Language Arts · Grade 1

Active learning ideas

Asking and Answering Questions about Non-Fiction

Active learning helps Grade 1 students connect their natural curiosity to non-fiction texts by turning reading into an interactive process. When students craft questions and search for answers within texts, they practice comprehension skills like locating evidence and understanding informational structures.

• Ontario Curriculum Expectations
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.1

• 20–40 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 25 min · Pairs

Pair Question Swap: Insect Lives

Partners read a non-fiction book on insects and each write two questions about key details. They swap papers, locate answers in the text with evidence highlighted, then discuss if answers are complete. Partners revise incomplete responses together.

Construct a question that can be answered by reading a specific part of the text.

Facilitation Tip

During Pair Question Swap, circulate to ensure partners alternate roles of questioner and answerer to practice both skills.

What to look for

Provide students with a short non-fiction paragraph about a familiar topic (e.g., dogs). Ask them to write one question about the paragraph and then underline the sentence in the paragraph that answers their question.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 02

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 35 min · Small Groups

Small Group Text Hunt: Weather Patterns

Groups of three read a weather text and brainstorm three questions as a team. Assign roles: question leader, detail finder, answer checker. Groups hunt for key details, record answers, and evaluate completeness before sharing with the class.

Explain how finding key details helps answer questions about a topic.

Facilitation Tip

For Small Group Text Hunt, provide magnifying glasses to emphasize close reading of details in weather diagrams.

What to look for

Give students a text with a question and a partial answer. Ask them to write one more detail from the text that would make the answer more complete, or to write 'The answer is complete' if it is.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 03

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 40 min · Whole Class

Whole Class Question Chain: Community Animals

Display a text on community animals. Class generates questions one by one, adding to a chain on the board. Students take turns answering the previous question using text evidence, building a class chain of connected facts.

Evaluate the completeness of an answer based on the information provided.

Facilitation Tip

In Whole Class Question Chain, model how to phrase questions that start with 'What,' 'Where,' or 'How' to target specific text evidence.

What to look for

Present a text and a student-generated question. Ask the class: 'Where in the text can we find the answer?' Then, after finding the answer, ask: 'Does this answer tell us everything we need to know to be sure about our question? Why or why not?'

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 04

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 20 min · Individual

Individual Question Quest: Plant Parts

Each student selects a plant non-fiction page and writes one question. They find and underline the key details for an answer, then draw or write it in a journal. Share one with a partner for completeness check.

Construct a question that can be answered by reading a specific part of the text.

Facilitation Tip

During Individual Question Quest, give each student a colored pencil to underline the exact sentence that answers their question.

What to look for

Provide students with a short non-fiction paragraph about a familiar topic (e.g., dogs). Ask them to write one question about the paragraph and then underline the sentence in the paragraph that answers their question.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should model think-alouds during shared reading to show how questions guide reading, not just follow it. Avoid letting students rely on pictures alone by explicitly asking them to justify answers with text. Research shows that when students create their own questions, they engage more deeply with the material than when they only answer pre-made questions.

Successful learning looks like students who can ask specific questions about non-fiction topics and find supporting details in the text to answer them. They will show confidence in matching questions to text sections and using evidence to build complete responses.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Pair Question Swap, watch for students who rely only on images to answer questions.

  After partners complete their swap, ask them to re-answer the question using only the text and compare the two responses to highlight the gaps in visual-only answers.

• During Small Group Text Hunt, watch for students who select sentences that are loosely related but not precise answers.

  Have groups present their answers to the class and ask peers to vote on whether the sentence fully answers the question, encouraging debate about completeness and evidence.

• During Whole Class Question Chain, watch for students who ask broad questions about the entire text.

  In the moment, guide students to refine their questions by asking 'Which part of the text would we look in to answer this?' and model narrowing the question together.

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Methods used in this brief

• Outdoor Investigation Session