eSource: Free Teaching Guides

Select a product from the list below to view available teaching guides. Use the tags on left to filter the list.

Cover: Pigs

First Step Nonfiction — Farm Animals

This series explains the unique features and roles of various farm animals using simple text and color photographs. A diagram and fun facts complete this introduction to familiar, kid-friendly animals. View →

 
Cover: Meats and Proteins

First Step Nonfiction — Food Groups

Build nutritional awareness in beginning readers through this appetizing series. The main text explains why each food group is beneficial and how much to eat. Kids will especially enjoy the trivia in the back of the book. View →

 
Cover: Gravity

First Step Nonfiction — Forces and Motion

Readers will easily grasp central concepts of physics in this fun series. From roller coasters to pool floats, and swings to hula hoops, the examples in the text and photographs illustrated each force or motion in the series. Rich back matter offers additional facts about the physical… View →

 
Cover: Ocean

First Step Nonfiction — Habitats

Readers will travel to a variety of environments in this engaging series. The simple text and striking photography explore the types of plants and animals that live in each habitat. The books also shows the contrasts within a type of habitat—illustrating, for example, that some… View →

 
Cover: Liquids

First Step Nonfiction — Kinds of Matter

Students will enjoy learning about solids, liquids, and gases while improving their reading skills. Full-color photographs and easy sentences introduce students to the three types of matter. View →

 
Cover: Kinds of Grains

First Step Nonfiction — Kinds of Plants

Vibrant photographs and simple vocabulary introduce students to fruits, vegetables, grains, and flowers. Students learn about different types of plants while improving their reading skills. View →

 
Cover: Windy

First Step Nonfiction — Kinds of Weather

Students will learn general terms to describe various weather conditions in this easy-to-read series. Key terms are repeated while sensory cues describe what a child might see or feel in various weather conditions. View →

 
Cover: Plateaus

First Step Nonfiction — Landforms

Simple sentences and vivid color photos explain the features of various landforms. These books define each landform and explain what it looks like, how it is formed, and how it is useful to people, plants, and animals. View →

 
Cover: Exploring Stems

First Step Nonfiction — Let's Look at Plants

Vibrant color photographs and simple sentences introduce students to the parts of plants. Students will love learning about plants while improving their reading skills. This series meets both science and reading standards. View →

 
Cover: How Does Weather Change?

First Step Nonfiction — Let's Watch the Weather

This simple series introduces emergent readers to the ins and outs of weather, from what sunlight does to what a weather forecast is. Vibrant photos directly match the text on each page, and curricular features such as chapter headings and photo captions help kids learn about weather in… View →

 
Cover: Sensing Light and Sound

First Step Nonfiction — Light and Sound

This simple, engaging series for beginning readers illuminates the basic properties of light and sound, from colors, shadows, and vibrations to ways we use light and sound to communicate. Bright photos, accessible text, and curricular features such as chapter headings and photo captions… View →

 
Cover: I Know It Is Nonliving

First Step Nonfiction — Living or Nonliving

This series explains the criteria for determining whether items are living or nonliving. Each book gives many examples, using text that directly corresponds with the photographs on each page. View →

 
Cover: Look at an Ash Tree

First Step Nonfiction — Look at Trees

Vibrant color photographs and simple vocabulary introduce students to a variety of trees. The books can be used together to compare the various types of roots, trunks, seeds, leaves, and bark. This series meets both science and reading standards. View →

 
Cover: Wood

First Step Nonfiction — Materials

Build awareness of the many types of manufacturing materials. Photographs and text offer kid-friendly examples of products and what they are made from, such as cotton cloth made from cotton plants, and wool that comes from sheep. A spread in each book briefly explains a manufacturing… View →

 
Cover: I Eat Apples in Fall

First Step Nonfiction — Observing Fall

Take readers on a virtual autumn nature walk with these appealing informational texts! Readers will examine a wide range of curricular topics from size, shape, and color to various animal traits and categories of autumn crops while observing nature in the fall. View →

 
Cover: Leaves

First Step Nonfiction — Parts of Plants

Introduce students to the parts of plants, from roots and stems to flowers and leaves. Support science concepts while building reading skills. View →

 
Cover: Pumpkins

First Step Nonfiction — Plant Life Cycles

Readers will have a close-up view of plant life through the detailed photographs in this series. The images show a variety of plants, uncovering the secrets of how roots sprout from seeds, tubers, and bulbs and following the young plants through to maturity. Illustrated diagrams sum up… View →

 
Cover: Cross-Pollination

First Step Nonfiction — Pollination

Emergent readers discover the process of pollination through simple nonfiction text. The books showcase connections between plants and animals as they depend on each other for survival. Main ideas are clearly explained, and science-specific vocabulary is supported by diagrams and photos. View →

 
Cover: How Does It Feel?

First Step Nonfiction — Properties of Matter

This series teaches students about the various ways in which objects can be described and compared. Color photos accompany the simple sentences on each page. View →

 
Cover: Summer

First Step Nonfiction — Seasons

Learn how weather, daylight, plants, animals, and people all change their behaviors and activities in each season. A diagram and text in the back of each book explains how the amount of sunlight changes in each season. View →

 
Cover: Making a Salad: Wedge vs. Inclined Plane

First Step Nonfiction — Simple Machines to the Rescue

This series allows readers to compare simple machines to see which one works best in a particular situation. Each book sets up a problem. The kids test two simple machines and determine a winner. View →

 
Cover: Measuring Cup

First Step Nonfiction — Simple Tools

Each book in this series explains the uses for a simple tool found in the elementary classroom. With simple sentences and colorful photographs, this series corresponds directly to science standards. View →

 
Cover: Moon

First Step Nonfiction — Space

Develop young astronomers by exploring basic space concepts. Images from recognizable perspectives—viewing a night sky, for example—keep readers grounded, while scientific models and images from space expand their horizons. Simple diagrams help introduce readers to concepts… View →

 
Cover: What Is a Gas?

First Step Nonfiction — States of Matter

This science series explores the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases. The texts describe changes in states of matter using simple texts and corresponding color photographs. Meets national science standards. View →