Kentucky Reading and Writing C.1.2.d

ELA1st GradeComposition

The Standard

C.1.2: Compose informative and/or explanatory texts, using a combination of drawing, dictating, writing and digital resources, to establish a topic and provide information about the topic.

Use grade-appropriate conjunctions to connect sentences and paragraphs.

Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing (2025) · Text Types and Purpose

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students join related ideas with and, but, so, or because. They use a connecting word when a new paragraph continues an idea from the one before it.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student writes, 'I brought a coat because it was cold,' to explain why. After a paragraph about rain, they can start the next with, 'So we played inside.'
Common Misconceptions: Students may use and for every connection, even when but or so fits better. They may write 'Because it rained' as a full sentence or string too many ideas together with and.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Put 'The playground was wet' and 'We played inside' on separate lines as short paragraphs. Ask students to add So or But before the second sentence and explain their choice.

Lesson moves

Give pairs strips reading 'The dog was hungry' and 'We fed it'; have them place and, but, or so between the strips.
Read 'I wanted to play outside. It rained.' Ask, 'Which word joins these ideas best, but or so, and why?'
Play Conjunction Match with 'I was cold' and 'I wore a coat' cards; partners pick a connector and read the joined sentence.
Have students write a plant log with 'The soil was dry' in one paragraph and 'So we watered it' in the next.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to C.1.2.d, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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