Spring 1st Grade Reading Level: Benchmarks & What to Expect

A parent helping his young child connect letters and sounds during a reading lesson

What is the spring 1st grade benchmark?

By the spring of 1st grade (April–June), children are typically reading words with a silent 'e' (like 'cape' and 'hope') and learning common vowel teams, where two letters make one vowel sound (like 'ee' in 'feet' and 'ai' in 'rain'). Many can break simple two-syllable words like 'sunset' into parts and read words with endings like '-ing' and '-ed'. Reading usually sounds smoother than in the fall, though children still stop to sound out new words.

Spring 1st Grade Reading Benchmarks

Spring 1st Grade Reading Benchmarks
Skill Area	Spring 1st Grade Expectation	What It Looks Like
Silent E	Reads one-syllable words that end in a silent 'e', which makes the vowel say its name.	Reads 'cap' with /ă/ and 'cape' with /ā/, and 'hop' and 'hope'.
Common Vowel Teams	Learning common vowel teams, like 'ee', 'ea', 'ai', and 'oa'.	Reads 'feet' with /ē/, 'rain' with /ā/, and 'boat' with /ō/.
Two-Syllable Words	Breaks simple two-syllable words into parts to read them.	Reads 'sunset' as 'sun' + 'set' and 'rabbit' as 'rab' + 'bit'.
Word Endings	Reads words with common endings like '-s', '-ing', and '-ed'.	Reads 'jumps', 'jumping', and 'jumped'.
Reading Fluency	Reads grade-level text more smoothly, with fewer stops to sound out words.	The national median in spring of 1st grade is about 60 words read correctly per minute (Hasbrouck & Tindal, 2017).

Silent E

Spring 1st Grade Expectation: Reads one-syllable words that end in a silent 'e', which makes the vowel say its name.
What It Looks Like: Reads 'cap' with /ă/ and 'cape' with /ā/, and 'hop' and 'hope'.

Common Vowel Teams

Spring 1st Grade Expectation: Learning common vowel teams, like 'ee', 'ea', 'ai', and 'oa'.
What It Looks Like: Reads 'feet' with /ē/, 'rain' with /ā/, and 'boat' with /ō/.

Two-Syllable Words

Spring 1st Grade Expectation: Breaks simple two-syllable words into parts to read them.
What It Looks Like: Reads 'sunset' as 'sun' + 'set' and 'rabbit' as 'rab' + 'bit'.

Word Endings

Spring 1st Grade Expectation: Reads words with common endings like '-s', '-ing', and '-ed'.
What It Looks Like: Reads 'jumps', 'jumping', and 'jumped'.

Reading Fluency

Spring 1st Grade Expectation: Reads grade-level text more smoothly, with fewer stops to sound out words.
What It Looks Like: The national median in spring of 1st grade is about 60 words read correctly per minute (Hasbrouck & Tindal, 2017).

Real Example: What Reading Looks Like at This Stage

In the spring of 1st grade, reading practice usually adds long vowel patterns and two-syllable words:

Silent E:

Reading 'cap' and then 'cape', and noticing that the 'e' changes /ă/ to /ā/.

Vowel Teams:

Reading 'ee' as /ē/ in 'feet' and 'oa' as /ō/ in 'boat'.

Two-Syllable Words:

Reading 'sunset' as 'sun' + 'set', then putting the parts together.

Word Endings:

Reading 'jumped' and hearing that the '-ed' sounds like /t/.

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