How do you teach text-to-text connections in first grade without making the strategy too complicated for young readers?

In this episode of The Education Connection, Robin Wilson shares the simple, step-by-step way she teaches first graders to connect one text to another as part of her Writing About Reading series.

You'll hear how Robin uses a simple anchor chart with two books and a large arrow, chooses books with easy-to-find connections, and spreads the lesson across two days. She also shares why different versions of familiar stories, such as The Three Little Pigs and Cinderella, work so well when introducing this reading comprehension strategy.

Then, Robin explains how she moves students from talking about their connections to drawing and writing about them.

If they can say it, they can write it!

🎁 FREE Text-to-Text Connections Printable

Grab the free printable that goes along with this episode. It gives young readers a simple visual for connecting two texts and prompts them to think about characters, events, problems, and settings.

Get the FREE printable here: https://firstgradeloves.com/text-to-text-connections/

📚 Text-to-Text, Text-to-Self & Text-to-World Resource

Want the student response sheets Robin uses with all three types of connections? Find the complete Connections resource here:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Text-to-Text-Text-to-Self-Text-to-World-Connections-1736887

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This episode is perfect for first-grade teachers, primary teachers, homeschool educators, and anyone looking for practical ways to teach reading comprehension, making connections, text-to-text connections, and writing about reading.

Next in the Writing About Reading series: Text-to-Self Connections!

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How to Teach Background Knowledge for Reading Comprehension in First Grade | Writing About Reading Series

How do you teach first graders to use background knowledge while reading? In this episode of The Education Connection, Robin Wilson shares a simple, first-grade-friendly way to introduce background knowledge, also called schema, as a reading comprehension strategy.

Robin shares how she begins with a big-brain anchor chart and asks one simple question: “What do you know?” As students share everything from dinosaurs to Minecraft and Roblox, they begin to understand that their brains are already filled with knowledge from their experiences, learning, and reading.

Then Robin takes the strategy to a book. After reading, students draw and write about one thing they already know about the topic, creating a simple bridge from thinking and talking to writing about reading.

You'll also hear why activating background knowledge doesn't need to be complicated and how this simple strategy helps young readers understand an important truth: their brains should be thinking while they read.

Plus, Robin shares a little peek at something new she's beginning to develop behind the scenes for her Writing About Reading approach.

🎁 FREE Background Knowledge Worksheet

Use the same simple activity Robin describes in this episode with your own students. Students draw what they already know inside the brain and then write about one of their ideas.

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How do you teach retelling in first grade without students telling every tiny detail—or barely telling you anything at all?

In this episode of The Education Connection, we're wrapping up Part One of the Writing About Reading series with a simple approach to teaching students how to retell a story using the most important details.

I'll share how I use a four-square graphic organizer to help first graders plan their thinking before they begin writing. We'll talk about what to include on the graphic organizer, how to model retelling with an anchor chart and Smart Board, and how to gradually move students from guided activities to independent practice.

You'll also hear my simple routine:

Read. Plan. Say. Retell. Write.

Because before we expect our first graders to write a retell, we need to help them organize their thinking and practice saying it aloud.

Whether you're looking for first grade reading comprehension activities, a retelling graphic organizer, or practical ideas for helping young readers write about what they read, this episode will give you a simple place to start.

This episode also marks the end of Part One of Writing About Reading! Next week, we'll begin Part Two and move into comprehension strategies that help students think more deeply about what they're reading.

Perfect for first grade teachers, homeschool families, private and Christian school educators, and tutors looking for simple reading comprehension and writing activities.

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🎧 The Education Connection Robin Wilson First Grade Love

What’s the difference between main idea, central message, and moral of the story—and how do we teach those differences to first graders without making it complicated?

In this episode of The Education Connection, we’re breaking down all three skills and looking at simple, developmentally appropriate ways to teach each one.

Using The Tortoise and the Hare as a familiar example, we’ll look at:

• Main Idea: What is the story mostly about?

• Central Message: What does the author want us to understand or learn?

• Moral: What lesson does the story teach us?

You’ll also learn how to help students move beyond simply telling what happened in a story and begin thinking about the bigger idea or lesson behind it.

And because this is part of our Writing About Reading series, we’ll take each skill one step further with simple sentence starters first graders can actually use:

This story is mostly about __________. This story teaches us __________. The moral of the story is __________.

The goal isn’t to teach all three concepts at once. Instead, we’ll look at how to model each skill, talk about it together, and then help students put their thinking into writing.

If they can say it, they can begin to write it!

🎁 FREEBIE: Coming Soon. This episode includes three simple reading response pages—one for Main Idea, one for Central Message, and one for Moral of the Story—designed especially for beginning readers and writers. Check my TPT store for this FREEBIE coming soon.

Listen in for practical ideas you can take straight into your first-grade classroom!

Happy teaching!

Robin Wilson First Grade Love &The Education Connection

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How to Teach Problem and Solution in First Grade

In this episode of The Education Connection, we're continuing our Writing About Reading series by looking at how to introduce problem and solution to our youngest readers and writers.

First graders are expected to understand plot, retell stories, and identify important events. Learning to recognize a story's problem and how it is solved can help build that understanding.

And first grade doesn't always have to be about mastery. Sometimes we're planting seeds for learning that students will continue to develop in the years ahead.

Using the familiar story The Three Little Pigs, we'll walk through a simple progression for teaching problem and solution:

Model it → Talk about it → Identify it together → Write it together → Try it independently

We'll also talk about keeping the writing expectation developmentally appropriate. For beginning writers, it can be as simple as:

The problem is _____.

The solution is _____.

You'll hear ideas for using anchor charts, illustrations, oral discussion, gradual release, and informal formative assessment without turning this introductory skill into another formal test.

We'll also talk about why sometimes our job in first grade is simply to plant the seed. We may not always see the finished product of what we're teaching, but the understanding we're building today can become the foundation for learning tomorrow.

🎧 Join me for How to Teach Problem and Solution in First Grade as we continue giving young students the tools they need to think about—and eventually write about—what they read.

Grab the FREE Problem and Solution Graphic Organizer that accompanies this episode!

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Happy teaching, Robin

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How to Teach Beginning, Middle, and End | Writing About Reading

Teaching beginning, middle, and end may sound a lot like teaching sequencing, but there is an important difference. When students sequence events, they learn to put what happened in the correct order. When students identify the beginning, middle, and end, they take that thinking one step further by deciding which events matter most.

In this episode of The Education Connection, we continue our Writing About Reading series by looking at how to explicitly teach beginning, middle, and end to young readers and writers.

We'll talk about helping students move from retelling every little thing that happened to identifying the three most important parts of a story: what gets the story started, the big event or events in the middle, and how the story turns out.

You'll also hear practical ideas for modeling this skill, practicing it orally, and helping students move from telling their ideas to writing them.

Because before our students can successfully write about what they read, they need to know how to decide what really matters.

🎧 Join me for How to Teach Beginning, Middle, and End as we continue building the skills young students need to become thoughtful readers and confident writers.

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What does it really mean when we ask first graders to write about the events in a story? Before students can write about what happened, they need to understand plot, identify important events, and put those events in sequence.

In this episode of The Education Connection, we continue the Writing About Reading series with Story Events, Part 1: Understanding Plot and Sequencing. We’ll talk about the difference between plot and sequencing and how to scaffold instruction from sequencing pictures to using oral language and provided sentences.

You’ll learn practical ways to help young readers determine which events matter, put those events in order, and build the comprehension and language they’ll eventually need for a written retell.

Because before we ask students to write about what they read, we have to teach the thinking that comes first.

This episode closes with encouragement from Isaiah 28:10 and a prayer for teachers as we remember that learning happens little by little, one step at a time.

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Do you ever feel like you're spending more time correcting behavior than actually teaching? I've been there.

In this episode of The Education Connection, I'm taking a short break from my Writing About Reading series to talk about something that's on every teacher's mind this time of year...classroom procedures.

After 20 years in the classroom, I've learned that classroom management doesn't begin with consequences. It begins with intentionally teaching procedures. I'll share the simple three-step process I use in my first-grade classroom: Explain, Rehearse, and Reinforce. I'll also talk about why it's so important to teach students the why behind our expectations and how taking the time to teach procedures now will save you time all year long.

Much of what I've learned has been influenced by Harry and Rosemary Wong's The First Days of School, and over the years I've adapted those principles to fit my own classroom. I'll share practical examples, encourage you to make procedures fit your classroom, and remind you that teaching procedures isn't taking time away from instruction...

Teaching procedures is instruction.

🎁 As a thank you for listening, I've included my Classroom Procedures Checklist as a free download. I hope it gives you a great starting point as you prepare for a new school year!

If this episode encourages you, I'd love for you to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another teacher who could use a little encouragement this back-to-school season.

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