One key 1st grade reading skill

Did George Washington have wooden teeth — or not? Using a nonfiction text, first graders should be able to find out the truth for themselves.

Michelle Doherty teaches first grade at Encanto Elementary School.

Ms. Doherty explains that she expects 6-year-olds to be able to find information from nonfiction texts — and how excited they get about finding out if something is true or false.

Video transcript:

“Before my first graders leave my classroom, I want to make sure they are able to use nonfiction text and get information from it. An example of informational text would be for a first grader to look up something, say, for example, about George Washington. And there’s a story out there about wooden teeth. Did George Washington have wooden teeth? Well, we have information text that gives us, a student, information at their level, at a first grade level, to find out whether or not he really did have wooden teeth. And that’s always something that first graders figure out on their own, and they love to find that out.”

Learn more about your first grader’s learning and development this year, including:


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