Elementary Reading Benchmarks

What can first graders do? By the end of first grade, look for your child to be able to:

Talk about what was read to him and what he reads
Have an increasing reading vocabulary of sight words and easily sounded out words
Retell stories
Make up and tell stories
Quickly recognize and name the letters of the alphabet in order
Clap out sounds he hears
Count out the number of syllables in a word
Put together sounds; learn to blend sounds to read words
Add or drop sounds in words (Add /–ing/ to run. Drop the /b/ from brake.)
Replace sounds in words (Replace the /b/ in bat with /r/ to form rat.)
Read aloud with accuracy (first grade level texts)
Make connections between what he knows and reads
Use phonics to sound out one-syllable words
Read and understand simple written directions
Predict what will happen next in a story
Try and spell words on his own
Follow oral directions and instructions
Distinguish left from right
Listen to classmates and adults without interrupting

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