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Illustrations and the Key Ideas

A 40-minute Grade 1 lesson on using illustrations and details together to describe an information text's key ideas.

Illustrations and the Key Ideas is a free 40-minute Grade 1 English lesson plan for Common Core standard RI.1.7 — use the pictures and details together to explain the main ideas. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the mathematics, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.

Grade:
Grade 1
Length:
40 minutes
Standard:
RI.1.7

Grade 1 · Reading: Informational Text

RI.1.7

Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.

Objective

Students will be able to use an illustration and the text together to describe a key idea.

Students are successful when they can

  • Names a key idea.
  • Supports it from the words.
  • Supports it from the picture.

What you need

  • An information text with a labelled diagram
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — what is this diagram for?

5 min
  1. Show a labelled diagram. Ask what idea it is helping with.
  2. Not what it shows — what it is FOR.

Teach — the idea, and two kinds of support

13 min
  1. Read the text and name one key idea.
  2. Find a sentence that supports it. Underline it.
  3. Find a part of the diagram that supports the same idea. Point at it.
  4. Say the idea again with both supports attached.
  5. Then find a label on the diagram that the words never mention, and say what it adds.
“One idea, two kinds of evidence. Say the idea, then show me both.”

Guided practice — idea plus two

12 min
  1. Pairs choose a key idea and find both kinds of support.
  2. They write the idea and mark both supports.

Independent practice

8 min
  1. Students complete the illustrations-and-ideas page.
  2. The passage is on the sheet.

Close

2 min
  1. State one key idea and ask for both kinds of support.

What goes wrong, and why

Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.

Describes the diagram rather than using it.

Why: Describing is the question they are used to being asked about pictures.

Fix: Name the idea first. Then the diagram has a job, and describing it is not the job.

Gives two supports from the words and none from the picture.

Why: The words are searchable and the picture is not.

Fix: Require one from each explicitly. The requirement is what makes them look.

Treats a label as decoration.

Why: Labels are small and among a picture, which is not where reading is expected.

Fix: Read every label aloud once. Once heard, they get used.

If they are not there yet

  • Give the key idea and ask only for the supports.
  • Use a diagram with two labels.

If they finish early

  • Find a key idea the diagram supports better than the words do.
  • Draw a diagram for an idea that has none.
  • Say what a second diagram would need to show.

Exit ticket

State one key idea from this text. Show me support from the words and from the picture.

What to look for: Both supports. Two from the words is common and means the requirement needs restating before they start.

Printable practice for RI.1.7

Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.

Questions about Illustrations and the Key Ideas

How long does the Illustrations and the Key Ideas lesson take?

40 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 13 min, guided practice 12 min, independent practice 8 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.

Which standard does Illustrations and the Key Ideas teach?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.7 — RI.1.7, Reading: Informational Text for Grade 1: “Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.” In plain terms, use the pictures and details together to explain the main ideas.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

An information text with a labelled diagram and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.

What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?

Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: describes the diagram rather than using it; gives two supports from the words and none from the picture and treats a label as decoration. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.

How do I know whether the lesson worked?

The exit ticket asks: “State one key idea from this text. Show me support from the words and from the picture.” Both supports. Two from the words is common and means the requirement needs restating before they start. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.

Is there a worksheet to go with Illustrations and the Key Ideas?

Yes — 1 printable RI.1.7 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.

Is Illustrations and the Key Ideas free to use?

Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on 7 September 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-09-07. Aligned to RI.1.7 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.