Guess what? I’ve finally completed a FREE, editable, Common Core aligned Pacing Guide for First Grade, and I’m posting it here for you today! If you’ve ever wanted a way to help make your weekly lesson plans go just a little bit easier and make sure that you didn’t miss any of the major standards, then a pacing guide is just what you need! I hope that it is helpful to you! I’m also including an editable version for you, so that you can make your own changes and make it your own.
This pacing guide also contains links to any HeidiSongs products I have that help to teach the skills listed. So if you use it online, you can click on any of the underlined words and it will take you to my site for information on teaching those skills through music and movement. However, the pacing guide can certainly be used with any curriculum and any products!
Last year when I was assigned to teach a first/second grade combination (split) class, I spent a LONG time searching for a first grade pacing guide that would tell me which SKILLS to teach, and in what order. There are a few first grade pacing guides out there, but I never found exactly what I was looking for. I wound up asking my AWESOME team leader for one, and she actually made a really great one that covered much of the school year. I wound up modifying it and using it often. I am sooooo grateful to her for her help with that! Thank you, Kelsey!
This first grade pacing guide is a further modification of that pacing guide, and also similar to the Kindergarten Pacing Guide that I made and gave away here on my blog several years ago. There are 38 weeks, and it is not dated; it is just marked “Week One, Week Two,” etc. If you download it, you will find that each week includes:
– A weekly phonics word family to introduce, with a word list. (The words are all covered in my CVC Book, Vol. 2, and my Sounds Fun Workbooks, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.) Click on each link and get the free sample download to see a word list.
– 10 new weekly sight words to focus on, for a total of 300 for the year (Click here to download the list.)
– A weekly reading comprehension strategy, until you hit week 22 (then you review)
– A weekly language arts skill (sometimes more than one.) ( I went through the CCSS and put in all of the major ones that I thought really needed concentrated focus in first grade, in addition to phonics, sight words, and writing.)
– A weekly writing topic. These start with expository writing, then move to opinion, then narrative, with a few “how to” assignments and some letters to write thrown in there as well.
– A weekly science topic.
– A weekly social studies topic.
– A weekly math skill (I mostly just listed the math unit of study, (not the deconstructed standards,) because I use the district provided math text and then supplement as necessary.)
Check it out below!
How to Use a Pacing Guide
Using a pacing guide is easy! Just keep it on a clipboard or pinned to a bulletin board near your desk. Each week when you are ready to do your lesson plans, make sure that you introduce the new topics on the guide. If you don’t have time to introduce one, circle it in red or highlight it, or do SOMETHING to remind yourself that you’ll need to circle around and do that one later.
But remember, a guide is just a guide. You can change it around and do whatever you need to do to make it through the year. These are just suggestions, not laws written in stone. The pacing guide is meant to help take the anxiety out of planning and prepping, to help you KNOW that you will cover all of the major standards (at least in my opinion!) and not inadvertently forget one. By the way, if you find that I’ve forgotten something important, don’t hesitate to let me know! I may want to add it to my copy. Plus, you can edit your own copy and put it in there! 
You may be wondering if I sell products to cover every single topic. Not at all! If there is a link (the skill is highlighted and underlined,) then you can click on that link and find the materials I sell for that skill. But I do not have products to teach single skill on the chart!
Just a note: I am providing you with the editable version of this pacing guide for your personal use, not for you to post it on your own blog, website, or TPT store, etc. Please respect my copyright and do not repost. Thank you!
Now the next question is, am I working on a second grade pacing guide? YES! I’m hoping to have it finished soon- maybe even by next week. Keep watching! We are all in this together, and I’m doing my best to share whatever I can!
Again, here is the PDF of my First Grade Pacing Guide, and here is the editable DOC of my First Grade Pacing Guide. Enjoy!
-Heidi
P.S. Our newly animated sight word DVDs are out NOW!!
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