• By the end of first grade your child should be able to do the following:

    Listening

    • Remember information
    • Respond to instructions
    • Follow 2-3 step directions in a sequence

    Speaking

    • Be easily understood
    • Answer more complex "yes/no" questions
    • Tell and retell stories and events in a logical order
    • Express ideas with a variety of complete sentences
    • Use most parts of speech (grammar) correctly
    • Ask and respond to "wh" questions (who, what, where, when, why)
    • Stay on topic and take turns in conversation
    • Give directions
    • Start conversations

    Reading

    • Create rhyming words
    • Identify all sounds in short words
    • Blend separate sounds to form words
    • Match spoken words with print
    • Know how a book works (e.g., read from left to right and top to bottom in English)
    • Identify letters, words, and sentences
    • Sound out words when reading
    • Have a sight vocabulary of 100 common words
    • Read grade-level material fluently
    • Understand what is read

    Writing

    • Express ideas through writing
    • Print clearly
    • Spell frequently used words correctly
    • Begin each sentence with capital letters and use ending punctuation
    • Write a variety of stories, journal entries, or letters/notes