Language
Conventions of standard English
•
Demonstrate command of the conventions of
standard English grammar and usage when
writing or speaking
•
Print all upper- and lowercase letters
•
Use common, proper, and possessive nouns
•
Use singular and plural nouns with matching
verbs in basic sentences
•
Use personal, possessive, and indefinite
pronouns
•
Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present,
and future
•
Use frequently occurring adjectives
•
Use frequently occurring conjunctions
•
Use determiners
•
Use frequently occurring prepositions
•
Produce and expand complete simple
and compound declarative, interrogative,
imperative, and exclamatory sentences in
response to prompts
•
Demonstrate command of the conventions of
standard English capitalization, punctuation,
and spelling when writing
•
Capitalize dates and names of people
•
Use end punctuation for sentences
•
Use commas in dates and to separate single
words in a series
•
Use conventional spelling for words with
common spelling patterns and for frequently
occurring irregular words
•
Spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on
phonemic awareness and spelling conventions
Vocabulary acquisition and use
•
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown
and multiple-meaning words and phrases
•
Use sentence-level context as a clue to the
meaning of a word or phrase
•
Use frequently occurring affixes as a clue to the
meaning of a word
•
Identify frequently occurring root words and
their inflectional forms
•
With guidance and support from adults,
demonstrate understanding of word
relationships and nuances in word meanings
•
Sort words into categories to gain a sense of the
concepts the categories represent
•
Define words by category and by one or more
key attributes
•
Identify real-life connections between words and
their use
•
Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs
differing in manner and adjectives differing in
intensity
•
Use words and phrases acquired through
conversations, reading and being read to, and
responding to texts, including using frequently
occurring conjunctions to signal simple
relationships
•
Use words from environmental print
•
Experiment with sensory words
WRITING
Conventions
•
Write grammatically correct sentences
•
Spell age-appropriate high frequency words
located within grade level appropriate text
•
Begin to use personal and possessive pronouns
correctly
•
Demonstrate beginning understanding of
subject-verb agreement
•
Use the following parts of speech correctly:
noun and action verb
•
Use periods and question marks correctly
•
Begin to use commas, quotation marks, and
exclamation points
•
Demonstrate capitalization skills for pronoun
“I,” people’s names, and beginning of sentences
•
Leave correct space between words and lines
Ideas
•
Use pictures and or text to express ideas
•
Begin to choose own ideas for personal
experiences
•
Write two or more sentences that focus on a
single topic
•
Participate in group writing activities
Organization
•
Use a simplified version of beginning, middle,
and end for stories
15
First Grade
Voice
•
Begin to describe personal experiences
Word Choice
•
Begin to use vocabulary from literature
•
Use words from environmental print
•
Experiment with sensory words
•
Experiment with strong verbs
Sentence Fluency
•
Begin to be aware of sentence beginnings
•
Begin to apply appropriate use of connecting
words
Presentation
•
Prepare text that is legible
•
Include first and last name and date on work
Styles/Audiences
•
Write for self, teacher, or other personally
known audience
•
Read writing with others
•
Create text for invitations, thank you notes,
captions, labels
•
Write, in a variety of forms, poems, journals,
stories, narratives, letters, lists, descriptions
•
Write name, address, and phone number
•
Role play ways people use writing in their work
(e.g., menus, signs, etc.)
•
Show an awareness of audience
Prewriting
•
Use pictures to express ideas
•
Use brainstorming activities to create
ideas with class
•
Discuss ideas with others
•
Use mapping to organize thoughts
•
Independently think of a topic and generate
three or more related ideas
Drafts
•
Begin to organize ideas using prewriting
activities
•
Use own drawing, writing, and spelling to
create text
•
Focus on content, not convention
Revises
•
Read orally to self to check for clarity
•
Share work with others
•
Begin to use peers for focused revision with
modeling
•
Add to text, with guidance from teacher
•
Conference with teacher
Edits
•
Add missing or necessary words
•
Accept help with editing
•
Begin to correct capitalization and punctuation
independently
•
Begin to correct recurring errors in spelling of
grade level words
Publishing
•
Select best work for publishing by partnering
with teacher
•
Work collaboratively to plan and publish a
combined work
Evaluating/Analyzing Self
•
Read and discuss own work
•
See self as a writer
•
Begin to identify seven-traits terms (Ideas,
Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Voice,
Organization, Conventions, Presentation)
through books and oral language
•
Recognize and identify changes in drawings
and writings over time
Evaluating/Analyzing Others
•
Begin to offer positive feedback on the writing
of peers based on seven-traits model
•
Review writing of authors with teacher to
analyze effective writing
•
Listen while others share
16
Nobel Learning Curriculum Reference Guide
