“How to Make a Pinecone Bird Feeder”: A Grade 1 How-To Reading Worksheet

Some reading has a job to do. A recipe tells you how to bake. A set of directions tells you how to build something. And when a first grader reads instructions carefully, step by step, they get to make something real at the end. This worksheet uses a short, friendly set of directions for making a pinecone bird feeder to teach one of the most practical reading skills there is: following steps in the right order.

Download the Grade 1 How-To Reading Worksheet

The printable how-to worksheet and its separate answer key are ready to download. It’s a hands-on, practical addition to your Grade 1 reading library, and it gives your child an early win with a kind of reading they’ll use for the rest of their lives.

Happy reading.

For More grade 1 worksheets, Visit Grade 1 Reading Comprehension Worksheets.

Why How-To Texts Belong in Grade 1 Reading Practice

Most early reading practice centers on stories, and for good reason. But first graders also meet a very different kind of text almost every day, even if nobody names it for them. Classroom directions, game rules, craft instructions, and the steps for washing hands are all procedural texts. These texts don’t have characters or a plot. They have a goal, a list of materials, and a series of steps that only work if you do them in order.

Reading a procedural text asks a young reader to think differently. In a story, you can enjoy the middle even if you forget exactly how it started. In a set of instructions, skipping a step or mixing up the order means the project doesn’t work. Try rolling a bare pinecone in birdseed before spreading on the sunflower seed butter, and the seeds simply fall off. That built-in logic makes procedural reading a great way to practice careful, attentive comprehension at this age.

The Little Words That Do the Big Work

The real stars of this passage are four small words: first, next, then, and last. These are called signal words or transition words, and they tell the reader exactly where they are in a process. First graders often read right past them without noticing their job. Pointing them out, even briefly, can change how a child reads instructions from then on.

A simple way to introduce this is to ask your child to find the four signal words in the passage and circle them before starting the questions. Once they see that each step begins with its own signal word, the idea of order stops being abstract. It becomes something they can point to on the page. That same skill carries straight into writing, too, since first grade writing standards ask kids to use words like these when they explain how to do something.

What’s Inside This Worksheet

This worksheet features an original how-to passage, “How to Make a Pinecone Bird Feeder.” It opens with a short reason for the project (birds get hungry in the cold months), lists the materials under a “What You Need” heading, and walks through four numbered steps under “What to Do.” It ends with a friendly note about watching birds come to eat. The layout mirrors real-world instructions on purpose, so kids get a feel for how this type of text is organized.

The worksheet includes four activities:

1. Multiple Choice. Questions about the materials and steps, such as what gets tied around the pinecone and where the feeder is hung.
2. True or False. Quick checks, including one that tests whether a child noticed which step comes first and which comes last.
3. Put the Steps in Order. Four steps appear out of order, and kids number them 1 to 4. This is the heart of the worksheet, since sequencing is the core skill in procedural reading.
4. Draw and Show What You Know. A prompt asking kids to draw their finished feeder hanging from a tree, with a bird stopping by for a snack.

The ordering activity replaces the usual fill-in-the-blank section here because it matches what this kind of text actually asks of a reader. Getting the order right shows real understanding, not just memory of individual words.

How to Use This Worksheet

Read the passage aloud together first, pausing at each signal word. Then let your child try the questions on their own. If you have the time and the materials, the best follow-up is to actually make the bird feeder together. There’s nothing quite like reading instructions and then watching them work in real life. Kids who build the feeder after reading about it tend to remember the sequence far better than kids who only answer questions about it.

A quick safety note: the passage tells readers to ask a grown-up for help, and that’s worth reinforcing. Sunflower seed butter is used instead of peanut butter so the activity stays friendly for classrooms and homes with nut allergies.

This worksheet fits well into a home reading routine, a classroom unit on nonfiction text types, or a homeschool science and nature lesson during the colder months. It also pairs nicely with our other Grade 1 worksheets: “Max and the Lost Ball” for realistic fiction, “The Ant Who Shared” for fable, “All About Ladybugs” for informational nonfiction, “The Rainy Day Parade” for poetry, and “Who Ate the Last Cookie?” for drama. Together they give first graders a wide taste of the different ways reading shows up in their lives.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of It

Have your child retell the steps out loud, using the signal words, before they touch the ordering activity. Saying “first, next, then, last” in their own voice helps lock in the sequence. You can also turn it into a game: read one step aloud at random and ask your child which signal word belongs in front of it. And if you do make the feeder together, ask your child to be the one who reads each step out loud as you go. That small shift puts them in charge of the text, which is exactly where you want a young reader to be.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this worksheet fiction or nonfiction?
It’s nonfiction, specifically a procedural or how-to text. Unlike our “All About Ladybugs” worksheet, which shares facts about a topic, this one teaches the reader how to do something step by step.

Do we need to make the bird feeder to use this worksheet?
Not at all. The questions work on their own. Making the feeder is a fun optional extension if you have a pinecone, string, sunflower seed butter, and birdseed on hand.

How long does this worksheet take to complete?
Most first graders finish in about 15 to 20 minutes, including the drawing activity.

Is an answer key included?
Yes, as a separate PDF, so you can print just the worksheet for your child and keep the key handy for checking.

More Grade 1 Practice

If your child enjoyed this nature project, the passage All About Ladybugs is another great way to learn about the creatures in your backyard. For a story break, read Max and the Lost Ball or the fable The Ant Who Shared. Families who want to keep the nature theme going can also try the Grade 2 nonfiction worksheet on how bees make honey.