Maryland Grade 1 English

Hear, feel, and explain the words in a story

A small change in a story’s wording can help a beginning reader picture a scene. Use this short read-aloud to connect specific words with senses and feelings, then return to the story for answers.

Curriculum reference: 2025 Maryland English standards: selected grade-level strand (archived PDF), from the Maryland State Department of Education standards directory (archived backup).

Maryland Grade 1 references for this activity

The state’s standards directory identifies revised 2025 Maryland College and Career Ready Standards for English Language Arts. Use the Grade 1 column of the selected strand document; neighboring columns show prerequisite and later expectations. These selected references support the activity and do not cover the whole English curriculum.

These are selected grade-level expectations from the revised 2025 Maryland English standards. Activity labels describe a teaching focus rather than reproduce complete requirements. Read the linked state document’s complete grade-level expectations, including its grade-specific details, alongside the school’s curriculum sequence.

A worked Grade 1 reading and writing activity

This original classroom example is separate from official assessment questions.

Lena held the soft scarf. Rain tapped on the window. She heard a knock. Her brother stood at the door with a dripping hat. Lena smiled and gave him the scarf. “Now you can be warm,” she said.

Try the activity

Read the story aloud together. Which word tells how the scarf might feel? Which words help you imagine a sound? Who receives the scarf? Ask a question about a detail and show where the story answers it. A child may answer orally before writing a short response.

Follow the reasoning

Soft helps us imagine touching the scarf. Rain tapped suggests a small repeated sound at the window; heard a knock names a sound at the door. Lena’s smile suggests a pleasant feeling, but smiling is something we can see rather than a texture we can touch. Her brother receives the scarf. The last two sentences show Lena giving it to him and explaining that he can be warm. A possible question is, “What is wet?” The answer is his hat, described as dripping. Read that phrase again rather than guessing that everything he wears must be wet. A teacher can model one answer and ask the child to find a different detail independently.

Notice what needs more practice

A child who says the scarf is red has supplied a detail that the story does not give. Help the child separate a personal picture from information in the words. Warm describes Lena’s intended result; it does not prove the scarf has already warmed her brother. Not every describing word names a feeling, and not every question has an answer in this short passage. Ask, “Where did her brother go earlier?” and notice that the story leaves this unanswered. If identifying a word is difficult, offer two choices and reread the sentence. If explaining the sense is difficult, connect soft with a familiar fabric without requiring the child to touch any particular object.

Use the next session to build independence

1. Listen once for the event and once for a describing word.
2. Name the sense or feeling the chosen word suggests.
3. Ask a detail question and point to its answer.

Return to a teacher-selected story or poem at an appropriate reading level. Find another phrase that helps a listener hear, see, or feel the scene. Invite the child to change a neutral phrase into a more descriptive one and explain the difference. Record whether the child found evidence alone or after a prompt; this short activity does not measure all Grade 1 reading expectations.

For more general reading and writing resources, visit the Grade 1 English Online Center.

Maryland Grade 1 English: useful planning questions

Does a describing word always name a feeling?

No. Soft suggests touch, while a character’s smile may suggest a feeling. Ask what the word contributes in its sentence and use the story to support the answer.

Where are the complete state requirements?

The state’s standards directory identifies revised 2025 Maryland College and Career Ready Standards for English Language Arts. Use the Grade 1 column of the selected strand document; neighboring columns show prerequisite and later expectations. These selected references support the activity and do not cover the whole English curriculum. The school’s sequence also includes reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language work beyond this example.