• Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Resources
  • Contact

Fairies And Lesson Plans

Teaching Conjunctions in First Grade: Fabulous Charts, and Activities!

February by Frogs, Fairies, and Lesson Plans |

Are you teaching conjunctions in first grade? Then, I’d love to share my anchor charts, the resources I use, and my lesson ideas with you!

For more ideas, read the post Teaching Conjunctions.

Conjunction Anchor Charts

Teaching conjunctions in first grade will require you to create several anchor charts. I recommend preparing all your charts and getting all your resources together instead of focusing just on the conjunction you’ll be teaching each day. It takes a bit of time, but it makes your Conjunctions Unit a breeze to teach!

If you haven’t created your own charts, feel free to copy mine!

Conjunction: BUT

Conjunctions Anchor Chart

 

Conjunction: OR

Conjunctions Anchor Chart

 

Conjunction: SO

Conjunctions Anchor Chart

 

Conjunction: BECAUSE

Conjunctions Anchor Chart

Conjunction Lessons

1. Connection

My mini-lessons start with a connection between something my students are already familiar with and new information that’s on the chart.

I might say, for instance,

“You already know about words that name things, and words that describe things. But today, you are going to learn about words that help connect pieces of information to each other. Those words are called conjunctions.”

2. Teaching Point

This is where I’d introduce the conjunction “and” with my first anchor chart.

AND

Conjunctions Anchor Chart

Next, I’d continue with,

“Cats meow and what else? They climb trees.” “The conjunction “and” is helping us understand that there’s more information about what cats do. It’s connecting the two things that cats do.”

Then,

“She made a cake and what else? She put frosting on it.” “The conjunction “and” is helping us understand that she did more than just make a cake. There’s more information about what she did, and “and” connects both things that she did.”

3. Active Engagement

Use the next sentences on the chart to allow your students to practice using the conjunction “and” in a controlled setting. You can ask partners to turn and talk, then call on a few to help you fill in the chart.

Something to consider about anchor charts: 

Because all the information for the lesson is already on this chart, it can be distracting to students. Not everyone does this, but I usually cover up the parts I don’t want to show by folding (without creasing) the bottom of the chart up, and holding it with paper clips on both sides. 

4. Link

Once students have had a chance to practice, encourage them to look for that day’s conjunction when they read, and to use conjunctions when they write.

A great way to link your lesson to “real life” use, is through literature!

 

Books

It’s important to show students the isolated parts of speech we’re teaching in authentic ways. For instance, how do authors use them in books? To illustrate that, prepare a few books ahead of time to use with your lessons. 

1. First, look for examples.

Conjunctions in literature

2. Then, bookmark the pages with mini Post-Its.

Conjunctions in literature

3. Read!

Make sure you read a few pages of the books you selected, and show your students how conjunctions appear in literature, and in everyday speech!

 

5. Independent Practice – Hands-On Activities

For more guided practice and the active engagement parts of my Conjunctions mini-lesson, I like to do hands-on activities. As you might imagine, you can’t have too many of those when teaching conjunctions in first grade! Here are just a few more things you can do:

1. Choose the Conjunction

In this first activity, students read incomplete sentences and decide what conjunction best completes the sentence. Of course this activity only works once students have learned at least 2 conjunctions. 

In order to differentiate instruction, you can keep it simple, like this one, or you can mix more conjunction choices once your students are able to handle it.

Conjunctions Anchor Chart

Something else to consider, is that you might want to reuse your charts over the years, in that case, you’d write the conjunctions on Post-Its, and have students use those instead of writing the answers in.

2. Sentence Match (Guided)

Similar to some of my anchor chart activities, this one requires students to use sentences and conjunctions to match them up. To prepare this activity, you would first think of a few sentences that use conjunctions. Then, you’d write the first part of those sentences, up to the conjunctions, on the board. Last, you’d write the second part of the sentences on sentence strips. 

To do this activity, students read the first sentence on the board and decide which sentence strip best completes it. You can place the sentence strips on the board using tape or magnets.

3. Sentence Match Game (Independent)

This is a modification of the guided version, but it works if you want your students to practice independently. Simply write both parts of the sentence on strips of paper and have students mix and match until they all make sense. I have this activity as a Literacy Center game. 

You can see a video of this activity in this blog post.

4. Other

The last activity I want to share is this one. It’s pretty self-explanatory!

 

Independent Practice for Conjunctions

As students understand what conjunctions are for and how to use them, it’s time to give them many opportunities to practice on their own. For that reason, I use a variety of practice sheets and games. My students love these because they can practice the same skill in different ways, and as a result, they are never bored! 

To give you an example of what I use, this is a set of worksheets for “and/but”.

As you can see, this first sheet is easy and quick to complete. All the students need to do is read the sentences and fill in the blanks with the correct conjunction.

Conjunctions Practice Activities
Available for purchase here.

This cut and paste is very similar to the one you just saw, but it takes longer to complete, and targets motor and organizational skills.

Conjunctions Practice Activities

Take a look at a third way to practice using the conjunctions “and/but”.  In this case, students use with their own ideas to complete the sentences.

Conjunctions Practice Activities

Lastly, a multiple-choice sheet gives you a quick way to assess how well your students can use the different conjunctions you taught during your unit!

Conjunctions Practice Activities

There you have it!

You can find this Conjunction Packet and other Parts of Speech packets in my TpT store. All packets include worksheets and games for your Literacy Centers. 

1st Grade Parts of Speech Resources – Beyond Teaching Conjunctions in First Grade!

Noun Activities
1st Grade Nouns
1st Grade Pronoun Activities
1st Grade Pronouns
1st Grade Verb Activities
1st Grade Verbs
1st Grade Conjunction Activities
1st Grade Conjunctions
1st Grade Determiner Activities
Bonus packet included in the Bundle!
1st Grade Preposition Activities
1st Grade Prepositions

2nd Grade Parts of Speech Resources – Beyond Teaching Conjunctions in First Grade!

2nd Grade Noun Activities
2nd Grade Nouns
2nd Grade Verb Activities
2nd Grade Verbs
2nd Grade Pronoun Activities
2nd Grade Pronouns
2nd Grade Adjectives and Adverbs Activities
2nd Grade Adjectives and Adverbs

Language Arts Spiral Review/Homework

1st Grade Language Arts Spiral Review and Homework
1st Grade ELA Spiral Review/Homework
2nd Grade Language Arts Spiral Review and Homework
2nd Grade ELA Spiral Review/Homework
Kindergarten Grade Language Arts Spiral Review and Homework
Kindergarten ELA Spiral Review/Homework

And last but not least! Sign up for my mailing list to receive teaching tips and samples in your inbox!

Let me send you this Parts of Speech sample as a thank you!

 

1st and 2nd Grade 

Sign up to receive this Free Sample!

Thank you for subscribing!

Filed Under: conjunctions, Parts of Speech

Sign Up for my newsletter!

Get all my tips and samples!

Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Search for Topics

Archives

It is nice to meet you!

Hi, I’m Adriana, a meticulous, passionate, creative being, with a love for teaching and learning. I write lessons that are simple and efficient, and make resources that are rigorous and engaging. Please enjoy this collection of ideas that I’ve used successfully over the years.

read more

The laptop will ALWAYS be scooted to make room for The laptop will ALWAYS be scooted to make room for the cat. I can feel Milo’s little legs erratically poking my thighs, revealing cat dreams in progress. His warmth and occasional purring are worth the discomfort of crooking my neck to work. He’s lovely, and I adore him. IYKYK ❤️
Friday night Contradance in Decatur, Ga. So. Much. Friday night Contradance in Decatur, Ga. So. Much. Fun!
Being confident: Knowing you are worth the mainten Being confident: Knowing you are worth the maintenance you require, and giving yourself the experiences that make you whole. No permission or company needed. 
#igotthis
This is where I have lived since June of 2022. I’d forgotten how long it takes before the place where you live becomes your home. The thing I’ve missed the most since moving, is the intimate relationship I had with my garden. I knew the little special places where I had worked on, the new plants coming to live, and that somehow grounded me. It hurt to leave that behind. 

This Mother’s Day, I asked my daughters (who live on their own) if they would help me make a little garden around my mailbox. I wanted to make new memories that involved all of us again. I loved spending that time together and I know that this little garden will give me joy for years to come.

I’m learning to be patient and to enjoy not having it all figured out. Just like I always approached my classrooms. It never bothered me to start the year with blank walls. I found that having room to grow together with my students was incredibly more rewarding. 

Happy new beginnings if you’ve moved schools, grades, or even had to go to a different classroom. You’ll make it your home once again. ❤️
Timing is everything. We got the gorgeous backdrop Timing is everything. We got the gorgeous backdrop plus the plane crossing the sky at that exact moment. #poçosdecaldas
Feeling the journaling vibes like crazy today. It’s a cloudy, rainy 60F, and if you know me, you know I’m struggling. I don’t do well under cloudy skies.  It’s specially hard when the weather teases me with gorgeous spring days and then takes them away. 

Good thing I know these rainy days - literal and figurative ones - are necessary, passing moments. Disappointment makes me look inwards and helps me reflect on where I mismanaged my expectations. 

I’m just grateful that I have tools to help me get through tough times. One of those tools is to elevate the energetic levels around me by adding fire, sound, scent, and fresh air to my environment. 

If you have these kinds of days, try lighting a candle, playing music, turning on a fan or opening a window. Make yourself a cozy cup of whatever you like, and watch how supported you’ll feel.
The laptop will ALWAYS be scooted to make room for The laptop will ALWAYS be scooted to make room for the cat. I can feel Milo’s little legs erratically poking my thighs, revealing cat dreams in progress. His warmth and occasional purring are worth the discomfort of crooking my neck to work. He’s lovely, and I adore him. IYKYK ❤️
Friday night Contradance in Decatur, Ga. So. Much. Friday night Contradance in Decatur, Ga. So. Much. Fun!
Being confident: Knowing you are worth the mainten Being confident: Knowing you are worth the maintenance you require, and giving yourself the experiences that make you whole. No permission or company needed. 
#igotthis
This is where I have lived since June of 2022. I’d forgotten how long it takes before the place where you live becomes your home. The thing I’ve missed the most since moving, is the intimate relationship I had with my garden. I knew the little special places where I had worked on, the new plants coming to live, and that somehow grounded me. It hurt to leave that behind. 

This Mother’s Day, I asked my daughters (who live on their own) if they would help me make a little garden around my mailbox. I wanted to make new memories that involved all of us again. I loved spending that time together and I know that this little garden will give me joy for years to come.

I’m learning to be patient and to enjoy not having it all figured out. Just like I always approached my classrooms. It never bothered me to start the year with blank walls. I found that having room to grow together with my students was incredibly more rewarding. 

Happy new beginnings if you’ve moved schools, grades, or even had to go to a different classroom. You’ll make it your home once again. ❤️
Timing is everything. We got the gorgeous backdrop Timing is everything. We got the gorgeous backdrop plus the plane crossing the sky at that exact moment. #poçosdecaldas
Feeling the journaling vibes like crazy today. It’s a cloudy, rainy 60F, and if you know me, you know I’m struggling. I don’t do well under cloudy skies.  It’s specially hard when the weather teases me with gorgeous spring days and then takes them away. 

Good thing I know these rainy days - literal and figurative ones - are necessary, passing moments. Disappointment makes me look inwards and helps me reflect on where I mismanaged my expectations. 

I’m just grateful that I have tools to help me get through tough times. One of those tools is to elevate the energetic levels around me by adding fire, sound, scent, and fresh air to my environment. 

If you have these kinds of days, try lighting a candle, playing music, turning on a fan or opening a window. Make yourself a cozy cup of whatever you like, and watch how supported you’ll feel.
The laptop will ALWAYS be scooted to make room for The laptop will ALWAYS be scooted to make room for the cat. I can feel Milo’s little legs erratically poking my thighs, revealing cat dreams in progress. His warmth and occasional purring are worth the discomfort of crooking my neck to work. He’s lovely, and I adore him. IYKYK ❤️
Friday night Contradance in Decatur, Ga. So. Much. Friday night Contradance in Decatur, Ga. So. Much. Fun!
Being confident: Knowing you are worth the mainten Being confident: Knowing you are worth the maintenance you require, and giving yourself the experiences that make you whole. No permission or company needed. 
#igotthis
This is where I have lived since June of 2022. I’d forgotten how long it takes before the place where you live becomes your home. The thing I’ve missed the most since moving, is the intimate relationship I had with my garden. I knew the little special places where I had worked on, the new plants coming to live, and that somehow grounded me. It hurt to leave that behind. 

This Mother’s Day, I asked my daughters (who live on their own) if they would help me make a little garden around my mailbox. I wanted to make new memories that involved all of us again. I loved spending that time together and I know that this little garden will give me joy for years to come.

I’m learning to be patient and to enjoy not having it all figured out. Just like I always approached my classrooms. It never bothered me to start the year with blank walls. I found that having room to grow together with my students was incredibly more rewarding. 

Happy new beginnings if you’ve moved schools, grades, or even had to go to a different classroom. You’ll make it your home once again. ❤️
Timing is everything. We got the gorgeous backdrop Timing is everything. We got the gorgeous backdrop plus the plane crossing the sky at that exact moment. #poçosdecaldas
Feeling the journaling vibes like crazy today. It’s a cloudy, rainy 60F, and if you know me, you know I’m struggling. I don’t do well under cloudy skies.  It’s specially hard when the weather teases me with gorgeous spring days and then takes them away. 

Good thing I know these rainy days - literal and figurative ones - are necessary, passing moments. Disappointment makes me look inwards and helps me reflect on where I mismanaged my expectations. 

I’m just grateful that I have tools to help me get through tough times. One of those tools is to elevate the energetic levels around me by adding fire, sound, scent, and fresh air to my environment. 

If you have these kinds of days, try lighting a candle, playing music, turning on a fan or opening a window. Make yourself a cozy cup of whatever you like, and watch how supported you’ll feel.

Copyright © 2025 · Fairies & Lesson Plans · design by Designer Blogs