Average 1st grade reading level

First-Grade Reading Level Defined, According To A First-Grade Educator

Good To Know

Not all learning-to-read journeys are the same, but these tips can help.

Updated: Aug. 25, 2022

Originally Published: Aug. 1, 2022

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Got a little one making the transition from kindergarten to first grade this fall? It's a big step that will come with new learning milestones — reading independently being one of them. While they may not be ready to dive into the Harry Potter series just yet, this is the age where you might see them reading to themselves... or you! And you might also be wondering what level of reading a first grader should be at. This insider look at how a first-grade reading level is assessed in the classroom and what you can do at home to support your child's reading goals will help take the guesswork out of early literacy.

According to first-grade educator Minnie Phai, "For many districts, [...] a child's reading level is determined by doing a ‘running record.’ This is when a teacher reads a book with a student and records how they read, what their strengths are as readers, what strategies they use to decode unknown words, and their comprehension skills. A child's independent reading level is then narrowed down and matched to a corresponding grade level. The most commonly used running record system is Fountas & Pinnell."

First Grade Reading Levels

Many publishers also categorize books into "Levels" that correspond to the average reading abilities of children, including some of the "Big Five" like Random House and Harper Collins, making it easier for parents to choose books appropriate for their child's grade and age. And first-grade reading levels typically correspond with Levels 1 and 2.

"Once [children] are reading these Level 1 and Level 2 books independently (with little to no help from adults, with very high or perfect accuracy), what you're hearing is children decoding all the words with greater ease and confidence. For some children, this is when they're left to read on their own or tasked with reading to their grown-up or a sibling," says Phai.

First-Grade Reading Level Examples

Curious exactly what Level 1 and Level 2 books look like? The following are classic examples:

• Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman (Level 1)
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
• Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss (Level 1)
• Garden Day! by Candice Ransom (Level 1)
• A Pig, A Fox, And Stinky Socks by Jonathan Fenske (Level 2)
• The Bookstore Ghost by Barbara Maitland (Level 2)
• Richard Scarry’s Be Careful, Mr. Frumble! by Richard Scarry (Level 2)

Encouraging a First-Grade Reader

If your child is showing signs of independent reading at Levels 1 and 2, congratulations! You're off the hook for storytime, and your child will now also be responsible for teaching any younger kids in your home or in your neighborhood to read! OK, so maybe that's a stretch. But it is a great opportunity to celebrate your child's achievements and also a reminder to check in often with their reading comprehension, fluency, and stamina — encouraging and supporting their learning to read journey.

Phai says, "This may be as simple as taking note of it, such as noticing how long their child can read for before they become fatigued, or how they are able to read in a phrased and expressive way. It can also be as involved as helping [them] differentiate character voices from narrator voices, or making inferences together like guessing what the character is feeling or thinking and why they might be feeling that way." If this sounds a little advanced for first grade, Phai points out that these less obvious skills are absolutely necessary for progressing to reading more complex texts.

Of course, every parent knows that getting their kids to do something they don't want to do can feel like pulling teeth. Your best bet is to find ways to make reading feel as comfortable and engaging as possible for your reluctant reader. A few ideas might include:

• Create a cozy reading nook.
• Take a trip to the library and let your kids pick out their favorite books.
• Encourage your kids to act out a play based on the books they are reading.
• Make connections between the characters in the books and real life.
• Be a reading role model and show your kids how excited you are about reading.
• Let your kid read aloud to you.

Now that you know what you might expect from your first-grader in terms of reading and how to support them, keep in mind that not every child is going to be excited about reading (ahem, remember that book that sat untouched on your nightstand for three months?). But making reading fun with these tips will definitely go a long way toward encouraging your first grader's love of reading!

Sight Words for First Graders

1. after
2. all
3. and
4. as
5. at
6. be
7. big
8. but
9. can’t
10. car
11. come
12. could
13. day
14. did
15. do
16. for
17. form
18. from
19. fun
20. give
21. had
22. have
23. her
24. his
25. how
26. if
27. like
28. look
29. make
30. many
31. my
32. new
33. not
34. now
35. number
36. numerals
37. of
38. on
39. or
40. our
41. out
42. play
43. run
44. saw
45. should
46. that
47. their
48. these
49. this
50. this
51. us
52. want
53. was
54. we
55. went
56. what
57. when
58. which
59. would
60. your

This article was originally published on Aug. 1, 2022

What Reading Level Should a First Grader Be At?Making English Fun

Throughout elementary and middle school, reading levels are a core component of education. The reading level determines what your child is capable of reading and comprehending. Knowing what level they’re at will allow you to practice with them to enhance their skills and figure out how they compare to the rest of their class.

A first grader should be at a reading level between 3 to 12. Higher reading levels indicate that they’re near the top of their class, but there’s always room for growth. In some cases, your child might fall below or rise above the range. Practice and proper tutoring will improve their reading level.

In this article, you’ll also learn the following information about what reading level a first grader should be at:

• Basic details that determine reading levels
• How you can help your child improve or adjust their reading skills
• Reading concepts they will learn from the beginning to the end of first grade
• Links to reading resources designed by teachers

What Is a Reading Level?

A reading level is a guide or resource that indicates comprehension, pronunciation, and clarity of a person’s reading. First graders shouldn’t be expected to read the same books as sixth graders, so it’s essential to go slow and steady while they’re learning new skills. This process should flow with the rest of the class, as you’ll learn in the next section.

As explained by Scholastic, there are plenty of reading level guides, including alphabetical, numerical and more. Here are the following reading level indicators: This is not a definitive list and its can be fairly confusing for teachers as well as parents. There are comparison guides, like the one below from real kids mag so that you can properly choose books across levels for your students. We are producing our own Free downloadable one for you as well this week. We have linked to one here but if you have a guided reading system of your own you should be able to find the correct comparison chart as well.

Many publishers use their own systems as well

• Scholastic Guided Level Reading Program
• Scholastic Guided Reading Lexile Ranges
• CCSS Lexile Recommendations
• DRA Level
• PM Benchmark

Since it’s one of the most common methods, we’ll focus on the DRA Level today. As you’ve read in the introduction, a first grader should be reading between 3 to 12. It’s crucial that you remember they won’t be at a 12 right when they start first grade. The next section will detail what they’ll learn throughout the year to bring them as high on the chart as possible.

Note: While 12 is at the top of the list for first graders, you shouldn’t worry if your child isn’t there at the end of the year. It’s not a requirement until the middle of their second-grade year. If they’re already at a 12 in first grade, they’re ahead of the curve. By the beginning of second grade, your child should be around 8.

What Reading Skills They Will Learn in First Grade

Perhaps the most essential part of learning and reading in first grade is comprehension. Teachers focus on helping your first grader retell stories and understand what they’re saying rather than merely repeating what they’ve heard. For this reason, big words and long stories could prove challenging at the beginning of the year.

According to Reading Rockets, a first grader will learn how to break down long words and understand various sounds made by each word. Patience is key since English is one of the most challenging languages to read, even for those who speak it natively. Combinations such as ‘th’, ‘ough,’ and ‘sh’ will be taught throughout the year in a native classroom, in Second language it will be focusing on word construction with CVC and Blends.

Punctuation is another essential part of the year. Exclamation points, question marks, periods, and commas will be highlighted. Semicolons and colons won’t be taught until later in the year or during second grade. Your goal as a parent should be to help your child learn the four previously mentioned punctuations.

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Another reading skill will be capitalization, pronouns, starting a sentence, and other capitalized letters will be explored. Remember that, along with punctuation, capitalization likely won’t be mastered until second grade. However, your first grader will be able to start understanding stories and sentences, opening the gates to inspired, entertaining reading sessions.

Once they learn how to comprehend sentences, they’ll start to engage much quicker. They might wonder why something is one way or another, and they could begin to correct sentences if they feel something is wrong. This is a crucial stage that you could help them realize right from wrong in the world of reading and writing.

What Language Will Books at These Reading Levels Contain?

During their first grade year, the language contained in books and stories includes three to four-letter words. They range from simple words like ‘the’ or ‘and,’ but they’ll lead to bigger words that could present a challenge. Remember to sound out each letter with them so they understand the variations of vowels.

Parents.com suggests asking your child questions about books, stories, and sentences that they’re reading. This step will cause them to think and build on their knowledge while comprehending what they’re studying. They also recommend engaging in predictions to get your first grader to dig deeper into the reading material. We have Comprehension workbooks to help with this.

Since first graders are guided towards comprehension rather than in-depth long words, they won’t have to learn too many words over four or five letters. They should take this year to practice their understanding of the basic concepts that form a sentence, including punctuation, pronunciation, and letter combinations, as mentioned in the previous section.

Here’s an excellent way to help them learn tough words:

1. Break down every word into individual letters. If there’s a combination (sh, th, ough), separate it into its own chunk.
2. Focus on words that they already know how to say. If they’re familiar with the word, they’ll be able to use contextual clues to figure out how to read it.
3. Don’t study for too long. Short 15-minute study sessions hold their interest long enough to prevent reading from becoming a boring chore.
4. Use the resources from school and online to supplement these skills. We have 1000s on our site for free and premium downloads.

How Can Parents Help Their First Grader Develop a Love for Reading?

Helping your child become an interested reader is one of the most understood processes in schooling. You don’t want to spend hours every day, or they’ll be overwhelmed and won’t retain most of the information. As you saw in the third tip of the previous section, short study sessions are the key to success.

Here’s a list of ways that you can help your first grader develop a love for reading:

• Find reading material that they’re interested in. For example, if they love sports or cars, choose those books over anything else. It’s not the concept that matters; It’s the words found throughout the reading that makes a big difference. We have some leveled reading material aimed at young learners here.
• Reward them for reading a specific number of words. They’ll begin to associate a learning session with enjoyment rather than a distraction from playing with toys or friends. Remember to read with them, so they don’t feel like they’re trying to learn by themselves.
• Picture books can keep your child’s interest for countless minutes. If you stop reading after 15 to 20 minutes, they’ll be begging to jump back into the material.

All of these suggestions point to one fact: You can make your child love reading by finding out what they’re interested in and using it to educate and elevate their reading skills. Their reading level will naturally and gradually increase as the material becomes more challenging.

Finally

Now that you know where they should be and what they’ll learn, you’re equipped to help your child with at-home education. Some children can read and comprehend faster, so you might need to spend more or less time focusing on specific words.

Here’s a quick recap of the post:

• First graders typically fall between a 3 to 12 reading level.
• You can help them by focusing on challenging words and breaking down the meaning of each sentence.
• Find books and stories that they’ll love to improve their engagement.
• Use additional resources and activities to engage and inspire them

Sources

• Scholastic – Learn About Leveled Reading
• Reading Rockets – Goals for First Grade: Early Reading and Writing
• Parents – What Will My Kid Learn in First Grade?

Hi I’m Marc. A teacher of over 15 years, English, General Studies and Outdoor Education. Thought it was about time to sharing both what I have learnt during that time and the resources I have put together. On this site we aim to teach the theory and share our thoughts, but also go that one step further and give you access to the hard resources you need for your class or for you children

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Making English Fun!

I have been a teacher of English for over 15 years, in that time i made hundreds and thousands of resources and learnt so much i think its worth sharing. Hopefully to help teachers and parents around the world.

Reading technique. Norms 1-4 class.

Since many parents stubbornly refuse to understand what is the point of testing reading technique in elementary school (grades 1-4), I give up and publish reading norms. At the same time, I ask you to carefully read not only the quantitative norm of words per minute, but also my explanations both in the table and below it.

→ Number of words may vary slightly depending on curriculum. Increased rates are given in parentheses.
→ Grade 1: no mark given, student “passed” or “failed”. In the first half of the year, the reading technique may not be carried out.

Grade	at the end of the first half of the year	at the end of the second half of the year
1 class		Conscious, correct reading, simple words are read as a word. Words with a complex syllabic structure can be read syllable by syllable.
2 cl.	Reading consciously, correctly, in whole words. Compliance with logical stresses. Words of a complex syllabic structure can be read syllable by syllable.	Reading consciously, correctly, in whole words. With observance of logical stresses, pauses and intonations. Syllabic reading is undesirable.
3 cl.	Reading consciously, correctly, in whole words. With observance of pauses and intonations, through which the student expresses understanding of the meaning of what is being read.	Reading consciously, correctly, in whole words. With observance of pauses and intonations, through which the student expresses understanding of the meaning of what is being read.
4 cl.	Reading consciously, correctly, in whole words. With observance of pauses and intonations, through which the student expresses an understanding of the meaning of what is read, and his attitude to the content of what is read.	Reading consciously, correctly, in whole words. With observance of pauses and intonations, through which the student expresses an understanding of the meaning of what is read, and his attitude to the content of what is read.

- Reading by syllables or word completely,

- Availability of errors when reading,

- number of words per minute,

- expression,

- awareness.

can be clicked to enlarge

As you can see, the number of words read is not decisive.

That is, parents need to understand that such a concept as reading speed is only one of the criteria for determining the level of reading technology . way of reading is checked : the child reads by syllables or the word is read by him smoothly, in its entirety. It is mandatory to check reading comprehension , in other words, whether the student understands what he has read or not. To do this, after reading, a question can be asked about the text, most often “What did you just read about?” and requires a simple answer (a detailed retelling is not needed 😉)

The expressiveness of reading, the presence of errors and / or stammers are also taken into account. Sometimes there is a return to re-reading the previous word, this indicates a lack of awareness and is considered a mistake.

It should also be taken into account that the standards for the speed (rate) of reading may differ depending on the educational institution, the requirements for a student of a gymnasium will be higher, for a student of a correctional class - lower.

The frequency of checking reading technique in elementary school is usually 2 times a year: the end of the first half of the year and the end of the second half of the year. However, in some schools the reading level is checked at the end of each quarter or trimester.

And again! I warn, I exhort - and all the same, the "lion's" part of the students and parents steps on the rake, from which I try to warn.

No need to speed read! That is, only five words per minute is not good, of course. Some reading speed is needed.

BUT: she, speed, appears as if by itself. The task of the child is simply to read without errors, without stammering or straying, not to swallow the endings and try to observe intonation.

Of course, we are guided by word standards. And yet, do not set the child to "run ahead of the locomotive." Repeat to him a hundred times: you just read and that's it. Everything!

If you have been reading every day for a year, if your child does not become discouraged when he sees the text, he will pass the reading technique.

The number of words read is not decisive.

Well… I warned you. Conclusions are up to you, dear parents!

How many words per minute should a first grader read

How much a child should read in the first grade is one of the most important indicators that teachers pay special attention to. The child's further perception of new information directly depends on the maximum reading speed of the baby. It is not enough to quickly skim through the text, the child must understand the meaning of what he read and assimilate the information.

Active preparation for school should begin from the moment when the child is studying in the older group of kindergarten. For such preparation, parents often use the services of tutors or prefer to teach the preschooler the basic basics on their own:

• read;
• write;
• count;
• navigate numbers up to 10.

As a result, the child will be well prepared for school, which will positively affect his confidence. However, it is important not to overdo it, otherwise the child will simply not be interested in the 1st grade.

What should be the reading speed in the first grade

Throughout the year, the teacher will pay utmost attention to the reading technique of each student. However, many parents are already puzzled by an important question before school: how many words per minute should a child read? No parent wants their child to lag behind their peers in terms of learning and development in general.

According to the educational standard, the documents do not specify the exact norms and rules that indicate the number of words that must be read in 1 minute. After all, the modern education system puts forward the quality of reading, and not speed, in the first place.

Thus, in the process of evaluating the quality of reading, it is necessary to take into account:

• Features of reading - the child reads in syllables or pronounces words in full.
• Expressive reading - the child must understand where to make logical pauses and how to place stress in each word.
• Number of mistakes - a first grader must clearly pronounce every sound and every letter.
• Mindfulness - the student must understand what they read (it is important that children understand the essence of the information they read). A first grader should easily analyze the actions of the main character and secondary characters.

Today, each educational institution has its own rules and regulations, which parents can familiarize themselves with before their child enters.

On average, the rate of words read per minute is:

• At the end of the first six months, the child should read 20 words or more.
• At the end of the third quarter - from 35 words and more.
• At the end of the first grade - from 40 words and more.

Reading Technique Standards grades 1-4

Reading technique for elementary grades is tested throughout the year. Teachers closely monitor how many words the child read at the beginning of the year and how the situation changed closer to the middle of the school year. This is one of the most important assessment criteria in different educational institutions.

In order for the child not to lag behind in elementary school, teachers have compiled approximate reading speed standards for students in grades 1-4:

1. At the beginning of the first grade, each student should read at a speed of about 10-15 words per 1 minute. In the second half of the year, his success should change - from 25 words and more.
2. At the beginning of the second grade, the reading speed can be from 25 words, and in the second half of the year it should double - from 50 words and more.
3. A kid comes to the third grade with the ability to read from 45 words in 1 minute or more, at the end of the year - from 75 words or more.
4. In the fourth grade, children should read at least 65 words in 1 minute, and at the end - from 95 words and more.

These are exemplary conditions and norms that not only teachers, but also parents who work with their own child at home can be equal to.

What to pay attention to when teaching children

For a more detailed study of the problem - how many words a child should read , it is important to pay attention to the texts that have been selected. After all, a lot depends on the quality of information texts, so you need to choose the right fascinating text for a first grader:0005

• For older kindergarteners or first-graders who have just started school, it is recommended to choose text blocks containing many short and simple sentences. It is best to choose sentences where two-syllable words predominate. The ideal solution is texts in which many sentences are filled with words where the syllables are very similar (ma-ma, pa-pa, ka-sha and other possible options).

• You can gradually “complicate” texts using passages in which complex or polysyllabic words occur. Such words can contain hissing sounds and various combinations of all kinds of interesting sounds.
• At the end of the first grade, a student should not read by syllables, but pronounce whole words. This is the right time to invite him to work not only with prose, but also with poetry.

Using the popular easy-to-hard method, educators and parents can design the perfect curriculum with quality required reading texts.

Recommendations of specialists in teaching reading

Instilling a love of reading is a difficult task for every parent, who is not always able to cope with it. In order to teach a child to read quickly and competently, while not injuring his psyche, it is important to listen to some advice from experienced teachers:

1. Do not force your child to read books with screams and threats. Remember that all books that are not included in the category of "school curriculum" should be studied by the child with great pleasure and bring only positive emotions.
2. The right choice of book. It is the parents who, like no one else, know the preferences of their child, therefore they can select bright books with a large number of illustrations on topics that are interesting to the child. It can be a variety of books: comics, stories about pirates, spaceships and more. The main thing is to interest the child so that he has a desire to read the text.
3. Even when the child can already read independently, parents should not stop reading exciting books to him from time to time. At the first stages, when the baby is just learning to read, it will seem to him that reading is a huge job. Therefore, he will listen with great pleasure to how his parents read. But over time, an important thought will be deposited in his head: a book is very interesting.
4. Parents should take turns reading with their child. You can arrange a small competition: gradually speed up in reading and encourage the child to repeat your “trick”.

Don't get upset if long sessions with your child don't bring the desired results. Everything comes with time.

Various games can be used to make reading even more interesting. One of these is a game called "Who is faster?".

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