First Grade Standards

Reading          Writing 

Reading

R1 – Print-Sound Code (how letters stand for sounds and how letters put together make up a string of sounds to form a word)

 By the end of first grade, children should: 

• Identify beginning, middle and ending sounds in words

• Know the regular sound a letter makes and use that knowledge to “sound out” regularly spelled 1 and 2 syllable words

• Recognize about 150 high frequency words

R2 – Getting the Meaning (words in text say something specific) 

By the end of first grade, children should be able to:

• Read aloud Level I (Guided Reading Level) books on their own with expression (see teacher for further explanation)

• Use punctuation to help them get meaning from their reading and to make their oral reading flow smoothly (ex. pausing at commas)

• Check themselves by noticing if words sound right given the spelling, make sense in the story, and whether sentences make sense the way they are read

• Figure out new words and self correct mistakes by looking at the letters and saying the correct sounds, seeing how the word is used in the sentence, using picture clues, etc.

• Retell a story

• Summarize a story

• Describe in their own words what they learned from the reading

• Answer simple comprehension questions

• Extend or add on to a story

• Predict what might happen next and why

• Discuss the characters and why they did what they did in the story

• Describe the cause and effect of events in the story

R3 – Habits (things to do daily)

First grade children should:

• Read 4 or more books daily either by themselves or with help

• Talk about at least one of these books with another student or group

• Reread favorite books again and again to understand them better

• Read signs, labels, instructions, as well as their own writing and the writings of others

• Hear 2-4 books, poems, letters, newspaper or magazine articles read aloud every day

• Listen to and discuss each day at least one book or chapter that is longer and more difficult that what they can read on their own

• Compare 2 books by the same author

• Talk about several books on the same topic or theme

• Use specific parts in the book to support what they say about the book

• Ask questions to better understand

• Make sense of new words from how they are used

• Notice new words in reading and discuss their meaning

• Learn new words daily from talk and books read aloud

Writing 

W1 – Habits (things to do daily)

First grade students should:

• Write daily

• Come up with their own topics and content for writing

• Reread their work often to make sure others will be able to read it

• Ask others to respond to their writing and give feedback to others’ writings

• Polish and publish at least 10 pieces throughout the year

W2 - Narrative Writing

By the end of first grade, students should be able to:

• Write both fictional and autobiographical stories

• Write a story with at least 2 or more sequenced events

• Frequently use drawings, diagrams, etc with their written work and gestures, expression, and role-played voices with oral presentations

• Make up stories from books they have read or have been read to them

•  Include reactions in their writing by using phrases such as “I wondered”, “I noticed”

W2 – Report Writing

By the end of first grade, students should be able to:

• Gather information on a particular topic, sort it into major categories using headings or chapters, and report it to others

• Determine what information needs to be left out of the report because it doesn’t “fit”.

• Use details, pictures, diagrams, etc. to make their report more informative and understandable

W2 – Functional Writing (an explanation of how to do something)

By the end of first grade, students should be able to produce functional writings that:

• Give instructions

• Describe in order and with some details the steps needed to do or make something

W2 – Producing and Responding to Literature

By the end of first grade, student should be able to:

• Write, retell and/or re-enact stories, poems, songs, plays, memoirs, etc.

• Include things such as dialogue, descriptive details, similes (ex. My hands were as cold as ice.), metaphors (ex. He was a bear when he awoke in the morning.), etc.

• Write why they liked a story or a part of a story

• Compare the people in the story or things that happened to their own lives

• Compare 2 books by the same author or several books on the same topic

• Use specific parts of the story to support what they are saying about the story

W3 – Language Use and Conventions

By the end of first grade, students should be able to:

• Vary the way they begin their writing rather than always using the same type sentence (ex. “I like books,” “I like dogs,” “I like my mom”)

• Use a variety of words in their writing just as they do when speaking

• Choose specific words rather than general ones (ex. “a retriever” rather than “a dog”)

• Use words in their writing that they’ve heard in class or have been read to them

• Write sentences or stories that can be read by others even if the words are not all spelled correctly

• Correctly spell most of the high-frequency words that are used in their writing (see list)

• Sound out words to determine how they should be spelled

• Begin using correct punctuation such as periods, question marks, exclamation points, and quotation marks as well as capitalization of proper names and sentence beginnings

 Highlights
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