1st Grade Literacy

In first grade, students strengthen the foundational literacy skills needed to become confident, fluent readers and expressive writers. They continue to build phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension to read grade-level text with accuracy and understanding. Instruction focuses on listening and speaking skills, mastery of letter–sound correspondence, spelling patterns, and sight-word practice. Students read both decodable and leveled texts and are introduced to a wider range of genres, encouraging both independence and choice in reading. Through the Writer’s Workshop program, they explore research, narrative, and creative writing—experimenting with poetry and opinion writing. The Learning Without Tears Handwriting Program supports proper letter formation, while working on sentence structure, poetry, and nonfiction paragraphs, helps students grow into thoughtful, capable communicators.