NZ Curriculum · Year 1 English · Primary

Year 1 English Lesson Plan & Curriculum Map

A full-year Year 1 English lesson plan for the New Zealand Curriculum (English learning area). 114 lessons across the school year from February to December, set out week by week for 1, 2, 3 or 4 lessons a week, covering talking, listening and sharing stories; phonics: sounds, vowels, blends and digraphs; why texts are written, poems and the parts of a story; and words, punctuation and writing short texts.

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Year 1 English learning map

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1 day/week · steady pace2–3 days/week · guided practice

February · Talking, listening and sharing stories

Year 1 English — February Lesson Plan

New Zealand Curriculum · English

Week	1 Day/Week	2 Day/Week	3 Day/Week	4 Day/Week
February 1st week (English)	Talking to Others 1. Using words to ask for something	Talking to Others 1. Using words to ask for something 2. Using words to tell someone something	Talking to Others 1. Using words to ask for something 2. Using words to tell someone something 3. Using your face and hands to help show what you mean	Talking to Others 1. Using words to ask for something 2. Using words to tell someone something 3. Using your face and hands to help show what you mean 4. Practice: asking for something politely, and telling a friend some news
February 2nd week (English)	Talking to Others 1. Using words to tell someone something	Talking to Others 1. Using your face and hands to help show what you mean 2. Practice: asking for something politely, and telling a friend some news	Talking to Others 1. Practice: asking for something politely, and telling a friend some news Saying What We Like 1. Using words to say what you like 2. Using words to say what you don't like	Saying What We Like 1. Using words to say what you like 2. Using words to say what you don't like 3. Giving a reason for why Meeting Characters, Settings & Events 1. Reading a story by a Māori, Pasifika or other New Zealand/world author and illustrator
February 3rd week (English)	Talking to Others 1. Using your face and hands to help show what you mean	Saying What We Like 1. Using words to say what you like 2. Using words to say what you don't like	Saying What We Like 1. Giving a reason for why Meeting Characters, Settings & Events 1. Reading a story by a Māori, Pasifika or other New Zealand/world author and illustrator 2. Talking about the characters	Meeting Characters, Settings & Events 1. Talking about the characters 2. Talking about where and when the story happens How Words & Pictures Show Us the Story 1. Noticing the words that describe a character 2. Noticing how the pictures show the character or setting too
February 4th week (English)	Talking to Others 1. Practice: asking for something politely, and telling a friend some news	Saying What We Like 1. Giving a reason for why Meeting Characters, Settings & Events 1. Reading a story by a Māori, Pasifika or other New Zealand/world author and illustrator	Meeting Characters, Settings & Events 1. Talking about where and when the story happens How Words & Pictures Show Us the Story 1. Noticing the words that describe a character 2. Noticing how the pictures show the character or setting too	How Words & Pictures Show Us the Story 1. Practice: pointing out one word and one picture clue that tell you about a character Talking About Stories We Read 1. Sharing what a story made you think or feel 2. Connecting the story to something that happened to you Poems, Chants & Songs 1. Listening to a poem, chant, rhyme or song

March · Talking, listening and sharing stories

Year 1 English — March Lesson Plan

New Zealand Curriculum · English

Week	1 Day/Week	2 Day/Week	3 Day/Week	4 Day/Week
March 1st week (English)	Saying What We Like 1. Using words to say what you like	Meeting Characters, Settings & Events 1. Talking about the characters 2. Talking about where and when the story happens	How Words & Pictures Show Us the Story 1. Practice: pointing out one word and one picture clue that tell you about a character Talking About Stories We Read 1. Sharing what a story made you think or feel 2. Connecting the story to something that happened to you	Poems, Chants & Songs 1. Noticing repeated sounds (alliteration) and rhyming words 2. Making up your own rhyming line or sound pattern Listening & Taking Turns 1. Taking turns when talking in a group 2. Listening carefully to others
March 2nd week (English)	Saying What We Like 1. Using words to say what you don't like	How Words & Pictures Show Us the Story 1. Noticing the words that describe a character 2. Noticing how the pictures show the character or setting too	Poems, Chants & Songs 1. Listening to a poem, chant, rhyme or song 2. Noticing repeated sounds (alliteration) and rhyming words 3. Making up your own rhyming line or sound pattern	Listening & Taking Turns 1. Adding your own idea or question Working Out What a Story Means 1. Picturing the story as you listen 2. Guessing what might happen next 3. Linking the story to what you already know
March 3rd week (English)	Saying What We Like 1. Giving a reason for why	How Words & Pictures Show Us the Story 1. Practice: pointing out one word and one picture clue that tell you about a character Talking About Stories We Read 1. Sharing what a story made you think or feel	Listening & Taking Turns 1. Taking turns when talking in a group 2. Listening carefully to others 3. Adding your own idea or question	Working Out What a Story Means 1. Retelling the important parts Retelling or Changing a Story 1. Retelling a familiar story in your own words 2. Changing one part of the story — a character or the ending 3. Showing your story through role-play, drawing or talking
March 4th week (English)	Meeting Characters, Settings & Events 1. Reading a story by a Māori, Pasifika or other New Zealand/world author and illustrator	Talking About Stories We Read 1. Connecting the story to something that happened to you Poems, Chants & Songs 1. Listening to a poem, chant, rhyme or song	Working Out What a Story Means 1. Picturing the story as you listen 2. Guessing what might happen next 3. Linking the story to what you already know	Term 1 Check-In 1. Going over talking, listening and sharing opinions 2. Going over characters, settings and story retelling 3. Term 1 check-in: retelling a story out loud 4. Talking about how it went and what to try next

April · Talking, listening and sharing stories

Year 1 English — April Lesson Plan

New Zealand Curriculum · English

Week	1 Day/Week	2 Day/Week	3 Day/Week	4 Day/Week
April 1st week (English)	Meeting Characters, Settings & Events 1. Talking about the characters	Poems, Chants & Songs 1. Noticing repeated sounds (alliteration) and rhyming words 2. Making up your own rhyming line or sound pattern	Working Out What a Story Means 1. Retelling the important parts Retelling or Changing a Story 1. Retelling a familiar story in your own words 2. Changing one part of the story — a character or the ending	Breaking Words into Sounds 1. Listening to a word and breaking it into its separate sounds 2. Practice: breaking apart 3 simple words into sounds Sounds at the Start & End of Words 1. Hearing 2 sounds blended together at the start of a word (like "st" in "stop") 2. Hearing 2 sounds blended together at the end of a word
April 2nd week (English)	Meeting Characters, Settings & Events 1. Talking about where and when the story happens	Listening & Taking Turns 1. Taking turns when talking in a group 2. Listening carefully to others	Retelling or Changing a Story 1. Showing your story through role-play, drawing or talking Term 1 Check-In 1. Going over talking, listening and sharing opinions 2. Going over characters, settings and story retelling	Sounds at the Start & End of Words 1. Practice: finding words with blended sounds at the start or end Swapping Sounds to Make New Words 1. Adding a sound to the start of a word to make a new word 2. Taking a sound away from a word to make a new word Changing the Middle or End Sound 1. Swapping the middle sound in a word to make a new word

The learning framework

Anatomy of a focused lesson

Each session moves from a clear focus to guided practice and a quick check for understanding.

10 minutes

Warm up

Start with a quick sounds, spelling or vocabulary game that links to the last lesson and gets your child talking.

25 minutes

Read, model and write

Read a short text together, model the skill of the week, then have your child practise it in their own reading or writing.

10 minutes

Share and check

Finish with a read-aloud, retell or short writing check that shows what is secure and what to come back to.

Student learning toolkit

Resources for Year 1 English

Reading lessons

Guided lessons on the texts, genres and language features in each unit.

Writing practice

Planning frames, models and short tasks matched to each week’s focus.

Speaking and listening

Discussion, presentation and oral language activities built up through the year.

Progress notes

A clear record of what your child has mastered and what comes next.

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