Quebec · Grade 1
English Language Arts, Grade 1
Quebec’s Grade 1 English course, from Understanding the Conventions of Written Language to Information-Based: Persuasive Texts.
- Units
- 12
- Lessons
- 38
- Skills
- 39
- Provincial exam
- None
- Official curriculum
- Québec Progression des apprentissages
Unit by unit
Every skill in the course, numbered by unit.
Unit 1 · 5 skills
Understanding the Conventions of Written Language
Grammar (sentence structure and syntax)
Notice: Writes sentences in an order that supports a main idea or story
With help, I can put my sentences in an order that tells one story or one idea.
Skill 1.1
Building simple sentences with a subject and a verb
Notice: In simple sentences by using subject, verb, modifier
With help, I can make a sentence that tells who did something and what they did, and add a word that tells more.
Skill 1.2
Choosing the right words for the kind of writing
Notice: Uses vocabulary and/or terminology related to the type of writing
With help, I can pick words that fit the kind of writing I am doing.
Skill 1.3
Mechanics (spelling, capitalization and punctuation)
Notice: Applies capitalization rules: the first word in a sentence, proper nouns
With help, I can put a capital letter at the start of a sentence and at the start of a name.
Skill 1.4
Use: Uses conventions of writing: spacing between words and lines, consistent left-right and up-down orientation
I can write with a space between my words, from left to right and from the top of the page down.
Skill 1.5
The official wording · 5 outcomes
- 1.1
- Writes sentences in an order that supports a main idea or story
- 1.2
- In simple sentences by using subject, verb, modifier
- 1.3
- Uses vocabulary and/or terminology related to the type of writing
- 1.4
- Applies capitalization rules: the first word in a sentence, proper nouns
- 1.5
- Uses conventions of writing: spacing between words and lines, consistent left-right and up-down orientation
Key ideas
Sentences that tell a story go in the order things happened: first we put on our boots, then we went out in the snow.
A sentence tells who or what (the subject) and what they do (the verb): 'The baby laughs.'.
Each kind of writing has its own words: a how-to uses first, next and last; a story uses once and then; a note to Grandma uses thank you and love.
A sentence starts with a capital letter: 'We play.' and not 'we play.'.
All the sentences in one piece are about the same idea; a sentence about something else gets in the way.
Watch out for
- Thinking any order works as long as the sentences are correct — order carries the meaning too.
- Thinking a group of words is a sentence even with no verb — 'the little red car' is not a full sentence.
- Thinking any word works anywhere — a report word can sound wrong in a poem.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 2 · 1 skill
Producing and Interpreting Media Texts
Images (in photographs, drawings and illustrations)
Notice: Uses and interprets the visual element of color
With help, I can say what feeling the colours in a picture give me, and pick colours for a feeling in my own drawing.
Skill 2.1
The official wording · 1 outcomes
- 2.1
- Uses and interprets the visual element of color (e.g. dark reds and blacks in a picture book to show anger or fear)
Key ideas
Colours can show feelings: dark reds and blacks can feel angry or scary.
Soft blues and yellows can feel calm and happy; greys can feel sad or cold.
The person who made the picture chose the colours on purpose, to make you feel something.
Watch out for
- Thinking colours in a picture 'just happen' with no meaning.
- Thinking colour only makes a picture pretty, not meaningful.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 3 · 5 skills
Response Process
Prereading/Viewing
Notice: Understands the purpose for reading, listening to and/or viewing
With help, I can say why I am reading, listening to or watching something.
Skill 3.1
During Reading/ Viewing
Notice: Makes explicit connections between own personal experiences and story experiences
With help, I can tell how a story is like something from my own life.
Skill 3.2
How texts are built to describe, tell, and explain
Notice: Description of ideas and concepts
With help, I can find the words in a nonfiction book that tell what something is like.
Skill 3.3
After Reading/Viewing: Interpreting the Text
Notice: Constructs a personal response to the text
With help, I can say what I liked or felt about a story and show the part that made me feel it.
Skill 3.4
Spotting a text's intended audience
Notice: Determines the specific or target audience by selecting details from the text
With help, I can say who an ad or a book was made for and point to the clue that tells me.
Skill 3.5
The official wording · 5 outcomes
- 3.1
- Understands the purpose for reading, listening to and/or viewing (e.g. for enjoyment, to learn something, to escape to
- 3.2
- Makes explicit connections between own personal experiences and story experiences
- 3.3
- Description of ideas and concepts
- 3.4
- Constructs a personal response to the text (i.e. constructs meaning)
- 3.5
- Determines the specific or target audience by selecting details from the text (e.g. a magazine ad all in pink is
Key ideas
We read, listen and watch for different reasons: for fun, to learn, to imagine a new place, or to find out how to do something.
A connection is a part of the story that is like your own life: 'That happened to me too!'.
Some books tell what a thing is like: how it looks, sounds, feels or moves.
Your response is what you think or feel about a book; it belongs to you, and a friend may feel something different.
Every book, ad or box was made for some people: little children, big kids or grown-ups.
Watch out for
- Thinking you always read every text the same slow way.
- Thinking the story has nothing to do with you — almost every story connects to real feelings.
- Thinking description is just naming a thing — it needs details that show it.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 4 · 3 skills
Writing Process
Deciding your purpose before you write
Notice: Understands the purpose for the writing
With help, I can say why I am writing before I start.
Skill 4.1
Drafting
Notice: Writes to a specific familiar audience of family, friends and teacher
With help, I can write a short note for someone I know and think about what they need to know.
Skill 4.2
Editing
Notice: Selects personally significant pieces of writing to publish
With help, I can choose a piece of my writing that matters to me to share, and say why.
Skill 4.3
The official wording · 3 outcomes
- 4.1
- Understands the purpose for the writing (e.g., to entertain, to inform, to communicate)
- 4.2
- Writes to a specific familiar audience of family, friends and teacher
- 4.3
- Selects personally significant pieces of writing to publish
Key ideas
We write for different reasons: to tell a fun story, to tell what we know, or to send a message to someone.
Writing is for a reader: your mom, your friend, your teacher.
Not every piece we write gets shared; we choose the ones that matter most to us.
Decide the reason first, because a joke for a friend and a page of facts about frogs are written differently.
Think about what your reader knows: Grandma in another city does not know your teacher's name, so you tell her.
Watch out for
- Starting to write with no purpose in mind.
- Writing the same way for everyone no matter who reads it.
- Thinking every draft must be published.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 5 · 1 skill
Production Process (Media)
Why media texts are made
Notice: Understands the purpose for the production
With help, I can say why an ad, a poster or a show was made, and choose a reason before I make my own.
Skill 5.1
The official wording · 1 outcomes
- 5.1
- Understands the purpose for the production (e.g. to sell something, to influence the way people think, to give
Key ideas
Ads, posters and shows are made for a reason: to sell something, to tell us something, to make us think a certain way, or to make us laugh.
A toy ad is made to sell the toy, even when it looks like fun.
When we make our own poster, we choose the reason first: to tell people about the bake sale, or to make them laugh.
Watch out for
- Thinking all media is just there to entertain.
- Thinking a media text has no purpose behind it.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 6 · 3 skills
Self-Expressive: Texts That Reinforce or Maintain Relationships
Required Text Types
Notice: Formal and informal thank-yous, expressions of appreciation and support
With help, I can say thank you and kind words to someone, choosing careful words or everyday words for that person.
Skill 6.1
Notes that keep a friendship going
Notice: Thank-you notes
With help, I can write a short thank-you note that says what I am thanking someone for.
Skill 6.2
Reading, Writing and Media Production
Notice: Salutation, body and closing in a friendly letter
With help, I can write a short letter with a greeting, my news and a closing with my name.
Skill 6.3
The official wording · 3 outcomes
- 6.1
- Formal and informal thank-yous, expressions of appreciation and support
- 6.2
- Thank-you notes
- 6.3
- Salutation, body and closing in a friendly letter
Key ideas
We say thank you in careful words to some people and in everyday words to others: 'Thank you very much, Mr. Roy' and 'Thanks, Dad!'.
A thank-you note goes to one person who gave you something or helped you.
A friendly letter has three parts: the greeting ('Dear Nana,'), the news in the middle, and the closing ('Love, Theo').
We thank people for what they do too, not only for presents: for helping, for waiting, for reading to us.
Name the gift or the help: 'Thank you for the blue mittens' tells your aunt you remember.
Watch out for
- Thinking you only say thank you when you get a present.
- Writing a thank-you with no detail so it feels flat.
- Skipping the greeting or closing so the letter feels unfinished.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 7 · 3 skills
Self-Expressive: Reflective Texts
Self-Expressive: Reflective Texts
Notice: Texts that focus on reflecting and evaluating own learning
With help, I can tell my teacher what I learned, what was hard and what I will try next, using my own work.
Skill 7.1
Writing and Media Production
Notice: Journals
With help, I can make a journal page with a drawing and a sentence about my day or my feelings.
Skill 7.2
Writing in your own voice
Notice: Self-expressive language to relate ideas, feelings, experience
With help, I can tell how I felt and why, in my own words.
Skill 7.3
The official wording · 3 outcomes
- 7.1
- Texts that focus on reflecting and evaluating own learning, in reading/ writing/ production conferences, including
- 7.2
- Journals
- 7.3
- Self-expressive language to relate ideas, feelings, experience
Key ideas
Talking about your learning is about you: not what a frog eats, but what was easy or hard for you in the frog book.
A journal is your own book for your days, your thoughts and your feelings.
Feeling words name what is inside you: happy, proud, scared, worried, excited.
Say both parts: one thing that went well and one thing that was hard.
A journal page can be a drawing with one sentence under it: 'I found a worm after the rain.'.
Watch out for
- Thinking reflection means only saying what went well.
- Thinking a journal has to be perfect or graded.
- Writing what you think you SHOULD feel instead of what you really feel.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 8 · 8 skills
Narrative and Literary Texts
Stepping into a character through role-play
Notice: Role-play involving character from own stories, from literature and from nonfiction
With help, I can pretend to be a character and talk and move the way they would.
Skill 8.1
Nursery rhymes and their rhythm
Notice: Nursery rhymes
With help, I can say a nursery rhyme, hear the words that rhyme and clap the beat.
Skill 8.2
Reading comic strips
Notice: Comic strips
With help, I can read a short comic strip in order and tell what happens.
Skill 8.3
Finding story ideas in your own life
Notice: Stories based on ideas, experiences and events
With help, I can make a story from something that happened to me or something I imagined.
Skill 8.4
Plot structures and features
Notice: Predictable story patterns
With help, I can find the part that repeats in a story and use it to guess what comes next.
Skill 8.5
Characterization
Notice: Main character in a story
With help, I can name who a story is mostly about and say what they want.
Skill 8.6
Other features of narrative
Notice: Literary conventions
With help, I can spot 'Once upon a time' in a fairy tale and the lesson at the end of a fable.
Skill 8.7
Plot structure and features
Notice: Use of images (photos or drawings) to extend the story and to provide story details
With help, I can find something in a story's picture that the words do not say.
Skill 8.8
The official wording · 8 outcomes
- 8.1
- Role-play involving character from own stories, from literature and from nonfiction
- 8.2
- Nursery rhymes
- 8.3
- Comic strips
- 8.4
- Stories based on ideas, experiences and events
- 8.5
- Predictable story patterns
- 8.6
- Main character in a story
- 8.7
- Literary conventions (e.g. "Once upon a time" in a fairy tale, moral in a fable)
- 8.8
- Use of images (photos or drawings) to extend the story and to provide story details
Key ideas
In role-play you pretend to be someone else and say what they would say.
In a nursery rhyme, the words at the ends of the lines often sound the same at the end, like dock and clock.
A comic strip tells a story in boxes called panels; each panel shows one moment.
Stories can come from your own life: the day your boot got stuck in the mud is a story.
Some stories repeat a line or an event again and again.
Watch out for
- Playing yourself instead of the character.
- Thinking rhymes are only for babies — they teach real sound patterns.
- Reading only the words and skipping the pictures.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 9 · 2 skills
Information-Based: Planning Texts
Speaking and Listening
Notice: Understands the use of talk to compose a first draft of thoughts, ideas, and information
With help, I can say my ideas out loud first and then write or draw them.
Skill 9.1
Capturing ideas in logs and lists
Notice: Learning/thinking logs and lists that record thoughts, ideas and information
With help, I can make a short list to remember my ideas or what I learned.
Skill 9.2
The official wording · 2 outcomes
- 9.1
- Understands the use of talk to compose a first draft of thoughts, ideas, and information
- 9.2
- Learning/thinking logs and lists that record thoughts, ideas and information
Key ideas
Saying your idea out loud is a first try: 'My dog hid my shoe.' Then you write it.
A list holds one idea on each line, down the page.
A spoken first try can be messy; you can change the words as you talk.
A note can be one or two words: 'frogs, eggs, water'.
Talking with a friend or an adult helps you find what you want to say.
Watch out for
- Thinking you must write silently from the very first word.
- Thinking notes must be neat full sentences.
- Waiting for perfect sentences instead of talking rough ones out.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 10 · 3 skills
Information-Based: Explanatory Texts
Information-Based: Explanatory Texts
Notice: Directions and instructions
With help, I can tell someone how to do something, one step at a time, in the right order.
Skill 10.1
Explaining how or why something happens
Notice: Texts that explain a process/procedure
With help, I can read a recipe or the rules of a game and follow the steps in order.
Skill 10.2
Writing a how-to text
Notice: A title and a series of logical steps, in images and/or print, explaining how or why something occurs
With help, I can make a how-to with a title and steps in the right order, with pictures.
Skill 10.3
The official wording · 3 outcomes
- 10.1
- Directions and instructions (e.g. for a game)
- 10.2
- Texts that explain a process/procedure (e.g. rules, recipes, directions)
- 10.3
- A title and a series of logical steps, in images and/or print, explaining how or why something occurs
Key ideas
Directions tell someone what to do and in what order.
Recipes, game rules and directions all tell you how to do something.
A how-to starts with a title that names the job: 'How to Feed a Fish'.
Say one step, then stop so the person can do it.
You can spot them by the list of things you need and the numbered steps.
Watch out for
- Leaving out a step because it seems obvious to you.
- Explaining the what but skipping the how or why.
- Writing steps with no title so the reader does not know the task.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 11 · 3 skills
Information-Based: Descriptive Reports
Sharing a spoken report
Notice: Spoken reports based on family, community or school experiences
With help, I can tell my class about something real that I did or have, in order and in a clear voice.
Skill 11.1
Reading nonfiction reports
Notice: Nonfiction that describes and reports details about a topic
With help, I can learn true facts from a nonfiction book and its pictures.
Skill 11.2
How a title signals a text's topic
Notice: Title to indicate contents
With help, I can say what a book is about from its title and give my own report a title that fits.
Skill 11.3
The official wording · 3 outcomes
- 11.1
- spoken reports based on family, community or school experiences (e.g. field trips, favourite toys, special holidays)
- 11.2
- Nonfiction that describes and reports details about a topic (e.g. simple science trade books written for children)
- 11.3
- Title to indicate contents
Key ideas
A report tells only true things: what really happened, or what your toy is really like.
A nonfiction book tells true things about something real, like beavers or the moon.
A title tells what the whole book or report is about: 'All About Bees'.
Tell two or three things in order, so listeners can follow.
A nonfiction book has no made-up characters and no story problem; it gives facts.
Watch out for
- Adding made-up parts to a report meant to be true.
- Mixing made-up details into a report that should be all facts.
- Writing a title that does not match the content.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 12 · 2 skills
Information-Based: Persuasive Texts
Reading logos and symbols
Notice: Popular signs and symbols, such as logos of popular food chains, clothing
With help, I can say what a sign or a logo stands for and why it is there.
Skill 12.1
Making posters and flyers that grab attention
Notice: Promotional posters or flyers
With help, I can make a poster for an event or a game with a big picture, its name, and when and where it is.
Skill 12.2
The official wording · 2 outcomes
- 12.1
- Popular signs and symbols, such as logos of popular food chains, clothing
- 12.2
- Promotional posters or flyers (e.g. for a special event at school or to advertise a favorite game)
Key ideas
A sign or a symbol is a picture that means something: a red stop sign means stop.
A poster is read in a quick look, so the most important words are the biggest.
A logo is a company's own picture; you know the company when you see it.
A poster for an event tells what, when and where: 'Bake Sale, Friday, in the gym'.
Logos on food, toys and clothes are there to make you want that one.
Watch out for
- Thinking a logo is just a picture with no purpose.
- Cramming so much text no one reads it.
- Not noticing that a symbol is trying to sell you something.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Plan the term
Pick your term and the days you study. Each unit gets its share of the weeks and comes back a week later for a review. The last two weeks go over the whole course.
The official curriculum
This page follows Quebec’s own curriculum for English Language Arts, Grade 1.
Study it in MapleMind
MapleMind teaches English Language Arts, Grade 1 one skill at a time. Each skill gets a short lesson, practice as you go and a check worth up to three stars. It remembers where you stopped.
Course Companion
Your year in one workbook
A fun way to keep English Language Arts, Grade 1 organized, get to know your child better and see early when they need a hand. Fill it in on a screen, or print it.
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Questions about English Language Arts, Grade 1
What is English Language Arts, Grade 1?
Quebec’s Grade 1 English course: 12 units and 39 skills, from Understanding the Conventions of Written Language to Information-Based: Persuasive Texts.
What units are in English Language Arts, Grade 1?
1. Understanding the Conventions of Written Language, 2. Producing and Interpreting Media Texts, 3. Response Process, 4. Writing Process, 5. Production Process (Media), 6. Self-Expressive: Texts That Reinforce or Maintain Relationships, 7. Self-Expressive: Reflective Texts, 8. Narrative and Literary Texts, 9. Information-Based: Planning Texts, 10. Information-Based: Explanatory Texts, 11. Information-Based: Descriptive Reports and 12. Information-Based: Persuasive Texts.
Is there a provincial exam for English Language Arts, Grade 1?
No. Quebec gives no provincial exam for English Language Arts, Grade 1.
What comes after English Language Arts, Grade 1?
English Language Arts, Grade 2.
Can MapleMind help with English Language Arts, Grade 1?
Yes. MapleMind teaches every skill of English Language Arts, Grade 1, step by step, with practice and checks, and its tutor answers questions about any of them. It’s free with daily limits, on iPhone, Android and the web.
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