West Virginia Grade 1 English

Describe a Story with Its Details

Describe characters, setting, and events using story details. Read the original example, explain what its words support, and use the next step to transfer the skill to a fuller classroom text. A selected grade-specific reference from West Virginia’s English policy identifies the focus.

Curriculum reference: West Virginia College- and Career-Readiness Standards for English Language Arts, Policy 2520.1A, from the West Virginia English language arts standards page.

West Virginia Grade 1 references for this activity

West Virginia’s English resources page links Policy 2520.1A. The policy records an effective date of August 10, 2020 and includes grade-specific English standards and literacy foundations. The selected Grade 1 reference on this page identifies the focus of an original activity. Read the complete policy and ask the teacher how the school sequences reading, writing, speaking, listening, language, and foundational skills. A short worked example is not a complete curriculum or certification of every independent resource.

These selected reference labels identify an activity focus, with the correct grade and PDF page linked separately. Read the complete standards selected by the school and its learning sequence, including reading, writing, language, speaking, and listening. This short original example does not fulfill the entire curriculum or establish a student’s grade-level proficiency.

The ribbon in the reading corner

This original classroom example is separate from official assessment questions.

Mina sat in the classroom reading corner with a paper crown. The crown kept slipping over her eyes. Eli brought a short ribbon. Mina tied it behind the crown, and the crown stayed above her eyes. They smiled and opened their storybook.

Try the activity

Who is in the story? Where are they? Describe the problem and what Mina does. Use a detail to explain what changes.

Follow the reasoning

Mina and Eli are the characters. The classroom reading corner is the setting. At first, Mina’s paper crown slips over her eyes. Eli brings a ribbon, and Mina ties it behind the crown. The crown then stays above her eyes. These events support a description of a problem followed by a solution. Saying that Eli ties the ribbon would change the story: he brings it, but Mina ties it. A child can point to each sentence while describing the characters, place, and change. Reading the passage aloud together can help keep the task focused on understanding rather than on reading speed.

Notice what needs more practice

The invented story does not say that the crown is gold, that the ribbon is blue, or that the children are acting in a play. A drawing may include imagined details, but the spoken description should distinguish them from the words supplied.

Use the next session to build independence

1. Read or listen to the complete scene.
2. Name the characters and place with a detail.
3. Describe the problem, action, and result in order.

Choose a fuller classroom story and describe who is involved, where it happens, and which event changes the situation. Ask the child to show the detail behind each answer.

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

West Virginia Grade 1 English: useful planning questions

Can I add a detail that is not in the story?

You may imagine details in a creative drawing or a new story. When describing this story, identify what its words actually say and label an added detail as imagined.

Which standards does the school use?

West Virginia’s English resources page links Policy 2520.1A. The policy records an effective date of August 10, 2020 and includes grade-specific English standards and literacy foundations. The selected Grade 1 reference on this page identifies the focus of an original activity. Read the complete policy and ask the teacher how the school sequences reading, writing, speaking, listening, language, and foundational skills. A short worked example is not a complete curriculum or certification of every independent resource. The school’s sequence also includes reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language work beyond this example.