The reading portion of language arts changes in the first grade. Rather than advancing reading skills through letter/sound introduction with immediate practice blending, writing, and reading from primarily phonetic stories, we need to begin giving students practice with varied literature. Phonetic reading practice can be given at this stage too, when needed, though most reading should be primarily with literature as the transitions needed to read real literature require years of practice. This year should begin with simple readers and then progress into more challenging stories with longer sentences and some unfamiliar vocabulary. Success with these books comes through practice syllabicating and decoding words pulled directly from the scheduled reading sections. First, words are broken into syllables and even grouped with others containing like phonograms. Vocabulary is key to understanding the text and should be studied prior to reading by teaching how to use context clues to ascertain meaning. Next, words should be read several times and written before finally reading them within the context of the story.

Comprehension questions should be discussed as a class. Written answers to comprehension questions are the perfect venue for practicing all the components of proper English. Sentence structure, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation can all be developed and practiced while answering and writing teacher-guided comprehension questions.

Once a student has had practice decoding words in order to read, he must learn how to encode words in his writing to display true mastery of phonics. At the kindergarten level, encoding was from letter sounds that a student could hear to give the necessary foundation of letter to sound correspondence. Now that there is some familiarity with the English language, and the irregularities within it, spelling must transition to word study for patterns through memorization. This mastery is gained by reading with the spelling words, writing them, and doing a comprehensive study of the phonetic chunks within the words.

First grade is the ideal time to begin cursive. Students have mastered printing the English alphabet and are ready for a challenge. Cursive is the perfect foreign language for this age. Early enforcement with the proper penmanship mechanics, correct letter formation, pencil grip, paper position, and posture is best solidified at a young age and then practiced and perfected through their school tenure. Writing is the one skill, unfortunately, that oftentimes is allowed to be substandard.