Download a sample of the Standards Based First Grade Report Card  for 2008

Reading

Uses appropriate decoding skills -  This area shows if your child is using the decoding skills they have been taught (sounding out phonetic patterns, breaking down words into chunks, looking for word families, etc.) to help them read a given text

Demonstrates appropriate comprehension strategies – This area shows if your child is using the comprehension strategies they have been taught (inferring, looking at the provided pictures, use of story elements, predicting, etc) to derive meaning from a particular text. 

Reads with fluency – This section identifies if your child is able to read a given text in a fluent manner.  This is an effortless, flowing reading, much like speaking, with attention to an author’s intent and use of punctuation in a given text.

Reads grade level text – This section identifies if your child is able to read appropriate first grade text at the appropriate time of the year.  The text your child is able to read in October will be significantly different from the text they should be able to read in April.  This area will show where your child stands in regard to this criteria. 

Identifies selection vocabulary – This area shows if your child is able to identify the selection vocabulary for the weekly lessons.

Identifies sight words – This area shows if your child is able to identify the kindergarten high frequency words in the first quarter and the high frequency or word-wall words in the forthcoming quarters.

Writing/Grammar

Applies grade appropriate mechanics – This area comprises the mechanics portion in their daily D.O.L – in which they are taught a specific rule of grammar (begin all sentences with a capital letter, all sentences need the appropriate ending mark, all names are capital, etc.)  Please look at your child’s D.O.L. quizzes to determine what skills they are expected to know. 

The second area we take into consideration is how are they applying these mechanics to their own writing, be it in their journals or any other writing specimen they are asked to produce. 

Forms complete sentences – This area will indicate if your child is able to take a thought and transfer it to a complete sentence.  If your child still is writing fragmented sentences, they may need to understand the components that make up a sentence (naming part, telling part), which is actually the subject/predicate, although they are not taught the latter terms. 

Applies phonetic rules to developmental writing – This area is identified using your child’s personal writing.  If we have taught a particular concept, (-ing, -ed, blends, digraphs, etc) we have spent considerable time reinforcing this in class, so they should be attempting to apply these concepts in their writing.  The areas phonetic patterns will show up in is their phonics tests, but these tests are not used to assess this area, as this does not show a natural application of the concepts.

Spelling –Our spelling words are broken into typical word families with high frequency words addressed as well.  Students are exposed to patterns and chunking to help them spell in a more conventional way.

Conveys ideas clearly – This area indicates if your child is able to express his thoughts in a clear, understandable and in some instances sequential manner.  They should be able to stay focused within one given topic as well.

Penmanship

Forms Letter Correctly – This portion of handwriting is the result of the direct instruction of the penmanship lesson.  Children are taught the specific strokes to form letters and the correct spacing between letters and words.

Transfers To Daily Work – This is the natural application of the direct instruction.  The child’s daily work and writing are assessed to see if the student is applying the correct strokes and spacing outside of a formal lesson setting. 

Phonics/Phonemic Awareness

Demonstrates Phonemic Awareness – This area is critical to your child’s reading success.   This comprises several different areas.  Are students able to identify pictures/words that rhyme?   Are they able to correctly identify beginning and ending sounds of words and correctly identify vowel sounds? Are they able to add and delete suffixes and prefixes of words and are they able to recognize the syllabic pattern of words?  

Applies phonetic patterns – This area is what will typically come home as your child’s phonics tests.  They are the literal application of the phonics concepts that have been taught, outside of the writing process.   

Blends and segments words – This area comprises the ability to take specific sounds and form them to make words, this is also the ability to take word parts and do the same and the ability to take a given word and segment it (encoding).

Oral Language/Listening

Demonstrates age-appropriate oral language – This area is an indication if your child speaks with correct grammatical application.  Correct tenses of words are also considered (‘I goed to the store,’ should be ‘I went to the store’) Correct subject/verb agreement and correct first, second, third person usage (child may say ‘me got a new toy’ instead of ‘I got a new toy.’) 

Identifies between statements and questions – Your child should be able to hear and understand the particular tones and inflections each of these sentences produces.  For questions, your child should be able to respond appropriately to a given question and their response should be appropriate and in agreement with the question that was asked.  Your child should also be able to provide examples of a statement or question. Students also work on exclamatory sentences but are not assessed on them.

Math

Demonstrates knowledge of concepts – This area is the assessment of such taught concepts as place value, money, time, graphing, measurement, etc.  These concepts are developmental in nature so this area will indicate where your child is at in the current quarter.

Demonstrates knowledge of basic facts – This area will indicate how well your child is able to understand and produce the basic addition and subtraction facts to 18.  Each quarter will have different and appropriate expectations (i.e. first quarter first graders have been exposed to the ten facts and some doubles).

Computes accurately – This is your child’s ability to consistently come up with the correct answer to a given addition or subtraction problem.

Applies problem solving strategies – This area will indicate if your child is able to take given information, as in a story problem and either, illustrate or compute a response to achieve the correct answer.