Before beginning a discussion about the skills that third grade students should be able to accomplish, there are a few more skills in which second grade students should know. Continuation of Writing At this age students should be able to begin making good judgments about what types of things to include in their writings. They should be able to edit their own work and take part in conferencing about what was written. The children at this level should be paying attention to writing mechanics such as punctuation. Vocabulary Second grade students are eager to learn and use new words. They … Continue reading →

My recent discussion about reading in the primary grades has brought us up to the skills that students should learn by the end of the second and third grade. Remember that these skills are not to be used in determining whether or not a child should be promoted to the next level but to get a better idea of how the child is progressing in terms of reading. I will begin by examining the skills that students should be able to complete by the end of second grade. Phonics By the end of the second grade students should be able … Continue reading →

Previously I gave some insight into the first grade classroom. I discussed listening, speech, books and print and writing. All of these are very important to the development of a child’s reading skills. Students in the first grade should be able to quickly name the letters and sounds of the alphabet. They should be using these skills when carrying out their writing and spelling. The teacher should instruct the students on appropriate times to use uppercase and lowercase letters. Segmentation, blending, phoneme addition and deletion, and phoneme substitution should all be carried out in the first grade classroom. The teacher … Continue reading →

When discussing the kindergarten classroom, I gave an overview of skills that most children should be able to carry out by the end of their kindergarten year. These skills are the skills that lead to a successful reader. However they are only to be used as a guideline to measure your child’s level. The following are skills that children should be able to do at the end of their first grade year. Books By this age, children should be able to distinguish between individual letters and words. They should be very well aware that letters are placed in a certain … Continue reading →

I have been placing a major emphasis on reading in last several articles. Reading is a very important aspect of education, especially in the primary years. My last reading articles focused on reading and the kindergarten classroom. I will now turn my attention to the first grade level of reading. At the first grade level students are ready to take part in more intense reading instruction. At this level students and teachers will work with listening and speaking skills, books and print, alphabet, phonics, spelling, writing, vocabulary, and comprehension. Students in the first grade need many opportunities to speak and … Continue reading →

My huge focus thus far for education has been on reading. There is much more to reading and reading instruction than many parents and some teachers realize. Reading is an integral part of a child’s success and education. In previous articles I have described various areas of reading such as phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. I then began taking you for a look into reading at different grade levels. In one of my more recent articles I gave you some insight on how reading should be carried out in the kindergarten classroom. I also began listing some reading skills that … Continue reading →