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Common Core ELA1st GradeWriting

W.1.7: Write How-To Steps in a Class Research Project

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.7 · Cluster: Research to Build and Present Knowledge.

All 41 1st Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of "how-to" books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions).

Common Core State Standards, Grade 1, Writing · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What W.1.7 Means in Plain English

It is research at 1st-grade size: the teacher reads aloud from a few how-to books on one topic, the class charts the steps the books agree on, and everyone writes from the chart. Each child owns one step of How to Make a Pinecone Bird Feeder.

In kindergarten (W.K.7) the shared project is often an author study that ends in opinions. Now the writing has to work: a reader should be able to follow the steps. In 2nd grade (W.2.7) the books feed a class report, or the class records science observations.

W.1.7 I Can Statements

  • I can listen to how-to books and find the steps.
  • I can help our class put the steps in order.
  • I can write and draw one step for our class book.

W.1.7 Worked Example

One class how-to book, one child’s step page. The weak page could have been written without opening a single book.

Prompt

We read three books about feeding birds and made a chart of the steps. Your job is step 3 of our class book, How to Make a Pinecone Bird Feeder. Write and draw your step.

Not Yet(Drawing: a pinecone next to a bottle of glue.) Put glue on it. Then put it outside.It reads like instructions, but it isn’t step 3, and glue is a guess. None of the three books used glue, so the page skips the research the whole project is built on.
Meets the Standard(Drawing: two hands rolling a sticky pinecone in a tray of seeds.) Step 3: Roll your sticky pinecone in birdseed. Press the seeds on hard so they stay. Turn it until it is all covered. All three books said the seeds have to stick!The page does exactly step 3 from the class chart, so it fits between the steps around it. Each sentence starts with a bossy verb a reader can follow, and the last line points back to what the books agreed on.
Moves to Use
Find your step number on the class chart.Start your step with a bossy verb like Roll, Tie or Hang.Add one tip from the books that helps the reader.Draw your hands doing the step.

Common Mistakes with W.1.7

Steps from memory, not the books

“Put glue on it,” when the chart says to spread on sunflower butter

Try this: Keep the class step chart posted with the book each step came from, and have children check their step against it before writing.

Copying one book’s steps

The class book matches one library book page for page

Try this: Read at least three how-to books on the topic and chart where they agree and differ, so the class makes real choices.

Steps a reader can’t follow

“Do the seeds.” “Then do the tree part.”

Try this: Test the class book by having a partner act out each page exactly as written, then fix any step they get stuck on.

Where W.1.7 Fits

Comes BeforeW.K.7Join a shared research and writing project, like an author study that ends in a class book of opinions.
AlongsideRI.1.9Spot how two books on the same topic are alike and different, the way the class compares its how-to books.RI.1.5Use text features like headings and a table of contents to find key facts, such as the numbered steps in a how-to book.
Comes NextW.2.7Read several books on one topic to write a class report, or record science observations together.

Practice W.1.7

Quick Check

  1. Which step of the class book does the strong page show?
  2. Where did the information on the strong page come from?
  3. Why is “Put glue on it” a problem in a shared research project?

W.1.7: Other Names

W.1.7CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.7

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.