Comprehensive 12-Week ELA Lesson Plan for K-1: Phonics, Grammar & Writing

Discover a complete 12-week English Language Arts (ELA) lesson plan perfect for homeschooling kindergarten and first-grade students. This step-by-step guide is packed with fun, hands-on activities to teach core literacy skills. Each week focuses on key concepts like phonics (rhyming, short/long vowels), grammar (nouns, verbs, adjectives), and vocabulary building. Foster a love for reading and writing as your child progresses from building simple sentences to creating their own stories. Ideal for parents and educators seeking a structured yet creative ELA curriculum.

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Arturo's 3-Month English Adventure: Words, Rhymes, and Stories

Materials Needed

  • Large whiteboard or chart paper and markers
  • Magnetic letters and a magnetic board/surface
  • Index cards (for making flashcards)
  • Art supplies: construction paper, crayons, markers, child-safe scissors, glue sticks
  • A dedicated notebook or binder for Arturo's work ("Arturo's Word Book")
  • A small "mystery bag" (a cloth bag or pillowcase)
  • Various household objects for sorting and identifying
  • Children's books with rhyming text, clear stories, and rich illustrations (e.g., Dr. Seuss books, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?", "The Very Hungry Caterpillar")
  • Optional: Play-Doh for forming letters and words

Month 1: The Building Blocks of Words & Sentences

Focus: This month is all about discovering the sounds in words and learning how to build simple, strong sentences. We will focus on rhyming, identifying nouns, mastering short vowel sounds, and understanding that a sentence is a complete thought.

Week 1: Rhyme Time Detectives

  • Learning Objectives: Arturo will be able to identify and produce rhyming words. (FL B.E.S.T. ELA.K.R.3.1)
  • Activity 1: Rhyme Hunt. Read a rhyming book like "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss. As you read, have Arturo clap every time he hears two words that rhyme. After reading, say a word (e.g., "cat") and go on a "rhyme hunt" around the house to find objects that rhyme (hat, mat).
  • Activity 2: Rhyming Pairs. Create simple picture cards of rhyming words (star/car, house/mouse, dog/log). Lay them out face up and have Arturo match the pairs. As he gets better, you can turn this into a memory game.
  • Creative Writing: Start a simple poem together in his Word Book. You write a line, "I saw a big bug..." and have him provide the rhyming word for the next line, "...sitting on a ___." (rug)

Week 2: The Noun Neighborhood

  • Learning Objectives: Arturo will be able to identify nouns as words for a person, place, or thing. He will begin to identify the short vowel sounds for 'a' and 'e'. (FL B.E.S.T. ELA.K.V.1.1)
  • Activity 1: Noun Safari. Explain that nouns are "naming words." Go on a safari around your house and yard. Call out things you see, and have Arturo decide if it's a person, place, or thing. Example: "I spy a... chair!" (Thing). "I spy... Arturo!" (Person). "I spy the... kitchen!" (Place).
  • Activity 2: Short Vowel Sort. Introduce the short 'a' (as in cat) and short 'e' (as in bed). Use magnetic letters to build simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. Say the words aloud, exaggerating the vowel sound. Have Arturo sort picture cards or small objects into an "a" pile and an "e" pile based on their vowel sound.

Week 3: Sentence Superheroes

  • Learning Objectives: Arturo will understand that a sentence needs a capital letter at the beginning and punctuation at the end. He will practice building simple sentences. He will be introduced to short 'i' and 'o' sounds. (FL B.E.S.T. ELA.K.C.3.1)
  • Activity 1: Sentence Building. Write simple words on index cards (e.g., The, dog, cat, ran, sat). Color-code them by type (e.g., nouns are blue, verbs are red). Show Arturo how to arrange them to make a sentence: "The dog sat." Explain that a sentence starts with a "capital letter superhero" and ends with a "period power punch." Let him build his own silly sentences.
  • Activity 2: Short Vowel Sounds. Introduce short 'i' (pig) and short 'o' (dog). Use magnetic letters and Play-Doh to build and say words with these sounds. Play a game: "I'm thinking of a word that rhymes with 'hot' and starts with 'p'..." (pot).

Week 4: The Sound of "U" and Vowel Review

  • Learning Objectives: Arturo will be able to identify the short 'u' sound and review all five short vowel sounds.
  • Activity 1: "U" for Umbrella. Introduce the short 'u' sound (cup, bug). Read a story and have him raise his hand when he hears the /u/ sound.
  • Activity 2: Vowel Toss. Label five baskets or bowls with A, E, I, O, U. Give Arturo a pile of picture cards or small toys (e.g., cat, pin, top, leg, bug) and have him toss them into the correct vowel sound basket.
  • Creative Project: Create a "Short Vowel Sounds" collage. Cut out pictures from magazines that represent each short vowel sound and glue them onto a large piece of paper, organized by vowel.

Month 2: Expanding Our Word World

Focus: This month, we level up! We will explore how vowels can make new sounds (long vowels), stick words together to make new words (compound words), and add action to our sentences with verbs.

Week 5: The Magic 'e'

  • Learning Objectives: Arturo will understand that a silent 'e' at the end of a word can make the vowel say its name (long vowel sound). (FL B.E.S.T. ELA.1.F.3.2)
  • Activity 1: The Magic 'e' Wand. Make a "magic e" wand (a star on a craft stick with the letter 'e' on it). Use magnetic letters to build a CVC word like "cap." Have Arturo say the word. Then, add the magic 'e' to the end and have him tap it with his wand to transform the word into "cape," saying the new word aloud. Practice with other pairs like kit/kite, hop/hope, cub/cube.
  • Story Time: Read a story that features several "magic e" words, like "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" (which has words like came, late, gate).

Week 6: Vowel Teams

  • Learning Objectives: Arturo will be able to identify and read words with common vowel teams (ee, ea, ai, ay). (FL B.E.S.T. ELA.1.F.3.2)
  • Activity 1: "When Two Vowels Go Walking..." Introduce the rule: "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking." Focus on 'ee'/'ea' (feet, leaf) and 'ai'/'ay' (rain, play). Use flashcards to show how these teams work. Draw a picture of two vowels walking, with a mouth on the first one and the second one quiet.
  • Activity 2: Vowel Team Hunt. Go through a picture book together on a "Vowel Team Hunt." Give Arturo a marker or a sticky flag to point out all the vowel teams he can find.

Week 7: Action Words (Verbs!)

  • Learning Objectives: Arturo will be able to identify verbs as "action words" and use them in sentences. (FL B.E.S.T. ELA.1.C.3.1)
  • Activity 1: Verb Charades. Write simple verbs on slips of paper (jump, run, sing, sleep, eat, draw). Have Arturo pick one and act it out for you to guess. Then, switch roles.
  • Activity 2: Sentence Scrambles. Use your noun and verb flashcards to build more dynamic sentences. Example: "The cat sleeps." "Arturo draws." Encourage him to make up his own combinations and draw a picture for his favorite one in his Word Book.

Week 8: Compound Word Creators

  • Learning Objectives: Arturo will be able to identify and create compound words by joining two smaller words. (FL B.E.S.T. ELA.1.V.1.2)
  • Activity 1: Word Puzzles. Create puzzle pieces with pictures/words on them (e.g., a picture of a rain + a picture of a bow). Have Arturo match the pieces to form a new word: "rainbow." Other examples: pan + cake = pancake; butter + fly = butterfly.
  • Creative Writing: Write a silly story together using as many compound words as you can. "The ladybug flew out of the doghouse and landed on a pancake in the sunlight." Illustrate the story in his Word Book.

Month 3: Grammar Detectives & Creative Writers

Focus: This month is all about adding detail and flair to our language. We'll become grammar detectives, learning about describing words, words that sound the same, and a few tricky grammar rules. We'll end by becoming official authors!

Week 9: Describing Words (Adjectives)

  • Learning Objectives: Arturo will be able to use adjectives to describe nouns. (FL B.E.S.T. ELA.1.C.3.1)
  • Activity 1: Mystery Bag. Place a familiar object in the "mystery bag" (e.g., a smooth rock, a soft sock, a bumpy pinecone). Have Arturo reach in without looking and use describing words (adjectives) to tell you what he feels. Is it soft? Hard? Bumpy? Cold?
  • Activity 2: Super Sentences. Go back to the simple sentences you made ("The dog sat."). Now, add adjectives! "The big, brown dog sat." Let Arturo add his own describing words to make the sentences more interesting. Write these new "super sentences" down.

Week 10: How, When, & Where? (Adverbs)

  • Learning Objectives: Arturo will be introduced to adverbs as words that describe actions (verbs).
  • Activity 1: How Do You Move? Give Arturo simple commands, but add an adverb. "Walk slowly." "Jump quickly." "Clap loudly." "Whisper quietly." Explain that these words tell *how* we do the action.
  • Activity 2: Silly Adverb Game. On your whiteboard, write a simple sentence frame: "The cat ______." (verb) Have Arturo fill in the verb (e.g., "walks"). Then ask, "How does the cat walk?" and provide silly adverbs: "The cat walks happily." "The cat walks sadly." Act out the different sentences.

Week 11: Word Twins (Homophones) & Grammar Exceptions

  • Learning Objectives: Arturo will identify that some words sound the same but have different meanings and spellings (homophones). He will be introduced to an irregular plural. (FL B.E.S.T. ELA.1.V.1.3)
  • Activity 1: Homophone Pictures. Focus on a simple pair like see/sea or to/two/too. Draw simple pictures to show the difference. For "see/sea," draw an eye and an ocean. Create simple sentences for each: "I see with my eye." "The boat is on the sea."
  • Activity 2: Grammar Exception! Introduce the concept that sometimes rules are broken in English. Focus on irregular plurals. Show him one mouse, then draw two and explain we say "mice," not "mouses." Show one foot, then two "feet," not "foots." Keep it light and fun, presenting it as a cool, secret rule.

Week 12: Storyteller Showcase!

  • Learning Objectives: Arturo will apply all learned concepts to create his own story or collection of poems. (FL B.E.S.T. ELA.1.C.1.2)
  • Project: Be an Author! Tell Arturo he's going to be an author this week. His job is to create his very own book. It can be a short story with a beginning, middle, and end, or a collection of short poems about his favorite things.
  • The Process:
    1. Brainstorm: Talk about ideas. What does he want to write about? A brave knight? A silly animal?
    2. Drafting: Help him dictate the story or poems to you. As he speaks, gently guide him to include some of the amazing words he's learned: nouns, verbs, adjectives, compound words, and rhyming words.
    3. Illustrating: Let him draw the pictures for his story in his Word Book or on separate pages you can staple together.
    4. Author's Celebration: When he is finished, make a big deal of it! Have an "Author's Reading" where he shares his book with the family. Celebrate his incredible hard work over the last three months.