Reading Competencies K-3

Below you will find the reading competencies for Grades K-3. Reading competencies are what your child should be able to do by the end of each grade in the area of reading. Use the reading competencies listed below as a guide to what you can do with your children at home to improve their reading skills.

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Kindergarten Reading Competencies

• Recognizes and names all uppercase and lowercase letters
  
• Demonstrates letter-sound correspondences for all single consonants
  
• Has a basic understanding of the alphabetic principle (i.e. the idea that the letters in printed words represent sounds in spoken words)
  
• Recognizes sight words taught as part of the kindergarten curriculum
  
• Follows simple verbal directions
  
• Writes own name (first and last) correctly
  
• Identifies common words in basic categories (e.g. can give examples of favorite foods or favorite colors)
  

First Grade Reading Competencies

• Demonstrates Phonemic Awareness
  
• Knows sounds for long and short vowels and for common letter patterns, such as -sh, -th, -ch, -oo, -ee, -igh, -ing, -ed
  
• Recognizes sight words taught as part of the first grade curriculum
  
• Monitors comprehension while reading in context and self-corrects contextually inappropriate errors
  
• Reads and understands simple written instructions
  
• Distinguishes between fiction and nonfiction (informational) texts
  
• Describes new information gained from texts in own words
  
• Recognizes that there is a conventional way to spell words and tries to spell correctly when he or she can
  

Second Grade Reading Competencies

• Accurately reads many irregularly spelled words (e.g. ocean, angel)
  
• Recognizes sight words taught as part of the second grade curriculum
  
• Applies known decoding skills while reading in context
  
• Reads with increasing fluency and expression
  
• Generates questions before, during, and after reading
  
• Demonstrates understanding of story elements in narratives (e.g. setting, characters)
  
• Reads nonfiction materials for answers to specific questions or for specific purposes
  

Third Grade Reading Competencies

• Uses letter-sound correspondence and structural analysis to decode multi syllable words
  
• Recognizes many common words automatically
  
• Reads longer, more complex text and chapter books independently and silently
  
• Answers literal and inferential questions about grade-appropriate books read aloud by the teacher and about their own reading in context
  
• Interprets fiction by discussing the underlying theme or message and by making connections to background knowledge and other text
  
• Selects, synthesizes and/or uses relevant information from a text to include in an extension or response to the text
  

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