Grade 1 Language Arts

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In first grade language arts, children develop core reading and writing skills that will support their learning across all subjects, including the basics of spelling, punctuation and grammar. At this stage, children start to move from primarily verbal communication to expressing themselves through written words. By learning the basics of language, first graders will also gain confidence in their ability to read and understand simple texts.

Reading

In first grade, the ability to read is developed through phonics instruction, learning sight words, and practicing reading comprehension strategies.

Phonics is where children learn the relationship between letters and sounds. In doing so, children connect their verbal language with printed words. This is the first step in enabling a child to read. Phonics is also a crucial part of first grade spelling.

Sight words then come into play. These are common ("high-frequency") words that children should recognize on sight, without needing to sound them out. Knowing these words speeds up the reading process which allows children to focus on understanding the meaning of a sentence.

As children become more confident with their reading skills, they will begin to explore reading strategies to help them understand the meaning of a larger piece of text.

Spelling

In first grade, your child will learn the basics of spelling. Spelling instruction focuses on understanding phonics patterns and building word recognition skills.

First graders begin by learning to identify and use short vowels and consonant digraphs, such as “sh,” “ch,” and “th.” These foundational phonics concepts are essential for helping young learners understand how words are constructed. As your child progresses, they’ll learn about adding suffixes like "-ed" or "-ing" to base words, which helps them grasp changes in meaning or tense. Recognizing different vowel sounds and how they are represented in writing also becomes important at this stage.

Grammar

Grammar is another important area of focus in first grade. At this stage, your child will be introduced to the basic parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Learning to identify and correctly use parts of speech is essential for constructing clear and meaningful sentences. First graders are encouraged to understand the role each word plays in a sentence and how they work together to form sentences. Children in first grade will also experiment with simple sentence structures, combining nouns, verbs, and adjectives to form complete ideas.

Punctuation

First grade is also when children are introduced to punctuation. Your child will learn about the use of punctuation marks: periods, question marks, and exclamation points. Understanding how to use punctuation correctly helps first graders structure their writing and communicate their ideas more effectively. Over time, they will begin to recognize how punctuation guides a reader through a text, creating natural pauses and indicating the tone of a sentence.

Writing

As part of the process of learning to spell words and use them to construct simple sentences with the basics of grammar and punctuation, your child is inherently learning to write. Once simple sentences are grasped, first graders will start to learn about different styles of writing, usually starting with short stories and poems ("narrative writing") as these are often familiar to them from verbal media (television, parents/guardians reading stories to them). As their language arts skills evolve, they will learn about opinion writing and writing to inform.

How Night Zookeeper can help

Night Zookeeper is an award-winning language arts program that helps children improve their skills in a fantastically fun way! Our activities include noun games, punctuation challenges, interactive lesson series and creative writing prompts. Children also receive constructive, personalized feedback on their writing from qualified tutors, and can write with other children in our safe, moderated environment.

You can try Night Zookeeper for free for 7 days, no strings attached!

Related articles

• Grade 1 Writing
• Grade 1 Reading
• Grade 1 Grammar
• Grade 1 Spelling
• Grade 1 Punctuation
• Grade 1 Writing Prompts