STATE List for 1st Grade: Time, Guidelines, Bluebonnet, Truths and Contradictions...And CITATIONS.

Here is the updated blog post for First Grade, incorporating the 34 required texts and all internal citations as requested.

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STATE List for 1st Grade: Time, Guidelines, Bluebonnet, Truths and Contradictions...And CITATIONS.

1st Grade: How fast should texts be read aloud?

In first grade, read-alouds are essential for modeling fluency as students begin their own journey into independent decoding.

Also missing...Kids in 1st grade can read. Shouldn't they be reading instead of hearing it only?

Grade Level	Recommended Oral Reading Rate (WPM)
1st Grade	60–90 (modeling fluency)
2nd Grade	90–100 (Hasbrook and Tindall, 2017)
Adult Conversation	150–170 (The Speaker Lab, 2023)

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The Full Proposed 1st Grade Literary Works List (HB 1605)

Based on the Draft Rule Text (TEA, 2026a), the state has proposed 34 required works for First Grade. To meet the "Interactive" mandate, each of these must be taught as a full lesson involving predictive questioning and vocabulary building.

Text Title	Author / Source	TEKS Genre Category	Estimated Lesson Time
Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books	Kay Winters	Biography	25 min
Ada Twist, Scientist	Andrea Beaty	Realistic Fiction	20 min
Amelia Bedelia First Day of School	Herman Parish	Humor/Narrative	25 min
Exploring America's Symbols	State of Texas	Informational	20 min
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (excerpts)	Fred Rogers	Poetry/Song	15 min
Anansi and the Talking Melon	Eric A. Kimmel	Folktale	20 min
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Picture Book)	William Kamkwamba	Biography	20 min
Daniel Boone	James Daugherty	Biography	25 min
Davy Crockett	Traditional	Folktale	20 min
Dr. King’s Dream	Sheila Rivera	Biography	20 min
The Frog Prince	Traditional / Grimm	Fairy Tale	25 min
Giotto’s Circle	Traditional	Folktale	20 min
The Goose with the Golden Eggs	Aesop	Fable	15 min
Grace for President	Kelly DiPucchio	Realistic Fiction	25 min
Henry Ford	Various	Biography	20 min
How Do You Know What Time It Is?	Robert E. Wells	Informational	20 min
Jack and the Beanstalk	Traditional	Fairy Tale	25 min
The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush	Tomie dePaola	Folktale	20 min
Mae Among the Stars	Roda Ahmed	Biography	20 min
The Maid and the Mouse and the Odd-shaped House	Paul O. Zelinsky	Folktale/Poetry	20 min
Manfish: The Story of Jacques Cousteau	Jennifer Berne	Biography	25 min
The Owl and the Pussy-cat	Edward Lear	Poetry	15 min
Paul Revere’s Ride	Henry Wadsworth Longfellow	Poetry	20 min
The Pied Piper of Hamelin	Robert Browning	Poetry/Folktale	25 min
The Princess and the Pea	Hans Christian Andersen	Fairy Tale	20 min
Puss in Boots	Charles Perrault	Fairy Tale	25 min
Raphael	Various	Biography	20 min
Rumpelstiltskin	Traditional / Grimm	Fairy Tale	25 min
Shark Lady	Jess Keating	Biography	25 min
The Sleeping Beauty	Traditional / Grimm	Fairy Tale	25 min
The Star-Spangled Banner	Francis Scott Key	Poetry/Anthem	15 min
Tomas and the Galápagos Adventure	Carolyn Lunn	Realistic Fiction	20 min
The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest	Steve Jenkins	Informational	25 min
The Velveteen Rabbit	Margery Williams	Fairy Tale/Classic	30 min

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Impact on Time: From Minutes to Hours

While reading these 34 books back-to-back might only take 300 minutes, the actual classroom impact is staggering. According to TEA’s 2026 guidelines (TEA, 2026a, p. 5), these are mandated INTERACTIVE sessions:

1. Predictive Questioning: Teachers must pause at PRE-SELECTED points (TEA, 2026a, p. 5).

2. Vocabulary Building: Lessons must focus on 2–4 Tier 2 words per book (TEA, 2026b, p. 6).

3. Analytic Talk: The Bluebonnet Learning framework (TEA, 2024, p. 12) requires specific background-knowledge building.

The Bottom Line: With an average of 25 minutes per interactive lesson, this list requires over 14 hours of scripted, required instructional time for 1st Grade.

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Were these texts already in Bluebonnet?

Many of these "new" requirements are pulled directly from the Bluebonnet Learning Trade Books (TEA, 2024):

Required Text Title	Author	Bluebonnet Integration
Mae Among the Stars	Roda Ahmed	Knowledge-Building: Space Unit
Shark Lady	Jess Keating	Science/Nature Unit
Manfish	Jennifer Berne	Exploration Unit
Tomas and the Galápagos Adventure	Carolyn Lunn	Geography Unit

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Do these 34 texts cover the 2017 TEKS?

Despite claims by TEA staff during the January 2026 meeting (SBOE, 2026) that this list covers all genres, a gap analysis against the 2017 TEKS (TEA, 2017) reveals missing categories:

Genre Category	Required by TEKS?	Present in Draft List?
Folktales / Fables	Yes	Yes (Anansi, The Goose with Golden Eggs)
Fairy Tales	Yes	Yes (The Frog Prince, Sleeping Beauty)
Realistic Fiction	Yes	Yes (Grace for President, Ada Twist)
Informational	Yes	Yes (America's Symbols, Mount Everest)
Biography	Yes	Yes (Abe Lincoln, Shark Lady)
Drama	Yes	No (Missing)
Multimodal	Yes	No (Missing)
Digital Texts	Yes	No (Missing)

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Reference List

• Hasbrouck, J., & Tindal, G. A. (2017). An update on oral reading fluency norms. (Technical Report No. 1702). University of Oregon, Behavioral Research and Teaching. 

• Texas Education Agency. (2017). Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Grade 1: English Language Arts and Reading.

• Texas Education Agency. (2024). Bluebonnet learning: K–5 reading language arts trade books.

• Texas Education Agency. (2026a). Draft rule text for agency recommendations to the SBOE for literary works list.

• Texas Education Agency. (2026b). State Board of Education TEA proposed literary works list: Pre-read to support review.

• Texas State Board of Education. (2026, January 28). Committee of the full board: Item 4, proposed new 19 TAC chapter 110.