Worksheet Grade 1 English Language Arts
Acorn Street's Dry Week: A Grade 1 Water Saver Choices Worksheet
A grade 1 worksheet where students sort water savers from wasters, decide how to use scarce water during a dry week, and write facts about saving water.
Objectives
- Students will identify water-saving and water-wasting actions from short descriptions.
- Students will choose how to use a limited water supply and give a reason for the choice.
- Students will write two factual sentences about ways to save water.
Vocabulary
Key words: saver, waster, because
Teacher overview
Acorn Street is a fictional neighborhood having a dry week, with no rain and only a little water left in the town's saved supply. This worksheet uses that simple scenario to walk grade 1 students through the difference between a water saver and a water waster, then asks them to make one real decision about how to use water when there is not much of it. The worksheet closes with a short writing task where students name two facts about saving water, matching how first graders are asked to write to inform.
Student Worksheet
- Circle the saver. A) Sam turns off the tap. B) Sam leaves the tap on and on.
- Circle the waster. A) Mia turns off the hose. B) Mia leaves the hose on and on.
- Fill in the blank. A ____ turns off water it does not need. Word bank: saver, waster.
- It has not rained all week. Acorn Street has little water saved up. Circle the better choice. Wash the bike. Or give the garden a drink.
- Write why you picked your choice. Use the word because.
- True or false. A slow drip can waste water.
- Read this list. Brushing teeth with the tap off. Watering plants with a full can. Leaving the tap on to talk. Taking a short shower. Put a check by each saver.
- Write two ways to save water. Start with "One way is."
- Write one way you could save water this week.
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Answer Key
- Answer: A. Sam turns off the tap, which stops water from running while nobody is using it.
- Answer: B. Mia leaves the hose running, wasting water that nobody needs.
- Answer: Saver. A saver turns off water as soon as it is not needed, unlike a waster.
- Answer: Give the garden a drink. With little water saved up, a growing plant needs the water more than a bike wash does; accept the bike answer if item 5 gives a clear, reasonable reason.
- Answer: Answers will vary; accept any sentence connected to item 4 using the word because, such as "I chose the garden because the plants need water to grow."
- Answer: True. A dripping tap lets water run into the drain even when nobody is using it, which wastes water over time.
- Answer: Brushing teeth with the tap off, watering plants with a full can, and taking a short shower are water savers. Leaving the tap running while talking is a waster and should not get a check mark.
- Answer: Answers will vary; accept any two factual sentences, such as "One way to save water is turning off the tap" and "One way to save water is fixing a dripping faucet."
- Answer: Answers will vary; accept any response naming one specific water-saving choice, such as turning off the tap while brushing teeth or filling a cup instead of letting the tap run.
Differentiation
Support
Read each item aloud once before students answer independently, and provide a small picture next to items 1, 2, and 7 showing a tap or hose turned on or off to support the word choices.
Extension
Ask students to write a third sentence for item 8 that explains what might happen at Acorn Street if nobody saved water during a dry week, using the word if to begin the sentence.
ELL supports
Pre-teach saver, waster, and because with simple gestures (a flat stop-hand for saver, a shrug for waster) before students begin. Allow items 5 and 9 to be answered with a short phrase instead of a complete sentence, and permit item 8 to be completed with the sentence frame already printed except for the final word.