Reading: Foundational Skills in 1st Grade (RF.1)RF.1 Standards

Short answer. First grade is the heaviest lifting year in learning to read, and RF.1 is the engine. The phonics load is real: consonant digraphs like sh and ch, silent e, vowel teams like ai and oa, breaking two-syllable words into chunks, endings like -ed and -ing, and those irregular words (said, was, of) that refuse to play by the rules. On top of decoding, your child works toward reading aloud smoothly, with expression, and self-correcting when a word doesn't make sense.

The four clusters run in rough order of difficulty. Print Concepts (RF.1.1) is quick: recognizing what makes a sentence a sentence. Phonological Awareness (RF.1.2) stays oral: blending and pulling apart sounds, including consonant blends. Phonics and Word Recognition (RF.1.3) is the big one, with seven lettered sub-skills. Fluency (RF.1.4) ties it together: accuracy, rate, expression, and using context to self-correct.