Courses

Quebec · Grade 1

English as a Second Language (Core), Grade 1

Quebec’s Grade 1 English language course, from Contextual and Functional Language to Text Components.

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Units
4
Lessons
6
Skills
14
Provincial exam
None
Official curriculum
Québec Progression des apprentissages

Unit by unit

Every skill in the course, numbered by unit.

Unit 1 · 4 skills

Contextual and Functional Language

Interacting orally in familiar situations

  • Discover: Uses common inquiries and statements

    1.1

    Learn it

  • Discover: Describes people/characters, objects

    1.2

    Learn it

  • Discover: Uses basic expressions of courtesy

    1.3

    Learn it

Reinvesting understanding of texts

  • Discover: Uses vocabulary related to people

    1.4

    Learn it
The official wording · 4 outcomes
1.1
Uses common inquiries and statements (e.g. Finished? Red pencil? That’s correct.)
1.2
Describes people/characters, objects (e.g. Big, Big monster. Blue pants. Delicious apples.)
1.3
Uses basic expressions of courtesy (e.g. Hi. Hello. Please. Thank-you. Excuse me.)
1.4
Uses vocabulary related to people (e.g. friends, mom/dad, girl/boy)

Unit 2 · 5 skills

Strategies

Communication strategies

  • Discover: Uses physical motion to compensate for a lack of language

    2.1

    Learn it

Learning and self-management strategies

  • Acts out a response to show understanding and facilitate learning

    2.2

    Learn it

  • Discover: Decides to pay attention to a task and to ignore distractors

    2.3

    Learn it

  • Repeats, rehearses, regroups, integrates and assimilates words and expressions

    2.4

    Learn it

  • Discover: Makes use of material resources targeted for the task

    2.5

    Learn it
The official wording · 5 outcomes
2.1
Uses physical motion to compensate for a lack of language
2.2
Acts out a response to show understanding and facilitate learning
2.3
Decides to pay attention to a task and to ignore distractors
2.4
Repeats, rehearses, regroups, integrates and assimilates words and expressions
2.5
Makes use of material resources targeted for the task (e.g. posters, flashcards)

Unit 3 · 4 skills

Cultural Elements and Cultural Products

Cultural elements and products

  • Discover: Stories

    I can enjoy an English picture-book story with an adult and join in (pre-A1/A1).

    3.1

    Learn it

  • Discover: Choosing rhymes

    I can join in a counting/choosing rhyme in English (‘eeny, meeny, miny, moe’) (pre-A1/A1).

    3.2

    Learn it

  • Discover: Circle rhymes

    I can act out a circle/action rhyme in English with the movements (pre-A1/A1).

    3.3

    Learn it

  • Discover: Sing-alongs

    I can sing along to a simple English song and join in on the chorus (pre-A1/A1).

    3.4

    Learn it
The official wording · 4 outcomes
3.1
Stories (e.g. Mouse’s First Halloween, Red Is Best, The Very Hungry Caterpillar)
3.2
Choosing rhymes
3.3
Circle rhymes
3.4
Sing-alongs

Key ideas

  1. The goal here is enjoyment, not testing — read the English story together, point at the pictures, and let the learner soak up the sounds of English.

  2. Read the same favourite again and again: repetition is how the learner starts to predict and chime in on the words they know.

  3. Pause on the repeated line (‘The very hungry caterpillar ate through…’) and let the learner say it with you or fill in the last word.

  4. Choosing rhymes are the little English chants used to pick who is ‘it’ — say them for fun, one point per beat.

  5. The rhythm carries the language: clap or tap the beat so the learner feels the stresses of English even before they know every word.

Watch out for

  • Don’t stop to correct every word — a shared story is for enjoying English, so keep the flow and celebrate any joining-in.
  • Understanding the story from pictures and tone counts as success; the learner does not need to read or translate every word yet.
  • The words don’t have to make literal sense — nonsense sounds like ‘eeny, meeny’ are normal in rhymes; enjoy the sound.

Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit

Unit 4 · 1 skill

Text Components

Understanding how a text works

  • Discover: Orally identifies main events

    I can say what happened in a story in order using ‘first / then / last’ (pre-A1/A1).

    4.1

    Learn it
The official wording · 1 outcomes
4.1
Orally identifies main events

Key ideas

  1. After a story, retell just the big things that happened, in the order they happened — not every detail.

  2. Use the little order words to link the events: ‘First…, then…, next…, last…’.

  3. Point to the picture for each event as you name it — the pictures hold the order for the learner.

Watch out for

  • Retelling in the wrong order (‘the butterfly, then the egg’) misses the point — the events have to follow the story’s order.
  • Only the main events are needed, not every little thing — pick the two or three big moments.

Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit

The official curriculum

This page follows Quebec’s own curriculum for English as a Second Language (Core), Grade 1.

English as a Second Language, primaireQuébec Progression des apprentissages · quebec.ca · Read August 7, 2026

Study it in MapleMind

MapleMind teaches English as a Second Language (Core), 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.

Mathematics, Secondary 3 in the MapleMind app on a tablet: its units, Unit 1 open, and the skills done so far with their starsMathematics, Secondary 3 in the MapleMind app on a phone: its units, Unit 1 open, and the skills done so far with their stars
Pictured: Mathematics, Secondary 3, another Quebec course, partway through Unit 1.

Practise it

Course Companion

Your year in one workbook

A fun way to keep English as a Second Language (Core), 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.

Pages
28
Fillable fields
1,165
Price
$4.99
See the Course Companion

Questions about English as a Second Language (Core), Grade 1

What is English as a Second Language (Core), Grade 1?

Quebec’s Grade 1 English language course: 4 units and 14 skills, from Contextual and Functional Language to Text Components.

What units are in English as a Second Language (Core), Grade 1?

1. Contextual and Functional Language, 2. Strategies, 3. Cultural Elements and Cultural Products and 4. Text Components.

Is there a provincial exam for English as a Second Language (Core), Grade 1?

No. Quebec gives no provincial exam for English as a Second Language (Core), Grade 1.

What comes after English as a Second Language (Core), Grade 1?

English as a Second Language (Core), Grade 2.

Can MapleMind help with English as a Second Language (Core), Grade 1?

Yes. MapleMind teaches every skill of English as a Second Language (Core), 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.

After this course

Get ready for English as a Second Language (Core), Grade 1

Practise every skill of English as a Second Language (Core), Grade 1 in MapleMind, free with daily limits.