your first grade pupils.

Sample Worksheet Images

PDF with answer key:

PDF no answer key:

• Number & Place Value
• Addition & Subtraction
• Measurement & Geometry
• Play-based Learning
• Formative Assessment
• Planning & Programming
• Art & Craft
• Digital Learning
• Sustainability
• Transition to School
• Systems & Routines
• Classroom Themes
• Learning Displays
• Decorative Displays
• Emotional Literacy
• Staff Activities
• Teaching Literacy Phonics Reading Writing Math Number & Place Value Addition & Subtraction Measurement & Geometry Teaching Practice Play-based Learning Formative Assessment Planning & Programming Other Categories Art & Craft Digital Learning Fine Motor Sustainability Transition to School
• Classroom Classroom Management Behaviour Systems & Routines Storage Decor & Displays Classroom Themes Learning Displays Decorative Displays DIY & Hacks DIY Hacks
• Well-being Social-emotional Learning Emotional Literacy Kindness Gratitude Teacher Well-being Staff Activities

1st Grade Reading Comprehension Books & Strategies

As much as I talk about phonics and phonemic awareness, reading comprehension is a central component in reading... and it's what makes reading so fun! Below, I'm sharing some of the most important early reading strategies and my favourite comprehension books for 1st Grade . They are fantastic for read-alouds or mentor texts, and are creative and engaging enough to spark a lifelong love of reading!

Reading is about so much more than learning high-frequency words (aka 'sight words') and phonic skills. Those are absolutely essential and often underrepresented in the classroom, but they're just one component of reading. If you want to help your students develop lifelong reading skills, they need plenty of opportunities to develop their love of reading. 

That looks like reading fun and interesting books that pique their interest and pull them through page by page! These fascinating stories will model creative expression and help your students fall in love with reading books. The right books can help students understand themselves and the world around them in a new way! Reading is more than just a practical skill; it's a way of knowing the world.

Teaching Reading Comprehension in 1st Grade

If you're teaching comprehension, focus on actionable strategies that students can use independently. These Reading Comprehension Strategies Posters are a great way to make those reading strategies visual. 

In Grades 1-3, we generally focus on these close reading comprehension strategies and continue building on the strategies taught in kindergarten. Some of the strategies towards the bottom of the list may not be covered until second or third grade, but they may be introduced conversationally, even to first graders.

• Creating images

Review Meaning

Finding information, summarising.

You can also use these strategies to set class or student Reading Goals to help your students understand what successful readers do when they read.

They are great for self-assessment, too!

Best Comprehension Books for 1st Grade

Most of the posts about this topic recommend buying a bunch of workbooks to practise comprehension. Since many young readers are still reading very brief passages, this can work. 

However, the goal of comprehension is to teach your students to be eager readers. This is the chance to teach your students to become lifelong readers who fall in love with literature. I'm just guessing, but I doubt that anyone says that they became a lifelong reader because of interesting worksheets or an early reader book in 1st Grade. 

Instead, I encourage you to look for authentic, engaging stories that pique your students' attention. They should be rich and wonderful, with interesting sentence structure, imagery, and more. Students should be exposed to stories across genres, including historical fiction, fantasy, etc. Plus, young children tend to be fascinated with the world around them, and nonfiction texts are a wonderful way for them to be drawn in by their natural curiosity. 

Ditch the 1st grade reading comprehension workbooks and make room for real kids' books! These are some of the very best books for teaching reading comprehension skills to 1st graders and beyond!

Creating Images

When students read or hear a story, they should see visuals in their minds, like a mental movie.

Choose any text with descriptive writing and read it out loud without showing the pictures. Have the students draw or describe what they saw in their heads as you read. Some students will latch on quickly, and others will interpret the text in vastly different ways.

Then, read the text again but reveal the pictures so they can compare their images. This is a surefire way to make story time extra exciting!

• Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell - Molly's buck teeth and unique voice make this book perfect for the visualisation strategy above.

• Southwest Sunrise by Nikki Grimes - I love the vivid descriptions! They really capture the Southwest wonderfully.  

• Hot Dog by Jack Salati - This is such a fun story for kids. It's a little bit silly, which they love. There is very little text, but it's very visual, so it's ideal for young students.   

This strategy is all about making sure the story makes sense. It's the most critical part of comprehension: do they understand what they are reading? 

All readers should be checking for meaning as they read. You'll need to prompt young learners with comprehension questions to check that they're processing the story. This can be as simple as asking for a brief summary, or you can ask students to think about how a character might be feeling, etc. 

You can also ask more probing questions, but be careful not to lose the flow of the story by pausing too much. The right questions can make a story more interesting, especially if they help students unlock an awareness of the story that they didn't perceive on their own. 

• Corduroy by Don Freeman - This is a classic story that still warms hearts today! It's about a little teddy bear in a department store who must find his missing button to go home with a little girl. Young kids will really feel for Corduroy and want to follow along.  

• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst - This is one of the most popular picture books for a reason! It's a very accessible (and engaging) story about Alexander. Students will naturally relate to Alexander and his "terrible day," but they may need to read between the lines to understand some of his frustrations.  

• The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco - Polacco is a master storyteller. This unusual story is fascinating for little kids who will be listening eagerly to learn all about the mysterious bee tree!   

Predicting is a skill we typically only teach with fiction, as it is about anticipating future events. It builds on all the other skills, like finding meaning and connecting, which help students make predictions based on their own real-world experiences. Based on what we know about the story and about the world, what do we think will happen next?  

• Never Let a Dinosaur Scribble by Diane Alber - The book already includes questions that younger readers will naturally want to answer. It's an easy choice!

• Extra Yarn  by Mac Barnett  - Follow a little girl who has more yarn than she might ever need and faces teasing for her colourful creations. Plus, it's the perfect opportunity for a rich class discussion about being truly yourself.

• The Snowy Nap by Jan Brett - Follow young Hedgie around the farm as he finds a cozy place to nap during the winter. This text is especially great after your hibernation unit. There are also some great opportunities to make inferences about the best place to rest and to bring in text-to-world connections.  

In the upper grades, students are expected to know how to cite their sources or find evidence in texts. It's much easier to start this essential skill early on, and it can be a surprisingly rich way to make sense of literature. Sometimes, we don't fully understand how we learned something until we have to reverse engineer the process. 

In kindergarten and first grade, we mostly focus on finding information in nonfiction texts, as they’re more concrete and straightforward. With fiction texts, this is a natural chance to talk about story elements, like plot or events, as we can refer back to specific moments when someone says or does something. 

• Inside Your Outside: All About About the Human Body by Tish Rabe - This title from the Dr. Seuss company is the perfect entry-level way to introduce students to anatomy.

• The Word Collector by Peter Reynolds - Every 1st grade teacher should have this special book! It's all about words, which is a great connection for teaching syllables later on. Plus, you can find "proof" of where he found each word on several of the pages. Great for teaching context clues!

• Mo Willems by Abby Colich - Many first and second-grade students know all about the children's author Mo Willems. This biography is a great way to learn more about someone they already "know" and to practise finding specific information in a text.  

Students can make three types of connections with any story:

• Text to Self
• Text to Text
• Text to World

This is a great way to bring your students' life experiences, thoughts, and feelings into the conversation and really bring those stories to life! If you want a visual reference, my poster bundle includes several pages to reinforce this concept.

• Moo Hoo by Audrey Perrott - Kids will be able to relate to Milton the cow, who has lots of feelings about everything! Great for building emotional self-awareness, too!

• What if Everybody Did That? by Ellen Javernick - Since this book poses hypothetical questions, it's a great opportunity to ask your students for their thoughts and opinions.

• The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires - This story follows a little girl who struggles again and again to make "the most magnificent thing." It's a wonderful story about persistence, and students will have so many personal connections about overcoming frustrations.

Inferring is a much more abstract concept that can be confusing for first grade students to understand fully, but it's so important! It's also an incredibly fun skill to teach because it's about being a literary detective! 

Start with this free inference slideshow! There is a unique image on each slide with a prompt to guide students through the inference process.

You can even use this as a daily writing prompt to get students writing every morning.   

Another option is to share some wordless picture books. Since there are no words to guide their understanding, students must practise attending to the images and making sense of the clues in front of them. 

• Flotsam by David Weisner - This is such a great book with the most enchanting illustrations! Your students will be watching in awe as you turn the page.   

• Flashlight by Lizi Boyd - I love how the little boy's flashlight directs the reader's attention and that the pages reveal what is hidden in the dark.

• Twenty Questions by Mac Barnett is one of my favourite books for teaching inferring! It consists of 20 questions, all of which require lots of creativity to explain the answer. It's a perfect fit for those clever first grade students! 

At this age, we don't expect students to write paragraph-long summaries of their stories. It's more about pulling out the most important parts of a story, either orally, in writing, or with support.

This is one of those buildable skills that gets more and more complex as students get older, so it's important to start it early! Keep things simple and use a summarising protocol like: 

Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then  

Who, What, When, Where, Why (or How)

These summarising protocol posters are free downloads !

Alternatively, you could also use these sentence scaffolds:

• Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes - I love reading this picture book for many reasons, but it's also great for summarising. It's easier for kids to pull out the main idea as it focuses on experiences they may have already experienced themselves.  

• Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola - There are so many reasons to have this picture book on your bookshelf! It's a wordless story about an older lady as she tries to prepare her breakfast. She seems to run out of every ingredient before a little disaster strikes. Since this first-grade level book has no words, readers must pay close attention to the pictures to understand what's happening.

• A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon - This is the perfect book for your SEL collection! A little girl wants to fit in so much that she starts to look how other people want her. She becomes covered in stripes, stars, and more...until she learns to love herself for who she is. There are so many great lessons for students to learn from this book, and it's a fantastic example for summarising the main ideas in a book.

Looking for more?

Don't forget to download your reading comprehension strategy posters, available in either rainbow or neutral !

They come in two designs - with cliparts (for younger students) or with icons (for older students).

Want to take things to the next level?

Elevate your literacy instruction with The Hive's digital learning tools ! There is an ever-growing bank of evidence-based literacy apps (as well as digital learning tools for mathematics, classroom management, morning routines and so much more). 

Check out The Hive today with our 7 day free trial!

Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

1st Grade Reading Comprehension Worksheets

The 1st grade reading comprehension worksheet activities below are coordinated with the 1st grade spelling words curriculum on a week-to-week basis, so both can be used together as part of a comprehensive program, or each part can be used separately. The worksheets include first grade appropriate reading passages and related questions. There are 36 weeks of first grade worksheets, following most standard school year calendars.

Click on the title of each worksheets to download the printable PDF. Students should read each passage and then answer related questions. They can also write answers on another page or back of the worksheet.

Reading Games for 1st Grade

Take the struggle out of your child's learning experience by playing reading games for 1st graders online. In first grade, the challenge of reading, writing, and spelling becomes real. Lessen this burden by using these games online to make happy readers out of your 1st grade kids!

CONTENT TYPE

• Lesson Plans
• Number Sense (78)
• Number Sequence (9)
• Counting (16)
• Compare Numbers (11)
• Compare 2-Digit Numbers (6)
• Order Numbers (2)
• Skip Counting (26)
• Skip Count By 2 (7)
• Skip Count By 5 (8)
• Skip Count By 10 (11)
• Place Value (24)
• Unit Form (3)
• Addition (219)
• Add With Pictures (22)
• Addition Properties (4)
• Addition Strategies (112)
• Compose And Decompose Numbers (58)
• Number Bonds (7)
• Add Using A Number Line (7)
• Count On To Add (10)
• Add With 10 (2)
• Doubles And Near Doubles Addition Strategy (19)
• Make 10 Strategy (4)
• Add Three Whole Numbers (20)
• 2-Digit Addition (41)
• 2-Digit Addition Without Regrouping (20)
• 2-Digit Addition With Regrouping (16)
• Subtraction (87)
• Subtract With Pictures (14)
• Subtraction Strategies (31)
• Count Back Strategy (8)
• Doubles And Near Doubles Subtraction Strategy (5)
• 2-Digit Subtraction (7)
• 2-Digit Subtraction Without Regrouping (5)
• Geometry (43)
• Shapes (36)
• 2D Shapes (27)
• Attributes Of 2D Shapes (10)
• 3D Shapes (9)
• Partition Into Equal Parts (7)
• Partition In Halves, Thirds, And Fourths (6)
• Data Handling (7)
• Measurement (12)
• Comparing Lengths (5)
• Time In Hours (5)
• Time In Half Hours (4)
• Identify Coins (12)
• Counting Money (9)
• Algebra (14)
• Number Patterns (12)
• Word Problems (35)
• Addition Word Problems (16)
• Addition Word Problems Within 20 (12)
• Subtraction Word Problems (19)
• Subtraction Word Problems Within 20 (16)
• Reading (613)
• Phonics (613)
• Bossy R (60)
• Words With Ar (3)
• Words With Er (3)
• Words With Ir (3)
• Words With Or (3)
• Words With Ur (3)
• Consonant Blends (118)
• Ending Blends (69)
• Beginning Blends (49)
• L Blend Words (26)
• R Blend Words (23)
• Vowels (77)
• Long Vowel Sounds (75)
• Long Vowel A Sound (15)
• Long Vowel E Sound (17)
• Long Vowel I Sound (15)
• Long Vowel O Sound (15)
• Long Vowel U Sound (13)
• Silent E (12)
• Vowel Teams (65)
• Words With Ai And Ay (3)
• Words With Ea And Ee (3)
• Words With Ie And Y (3)
• Words With Oa And Ow (3)
• Words With Oo (2)
• Words With Ue And Ui (1)
• Blending (74)
• Ccvc Words (24)
• Ccvcc Words (6)
• Cvcc Words (44)
• Rhyming Words (37)
• Sight Words (320)
• Dolch Sight Words (150)
• Fry Sight Words (84)

Phonics Games

Begin Blending With Bossy R: AR Game

Begin blending with Bossy R: AR to practice your language skills!

Explore Words With End Blends - lk Game

Polish your language skills by exploring words with end blends - lk.

From Short Vowel A to Long Vowel A Game

Change from short vowel A to long vowel A to practice your english skills.

Begin Blending With Consonant Blends TR and PR Game

Begin blending with consonant blends TR and PR.

All Reading Games

From Sounds to Words: yarn and sharp Game

With the help of this game learn to translate sounds to words: yarn and sharp.

Guess the Word: bark and dark Game

Kids must guess the word: bark and dark to develop their english skills!

Find Words Using Blending: arm and farm Game

Use your skills to find words using blending: arm and farm.

The Ultimate Bossy R Challenge: art, cart and harm Game

Make learning fun with the ultimate Bossy R challenge: art, cart and harm.

Begin Segmenting With charm and march Game

Practice english by learning to begin segmenting with charm and march.

Rearrange Sounds to Make Words: part and shark Game

Ask your child to rearrange sounds to make words: part and shark.

Sequence the Letters to Make Words: yard and farm Game

Make english easy by learning to sequence the letters to make words: yard and farm.

Guess the Word: dart and march Game

Put your language skills to the test by guessing the word: dart and march.

Begin Blending With Bossy R: ER Game

Begin blending with Bossy R: ER to practice your language skills!

From Sounds to Words: herd and clerk Game

With the help of this game learn to translate sounds to words: herd and clerk.

Guess the Word: her and verb Game

Practice language art skills by spotting the word: her and verb.

Find Words Using Blending: term and berth Game

To play, kids must find words using blending: term and berth.

The Ultimate Bossy R Challenge: perm, jerk and clerk Game

Make learning fun with the ultimate Bossy R challenge: perm, jerk and clerk.

Begin Segmenting With verb and term Game

Practice english by learning to begin segmenting with verb and term.

Rearrange Sounds to Make Words: fern and berth Game

Ask your child to rearrange sounds to make words: fern and berth.

Sequence the Letters to Make Words: clerk and herd Game

Kids must sequence the letters to make words: clerk and herd.

Guess the Word: fern and term Game

Kids must guess the word: fern and term to develop their english skills!

Begin Blending With Bossy R: IR Game

Begin blending with Bossy R: IR to practice your language skills!

From Sounds to Words: shirt and whirl Game

With the help of this game learn to translate sounds to words: shirt and whirl.

Guess the Word: stir and girl Game

Kids must guess the word: stir and girl to develop their english skills!

Find Words Using Blending: bird and chirp Game

To play, kids must find words using blending: bird and chirp.

The Ultimate Bossy R Challenge: shirt, skirt and quirk Game

Make learning fun with the ultimate Bossy R challenge: shirt, skirt and quirk.

Begin Segmenting With firm and birth Game

Practice english by learning to begin segmenting with firm and birth.

Rearrange Sounds to Make Words: third and shirt Game

Ask your child to rearrange sounds to make words: third and shirt.

Sequence the Letters to Make Words: dirt and girl Game

Make english easy by learning to sequence the letters to make words: dirt and girl.

Guess the Word: first and stir Game

Put your language skills to the test by guessing the word: first and stir.

Begin Blending With Bossy R: OR Game

Begin blending with Bossy R: OR to practice your language skills!

From Sounds to Words: torn and porch Game

With the help of this game learn to translate sounds to words: torn and porch.

Guess the Word: cork and born Game

Kids must guess the word: cork and born to develop their english skills!

Find Words Using Blending: fort and storm Game

To play, kids must find words using blending: fort and storm.

The Ultimate Bossy R Challenge: sort, thorn and forth Game

Make learning fun with the ultimate Bossy R challenge: sort, thorn and forth.

Begin Segmenting With torch and north Game

Practice english by learning to begin segmenting with torch and north.

Rearrange Sounds to Make Words: sort and form Game

Ask your child to rearrange sounds to make words: sort and form.

Sequence the Letters to Make Words: cord and fork Game

Make english easy by learning to sequence the letters to make words: cord and fork.

Guess the Word: storm and dorm Game

Put your language skills to the test by guessing the word: storm and dorm.

Begin Blending With Bossy R: UR Game

Begin blending with Bossy R: UR to practice your language skills!

From Sounds to Words: blur and curb Game

With the help of this game learn to translate sounds to words: blur and curb.

Guess the Word: turf and hurl Game

Kids must guess the word: turf and hurl to develop their english skills!

Find Words Using Blending: purl and hurt Game

Use your skills to find words using blending: purl and hurt.

The Ultimate Bossy R Challenge: burst, turn and church Game

Make learning fun with the ultimate Bossy R challenge: burst, turn and church.

Begin Segmenting With fur and curl Game

Practice english by learning to begin segmenting with fur and curl.

Rearrange Sounds to Make Words: furl and surf Game

Ask your child to rearrange sounds to make words: furl and surf.

Sequence the Letters to Make Words: turn and curb Game

Make english easy by learning to sequence the letters to make words: turn and curb.

Guess the Word: burn and church Game

Put your language skills to the test by guessing the word: burn and church.

Explore Words With Bossy R - ar Game

Get familiar with reading by learning to explore words with bossy R - ar.

Explore Words With R Controlled Vowels - ar Game

Polish your language skills by exploring words with R controlled vowels - ar.

Build Words With Bossy R - ar Game

To enhance your skills, build words with Bossy R - ar.

Your one stop solution for all grade learning needs.

The Teaching Rabbit

The teaching rabbit's resources, literacy centers for first grade.

July 3, 2019 Melissa Freeman Primary , Sentences , Word Work , Writing 0

Using literacy centers in your classroom is a great hands on way to help students build reading, writing, and word work skills every day. You may choose to run your centers while you are busy working with small guided reading groups or assessing individual learners. It is important to teach students how to use each center before having them work there on their own. Working through each center once as a class can give students a basic understanding of what they should be doing.

The literacy centers described below are best for Grade 1 students, although some can be used in Kindergarten or Grade 2 depending on the level of your students.

Beginning and Ending Sounds Literacy Center

These Beginning & Ending Sounds Cards (CVC words) are perfect for a word work center. Laminate them for your students to  use with dry erase markers.  They can make words by adding the beginning and ending letters.

Students can then copy the words they have made into their notebooks or use the recording sheet that is included to sort the words by their vowel sounds.

This center comes with 45 cards (9 cards for each short vowel sound).

Grab these FREE Beginning & Ending Sounds Worksheets for some extra practice!

Word Families Center

This Word Families Literacy Center is great for hands-on independent practice.  Students can use them with dry erase markers to make both short and long vowel word families. This can also be used for small group instruction, extra practice for early finishers, or intervention.

It comes with these 42 word families:

SHORT VOWELS

at, ap, an, ad, am, ag, ed, est, en, et, ess, ish, in, ig, ip, it, id, og, ot, op, ob, oss, un, um, ug, ub, ut

LONG VOWELS

ake, ame, ain, eep, ee, eat, ice, ine, ite, one, oat, ose, ue, ute, une

For more ideas, check out this Word Families blog post !

Sentence Building Literacy Center

At this Making Sentences Center , students arrange the words in each envelope to make simple sentences. They can use the answer card to assist them or you can leave it out (depending on their level). They can print the sentences they have made in their notebooks. It comes with 15 sentences.  These are helpful for beginning readers or writers.

For more ideas, check out this Making Sentences With Beginners Blog Post !

Partner Reading Cards

These Partner / Buddy Reading Cards are great for having students read aloud to each other.  Each card has 8 sentences, so students will read 4 sentences each.

Reading to someone can help to develop fluency and confidence. Students can also give each other feedback and they can help each other decode new words.

You may wish to laminate and send these cards home in a baggie for students and parents to read together for extra practice.

This set comes with 25 full page non-fiction passages and one graphic organizer for students to write the facts that they have learned from the passage (if you choose to add a writing component).

Read and Draw Center

Let students get creative with this fun center! Just laminate these cards and place them in a tub with some dry erase markers. Students read the sentences and draw the pictures. Teachers can check for comprehension by looking at the drawings.

You can also use these for early finishers. This center comes with 25 full page activity cards.

CVCe Words Activities

Laminate these CVCe Words Activities and have your first grade students use them with dry erase markers to make words with long vowel sounds by adding an "e".

These hands-on activities can also be used for small group instruction, extra practice for early finishers, or intervention.

Punctuation Center

This literacy center can help first grade students identify, complete and write statements, questions,  and  exclamations  by using the correct punctuation mark.

There are two versions of the center so you can differentiate.

The first version is a  Fill in the Punctuation  card where students complete each sentence by simply choosing the correct punctuation mark.

The second version is a  Write Your Own Sentence  card where students must write one statement, one question and one exclamation about the animal.

Writing Prompts

These 35 prompts can help your students get started writing about different topics. Each page uses primary lines and includes a picture. It can be part of a writing literacy center. It comes with a checklist so students can be sure they have done everything necessary.

Sequence of Events Center

This center can help first grade students develop reading and retelling skills. Students read the passages and then order the events by cutting and pasting them into the correct sequence.

It is great for small group work, independent work, or for use in literacy centers.

Syllables Sorting Activity

Use these 40 word cards with pictures to help your students learn to identify the number of syllables in words.  This fun sorting game has words with 1, 2, 3, and 4 syllables.

All About Insects Center

This literacy center is good for small group lessons, or even to use as a research projects for primary grades! Your students will learn all about caterpillars, butterflies, ladybugs, grasshoppers, and ants!

Making Inferences Game

Your students can practice making inferences with this fun game!

Students read short paragraphs to each other and then answer the multiple choice questions.  If they are correct, they move the number of spaces indicated on the card.

Rhyming Words Worksheets & Match Game

Use the match game for practice and then use these cut and paste worksheets as an assessment!

You can find all of these resources individually in my online store or you can purchase them in this Literacy Centers Bundle that comes with 14 centers!

Looking for resources for a slightly lower grade level?

You might want to check out my blog post on 5 Kindergarten Learning Centers !

• first grade
• literacy centers

Copyright © 2024 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

Creative Ways to Use Graphic Novels in the Classroom! 🎥

Every product is independently selected by (obsessive) editors. Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission.

45 Fabulous 1st Grade Science Projects That Little Learners Will Love

Hands-on science is a surefire way to connect with every kid.

First graders will cheer when you announce that they’ll get to do a real, hands-on science experiment! These 1st grade science projects are easy for kids to do, with concepts that will help build their science knowledge for the future.

To make it even easier to find the best science projects for 1st graders, we’ve given each a rating based on difficulty and the materials you’ll need:

Difficulty:

• Easy: Low or no-prep experiments you can do pretty much anytime
• Medium: These take a little more setup or a longer time to complete
• Advanced: Experiments like these take a fairly big commitment of time and/or effort
• Basic: Simple items you probably already have around the house
• Medium: Items that you might not already have but are easy to get your hands on
• Advanced: These require specialized or more expensive supplies to complete

Animal and Nature Science Projects for 1st Grade

Weather science experiments for 1st grade.

• More 1st Grade Science Experiments and Projects

Learn about animals, plants, and the Earth in general with these fun science activities for first graders.

Sort animals by features

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic

Use a printable or pull out the toy animals and have kids sort them into categories. It’s an early introduction to classification systems.

Learn more: Animal Sort at Fairy Poppins

Build the layers of Earth with Play-Doh

Another creative use for Play-Doh! Teach your students about the different layers of Earth and then have them create the layers using different colors of Play-Doh.

Learn more: Layers of the Earth at Evans Elementary School

Turn a plastic bag into a greenhouse

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium

Turn your 1st grade science class into gardeners! Use a damp paper towel in a plastic bag to allow them to see a seed sprouting and growing roots.

Learn more: Greenhouse Bag at Lessons for Little Ones

See how shadows change throughout the day

Start in the morning: Have kids stand in one spot on the playground while a partner traces their shadow with sidewalk chalk . Ask them what they think will happen when they stand in the same spot during the afternoon, then head back outside after lunch to find out.

Learn more: Shadow Experiment at The First Grade Roundup

Discover how plants drink water

Capillary action is the name of the game, and your 1st grade science kiddos will be amazed at the results. Place celery stalks in cups of colored water, and watch as the leaves change color!

Learn more: Capillary Action at Lessons for Little Ones

Build a bird feeder

Set young engineers loose with wood craft sticks , glue, and string to create a bird feeder. Then research the best seeds to fill them with, and hang them outside your classroom window to draw in some feathered friends.

Learn more: DIY Bird Feeder at Mombrite

Observe the birds at your feeder

Once your feeder is in place, teach kids to identify common birds and keep track of their visits. Report their findings to one of Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Citizen Science projects to let kids be part of real-life research. ( Find more bird-watching activities for kids here. )

Experiment with apples and oxidation

Apples turn brown when they’re cut open due to oxidation. Is there any way to prevent that from happening? This experiment aims to find out. ( Explore more apple activities here. )

Learn more: Apples Experiment at Camping Teacher

Use colorful beads to learn about camouflage

Animal camouflage is an important way for prey to protect itself from predators. To learn how effective it can be, place matching colored beads on top of a photo of wildflowers and see how long it takes students to find them all.

Learn more: Camouflage Activity at The First Grader Roundup

Expose a sponge fish to pollution

It’s never too early to start learning about how important it is to protect the Earth. Use sponge “fish” to see how polluted water affects the wildlife living in it.

Learn more: Pollution Experiment at The Owl Teacher

Dig in the dirt with claws

Animal adaptations allow creatures to live in just about every environment on Earth. Learn how claws help some animals survive and thrive by gluing plastic spoons to a glove.

Learn more: Claw Glove at The First Grade Roundup

Observe plant transpiration

Many plants take in more water than they need. What happens to the rest? Wrap a plastic bag around a living tree branch to see transpiration in action.

Learn more:  Leaf Transpiration at Teach Beside Me

Try these science activities to explore wind, rain, and more with your firsties.

Create a weather vane

A weather vane is one of the oldest scientific tools—they help people know which way the wind is blowing. Learn how to make your own with this cool weather experiment.

Learn more: Weathervane Experiment at Rookie Parenting

Grow a rainbow

Kids learn the colors of the rainbow along with chromatography as they watch marker streaks climb up and meet across a wet paper towel. The word might be a big one for little kids to learn, but they’ll love to see it in action!

Learn more: Grow a Rainbow at The Best Ideas for Kids

Make it rain

You need rain to make a rainbow. Simulate a rain cloud in a jar with shaving cream and food coloring, and see how the coloring saturates the “cloud” until it simply must fall.

Learn more: Shaving Cream Clouds at Fun Learning for Kids

Create frost in a can

This is an especially fun experiment during those chilly winter months. First, fill the can with ice and halfway with water. Then have the kids sprinkle salt in the can and cover the top. Finally, shake it and wait about three minutes for the frost to begin to appear.

Learn more: Frost in a Can at Kindergarten Worksheets and Games

Create an avalanche

Learn about the destructive power of an avalanche in a safe way with this experiment. All you need is flour, cornmeal, pebbles, and a plastic tray.

Learn more: Avalanche Experiment at A Dab of Glue Will Do

More 1st Grade Science Projects and Experiments

Looking for more? Try these experiments on a range of subjects to teach first graders all about science.

Give gummy bears a bath

Drop gummy bears into different liquid solutions to see how they change (or don’t) over time. Kids will learn about osmosis, as well as how scientists must be good observers.

Learn more: Gummy Bear Experiment at First Grade Buddies + Co

Play a DIY flute

These homemade flutes are fun to play, but they also help young kids learn about sound. Let them experiment with straw lengths to see what tones they can make.

Learn more: DIY Pan Flute at Buggy and Buddy

Play with Play-Doh to learn why we have bones

Ask kids to build a person from Play-Doh and see if it will stand on its own. Then show them how adding drinking straws gives it structure and strength, and explain that bones do the same for us! ( Get more clever ways to use Play-Doh in the classroom here. )

Learn more: Play-Doh Bones at Keeping My Kiddo Busy

Find out which objects magnets attract

Equip students with magnets and send them out to explore and discover which objects the magnet will stick to and which won’t. Record their findings on the free printable worksheet at the link.

Learn more: Magnet Science Experiments at Fairy Poppins

Grow a crystal garden

First grade science students might not grasp the concept of supersaturated solutions, but they’ll still love a good crystal project! Grab some magnifying glasses and let them examine the crystals up close (try not to touch, as they’re very fragile) to see the cool geometric structures.

Learn more: Crystal Garden at Babble Dabble Do

Build a jelly bean structure

If you’re doing this STEM project in the spring, jelly beans make the perfect base. If you can’t get a hold of jelly beans, try substituting tiny marshmallows in their place. Make sure to have some extras on hand since little hands are likely to snack as they build.

Learn more: Jellybean STEM Challenge at The STEM Laboratory

Experiment with marshmallow Peeps

Peeps used to just be an Easter treat, but these days you can find them in different shapes throughout much of the year. Use them to practice making predictions and recording observations with this sweet experiment.

Learn more: Easter Peeps Science Experiment at Gift of Curiosity

Spark excitement with static electricity

No doubt your 1st grade science students have already encountered static electricity by rubbing a balloon on their hair. This experiment takes things a step further, letting kids explore which objects an electrically charged balloon can pick up and which it can’t.

Learn more: Static Electricity Balloons at Kids Activities Blog

Melt crayons to explore solids and liquids

Dig out some old crayons and use them for this easy experiment that demonstrates the difference between liquids and solids. When you’re done, you’ll have a cool piece of art to display. ( Discover more uses for broken crayons here. )

Learn more: Melting Crayons at First Grade Circle

Talk through a paper cup phone

This classic experiment will help your 1st grade science class understand that sound travels in waves, through the air, and across other objects. Watching their faces light up when they hear whispers in their cups will make your day!

Learn more: Paper Cup Phone at There’s Just One Mommy

Blow a bubble snake

Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic

You’ll need to plan this experiment for a day with nice weather since it is best suited to outdoors. You will need an empty water bottle, a washcloth, a rubber band, a small bowl or plate, food coloring, scissors or box cutters, distilled water, dish soap, and Karo syrup or glycerin. There’s a lot of prep, but the end result is definitely worth it!

Learn more: Bubble Snakes at Hand 2 Mind

Learn why we have night and day

The Earth’s daily rotation gives us days and nights. This simple demo helps kids understand that. They draw a day scene and a night scene on a paper plate, then cover it with half of another plate that can be moved. This is an art project and 1st grade science experiment all rolled into one.

Learn more: Night and Day Play at Universe Awareness

Float food coloring on milk

Learn about surface tension by dropping food coloring onto different types of milk (whole, skim, cream, etc.). Then use dish soap to break down the fats and surface tension, and watch the colors dance!

Learn more: Surface Tension Milk at STEAMsational

Drop water onto a penny

Continue your exploration of surface tension by adding water drop-by-drop to a penny. The surface tension will allow you to add far more water than you might think.

Will it sink or swim?

Ask students to predict whether a variety of items will sink or float in water. Then test each object to check their hypotheses.

Blow up a balloon using yeast

This is similar to the classic lemon juice and baking soda experiment many kids do at some point. But this one is better for younger kids since you don’t have to worry about them splashing the juice in their eyes. Kids will be just as astonished at the results as the yeast eats the sugar and produces carbon dioxide gas!

Learn more: Yeast Balloon Experiment at The STEM Laboratory

Push on air

Teach your students about air compression and air pressure using a barrel, plunger, syringe, and flexible tube. Kids will definitely get a kick out of air wrestling and popping off their plungers using air pressure.

Learn more: Air Pressure Experiment at First Grade Adventurers

Test your reaction time

Do your students have lightning-quick reflexes? Find out with this easy experiment. One student holds a ruler vertically, while another places their hand just beneath and waits. When the first student drops the ruler, the second catches it as quickly as possible, seeing how many inches passed through their fingers first.

Learn more: Reaction Time Experiment at Science Sparks

Assemble a DIY lava lamp

Your firsties are too young to remember the lava lamp craze, but this science project will give them a taste of it as they learn about liquid density.

Learn more: Salt Volcano Lava Lamp at What Do We Do All Day?

Learn the scientific method with candy

See the scientific method in action as kids hypothesize what will happen to various types of candy in the hot sun. Observe, record, and analyze your results to see if their predictions were correct.

Learn more: Candy Scientific Method Activity at Playdough to Plato

Look into mirrors to discover symmetry

By now, 1st grade science students may have noticed that mirrors reflect objects backward. Ask them to write the alphabet in capital letters, then hold it up to the mirror. Which letters are the same when they’re reflected? Use those findings to talk about symmetry.

Learn more: Mirror Symmetry at Buggy and Buddy

Create a super-simple circuit

This is the perfect way to introduce the concept of electricity to young students since the materials and steps are minimal. You will need a D battery, tinfoil, electrical tape, and a light bulb from a flashlight.

Learn more: Super-Simple Circuit at What Do We Do All Day?

“Bend” a pencil using light refraction

Tell your students you’re going to bend a pencil without touching it. Drop it into a glass of water and have them look at it from the side. Light refraction makes it appear to be in two pieces!

Learn more: Bending Pencil Experiment at STEAMsational

Roll marbles to explore momentum

Momentum is “mass in motion,” but what does that really mean? Find out by rolling marbles of different sizes down rulers placed at various slopes.

Learn more: Momentum Experiments at Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

Dunk eggs to understand dental health

Grown-ups are always telling kids sugary drinks are bad for their teeth, so try this experiment to put your money where your mouth is! Eggshells are a good substitute for teeth since they’re both made of calcium. Leave eggs in different kinds of beverages to see which ones do the most damage to the shells.

Learn more: Dental Health Eggs at First Grade Funtastic

Melt ice cubes to make new colors

Color mixing is one of those incredibly cool activities that kids will want to try again and again. Make ice cubes using primary colors, then let them melt together to see what new colors you can create.

Learn more: Color Mixing at Gift of Curiosity

Fly a paper airplane

Kid absolutely love creating and flying paper airplanes, so this experiment is sure to be a hit. Have your students create different-style planes and then experiment with thrust and lift to see which fly the farthest, highest, etc.

Weigh items with a homemade balance scale

Make a simple balance scale with a coat hanger, yarn, and some plastic cups. Have students gather items from around the classroom, make predictions about which will be heavier, then test their hypothesis.

Learn more: DIY Balance Scale at WikiHow

If you love 1st grade science, be sure to check out these 25 First Grade STEM Challenges .

Looking for more teacher inspiration subscribe to our newsletters .

You Might Also Like

25 First Grade STEM Challenges To Engage Young Learners

All the best ways to have fun with science! Continue Reading

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. 5335 Gate Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32256

Cookies on GOV.UK

We use some essential cookies to make this website work.

We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services.

We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services.

You have accepted additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

You have rejected additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

Bring photo ID to vote Check what photo ID you'll need to vote in person in the General Election on 4 July.

• Education, training and skills
• School curriculum
• Primary curriculum, key stage 1

Phonics screening check: 2024 materials

Scoring guidance, pupils' materials and answer sheet for the 2024 phonics screening check.

2024 phonics screening check: practice sheet

Ref: ISBN 978-1-83507-125-0, STA/24/8876/e

PDF , 132 KB , 2 pages

2024 phonics screening check: pupils' materials

Ref: ISBN 978-1-83507-122-9, STA/24/8873/e

PDF , 486 KB , 24 pages

2024 phonics screening check: answer sheet

PDF , 132 KB , 1 page

2024 phonics screening check: scoring guidance

Ref: ISBN 978-1-83507-124-3, STA/24/8875/e

PDF , 208 KB , 2 pages

These materials are published to help teachers and pupils become familiar with the phonics screening check, and to enable teachers to score their pupils’ performance once the check has been administered.

The 2024 phonics screening check threshold mark is 32. Teachers should check each pupil’s mark against the threshold to establish whether they have achieved the expected standard.

Related content

Is this page useful.

• Yes this page is useful
• No this page is not useful

Help us improve GOV.UK

Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.

To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today. Please fill in this survey (opens in a new tab) .

Reading & Math for K-5

• Kindergarten
• Learning numbers
• Comparing numbers
• Place Value
• Roman numerals
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Order of operations
• Drills & practice
• Measurement
• Factoring & prime factors
• Proportions
• Shape & geometry
• Data & graphing
• Word problems
• Children's stories
• Leveled Stories
• Sentences & passages
• Context clues
• Cause & effect
• Compare & contrast
• Fact vs. fiction
• Fact vs. opinion
• Main idea & details
• Story elements
• Conclusions & inferences
• Sounds & phonics
• Words & vocabulary
• Reading comprehension
• Early writing
• Numbers & counting
• Simple math
• Social skills
• Other activities
• Dolch sight words
• Fry sight words
• Multiple meaning words
• Prefixes & suffixes
• Vocabulary cards
• Other parts of speech
• Punctuation
• Capitalization
• Narrative writing
• Opinion writing
• Informative writing
• Cursive alphabet
• Cursive letters
• Cursive letter joins
• Cursive words
• Cursive sentences
• Cursive passages
• Grammar & Writing

Breadcrumbs

• Leveled stories

Download & Print Only $3.49

Leveled Reading Worksheets for Grade 1

Reading worksheets - leveled stories.

These grade 1 reading comprehension worksheets are taken from a series of  leveled reading workbooks  ranging in difficulty from A to Z and correlated to grade levels.  The full workbooks are available for download from  our bookstore  for  only $3.49  / book.

These children's stories are leveled based on a number of factors related to text complexity such as vocabulary, word size, sentence length, amount of repetitiveness and subject matter complexity.  

Early reading levels use short, simple words and sentences in big fonts in a repetitive manner.  Each successive level introduces greater reading challenge.

Each workbook contains 20 fiction and non-fiction texts, followed by exercises aimed at reinforcing reading comprehension skills.  Answer sheets are provided for all exercises.

What is K5?

K5 Learning offers free worksheets , flashcards  and inexpensive  workbooks  for kids in kindergarten to grade 5. Become a member  to access additional content and skip ads.

Our members helped us give away millions of worksheets last year.

We provide free educational materials to parents and teachers in over 100 countries. If you can, please consider purchasing a membership ($24/year) to support our efforts.

Members skip ads and access exclusive features.

Learn about member benefits

This content is available to members only.

Join K5 to save time, skip ads and access more content. Learn More

• Forgot Password?