2020 Colorado Academic Standards

2020 Colorado Academic Standards Online

Use the options below to create customized views of the 2020 Colorado Academic Standards. For all standards resources, see the Office of Standards and Instructional Support.

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clear Content Area: Reading, Writing and Communicating // Grade Level: First Grade // Standard Category: All Standards Categories

Reading, Writing and Communicating

First Grade, Standard 1. Oral Expression and Listening

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More information icon Prepared Graduates:

  • 1. Collaborate effectively as group members or leaders who listen actively and respectfully; pose thoughtful questions, acknowledge the ideas of others; and contribute ideas to further the group’s attainment of an objective.

More information icon Grade Level Expectation:

1. Communicate using verbal and nonverbal language to express and receive information.

More information icon Evidence Outcomes:

Students Can:

  1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. (CCSS: SL.1.1)
    • Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (for example: listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion). (CCSS: SL.1.1a)
    • Build on others’ talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges. (CCSS: SL.1.1b)
    • Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics and texts under discussion. (CCSS: SL.1.1c)
  2. Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media. (CCSS: SL.1.2)
  3. Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood. (CCSS: SL.1.3)

More information icon Academic Contexts and Connections:

More information icon Colorado Essential Skills:

  1. Articulate personal strengths and challenges using different forms of communication to express themselves. (Information and Communication Technologies)
  2. Find information through the use of technologies. (Professional Skills, Use Information and Communication Technologies)
  3. Appropriately express a range of emotions to communicate personal ideas/needs. (Professional Skills, Self-Advocacy)

More information icon Essential Questions:

  1. What does it mean to communicate courteously in conversations?
  2. How do we effectively communicate in conversations?

More information icon Essential Reasoning Skills:

  1. Thoughtful speakers and listeners are curious and seek to understand answers to their questions and others.

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More information icon Prepared Graduates:

  • 2. Deliver effective oral presentations for varied audiences and varied purposes.

More information icon Grade Level Expectation:

2. Use multiple strategies to develop and expand oral communication.

More information icon Evidence Outcomes:

Students Can:

  1. Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly. (CCSS: SL.1.4)
  2. Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. (CCSS: SL.1.)
  3. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation. (CCSS: SL.1.6) *
  4. Give and follow simple two-step directions.

More information icon Academic Contexts and Connections:

More information icon Colorado Essential Skills:

  1. Demonstrate curiosity, imagination, and eagerness to learn more. (Entrepreneurial Skills, Creativity/Innovation)
  2. Find information through the use of technologies. (Professional Skills, Use Information and Communication Technologies)
  3. Appropriately express a range of emotions to communicate personal ideas/needs. (Professional Skills, Self-Advocacy)

More information icon Essential Questions:

  1. Why is it important to learn new words?
  2. How do presenters decide which words to use when they speak?
  3. How do we give and follow directions?

More information icon Essential Reasoning Skills:

  1. Effective communicators can express ideas and feelings clearly.

More information icon Minimum Skills Competencies:

  1. Evidence Outcomes marked with an asterisk (*) are the minimum competencies identified in the READ Act.

Reading, Writing and Communicating

First Grade, Standard 2. Reading for All Purposes

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More information icon Prepared Graduates:

  • 3. Read a wide range of literary texts to build knowledge and to better understand the human experience.

More information icon Grade Level Expectation:

1. Apply foundational reading strategies to fluently read and comprehend literary texts.

More information icon Evidence Outcomes:

Students Can:

  1. Use Key Ideas and Details to:
    • Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. (CCSS: RL.1.1) *
    • Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. (CCSS: RL.1.2)
    • Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details. (CCSS: RL.1.3) *
    • Make predictions about what will happen in the text and explain whether they were confirmed or not and why, providing evidence from the text. *
  2. Use Craft and Structure to:
    • Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses. (CCSS: RL.1.4)
    • Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information. (adapted from CCSS: RL.1.5) *
    • Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text. (CCSS: RL.1.6) *
    • Follow and replicate patterns in predictable poems.
  3. Use Integration of Knowledge and Ideas to:
    • Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events. (CCSS: RL.1.7)
    • Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories. (CCSS: RL.1.9) *
  4. Use Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity to:
    • With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade 1. (CCSS: RL.1.10)

More information icon Academic Contexts and Connections:

More information icon Colorado Essential Skills:

  1. Read a minimum of 53 words per minute in the spring with fluency. *
  2. Demonstrate curiosity, imagination, and eagerness to learn more. (Entrepreneurial Skills, Creativity/Innovation)
  3. Demonstrate a willingness to try new things. (Entrepreneurial Skills, Informed Risk Taking)
  4. Articulate personal strengths and challenges using different forms of communication to express themselves. (Civic/Interpersonal Skills, Communication (using information and communications technologies))

More information icon Essential Questions:

  1. How do we know if a text is fiction or nonfiction?
  2. How do details help us understand key parts of a story?

More information icon Essential Reasoning Skills:

  1. Critical readers ask questions and draw conclusions from pictures and texts.

More information icon Minimum Skills Competencies:

  1. Evidence Outcomes marked with an asterisk (*) are the minimum competencies identified in the READ Act.

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More information icon Prepared Graduates:

  • 4. Read a wide range of informational texts to build knowledge and to better understand the human experience.

More information icon Grade Level Expectation:

2. Apply foundational reading strategies to fluently read and comprehend informational texts.

More information icon Evidence Outcomes:

Students Can:

  1. Use Key Ideas and Details to:
    • Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. (CCSS: RI.1.1) *
    • Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. (CCSS: RI.1.2)
    • Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text. (CCSS: RI.1.3) *
    • Activate schema and background knowledge to construct meaning
  2. Use Craft and Structure to:
    • Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text. (CCSS: RI.1.4)
    • Know and use various text features (for example: headings, tables of contents, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text. (CCSS: RI.1.5) *
    • Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text. (CCSS: RI.1.6)
  3. Use Integration of Knowledge and Ideas to:
    • Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas. (CCSS: RI.1.7)
    • Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text. (CCSS: RI.1.8) *
    • Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (for example: in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures). (CCSS: RI.1.9) *
  4. Use Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity to:
    • With prompting and support, read informational texts appropriately complex for grade 1. (CCSS: RI.1.10)

More information icon Academic Contexts and Connections:

More information icon Colorado Essential Skills:

  1. Read a minimum of 53 words per minute in the spring with fluency. *
  2. Demonstrate a willingness to try new things. (Entrepreneurial Skills, Informed Risk Taking)
  3. Articulate task requirements and identify deadlines. (Professional Skills, Task/Time Management)
  4. Identify key attributes of a variety of information products (e.g., books, newspapers, online or print articles, social media). (Professional Skills, Information Literacy)

More information icon Essential Questions:

  1. Why do we use different punctuation marks?
  2. How does a reader’s voice change when a sentence uses a specific punctuation mark?
  3. In informational texts, why is the main idea important? How do the details support the main idea?

More information icon Essential Reasoning Skills:

  1. Critical readers connect their existing knowledge to new information.

More information icon Minimum Skills Competencies:

  1. Evidence Outcomes marked with an asterisk (*) are the minimum competencies identified in the READ Act.

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More information icon Prepared Graduates:

  • 5. Understand how language functions in different contexts, command a variety of word-learning strategies to assist comprehension, and make effective choices for meaning or style when writing and speaking.

More information icon Grade Level Expectation:

3. Refine foundational reading skills through understanding word structure, word relationships, and word families.

More information icon Evidence Outcomes:

Students Can:

  1. Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print. (CCSS: RF.1.1)
    • Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (for example: first word, capitalization, ending punctuation). (CCSS: RF.1.1a) *
  2. Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). (CCSS: RF.1.2)
    • Distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words. (CCSS: RF.1.2a) *
    • Orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant blends. (adapted from CCSS: RF.1.2b) *
    • Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words. (CCSS: RF.1.2c)
    • Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes). (CCSS: RF.1.2d) *
  3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. (CCSS: RF.1.3)
    • Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs (two letters that represent one sound). (CCSS: RF.1.3a) *
    • Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words. (CCSS: RF.1.3b)
    • Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds. (CCSS: RF.1.3c) *
    • Use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word. (CCSS: RF.1.3d) *
    • Decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables. (CCSS: RF.1.3e) *
    • Read words with inflectional endings. (CCSS: RF.1.3f) *
    • Read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words. (adapted from CCSS: RF.1.3g) *
    • Use onsets and rimes to create new words (for example: ip to make dip, lip, slip, ship) *
    • Accurately decode unknown words that follow a predictable letter/sound relationship *
    • Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension: (CCSS: RF.1.4)
      • Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding. (CCSS: RF.1.4a)
      • Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression. (CCSS: RF.1.4b)
      • Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary. (CCSS: RF.1.4c)
    • Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 1 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies. (CCSS: L.1.4)
      • Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. (CCSS: L.1.4a) *
      • Use frequently occurring affixes as a clue to the meaning of a word. (CCSS: L.1.4b)
      • Identify frequently occurring root words (for example: look) and their inflectional forms (for example: looks, looked, looking). (CCSS: L.1.4c)
      • Identify and understand compound words. *
    • With guidance and support from adults, demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings. (CCSS: L.1.5)
      • Sort words into categories (for example: colors, clothing) to gain a sense of the concepts the categories represent. (CCSS: L.1.5a)
      • Define words by category and by one or more key attributes (for example: a duck is a bird that swims; a tiger is a large cat with stripes). (CCSS: L.1.5b)
      • Identify real-life connections between words and their use (for example: note places at home that are cozy). (CCSS: L.1.5c)
      • Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs differing in manner (for example: look, peek, glance, stare, glare, scowl) and adjectives differing in intensity (for example: large, gigantic) by defining or choosing them or by acting out the meanings. (CCSS: L.1.5d)
      • 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 (for example: because). (CCSS: L.1.6)

More information icon Academic Contexts and Connections:

More information icon Colorado Essential Skills:

  1. Read a minimum of 53 words per minute in the spring with fluency. *
  2. Recognize and describe cause-and-effect relationships and patterns in everyday experiences. (Entrepreneurial Skills, Inquiry/Analysis)
  3. Demonstrate a willingness to try new things. (Entrepreneurial Skills, Informed Risk Taking)
  4. Resist distractions, maintain attention, and continue the task at hand through frustration or challenges. (Personal Skills, Perseverance/Resilience)

More information icon Essential Questions:

  1. How does understanding the parts of words help us decide what they mean?
  2. How do we understand what words mean?

More information icon Essential Reasoning Skills:

  1. Critical readers use appropriate strategies to decode and understand the meaning of words.

More information icon Minimum Skills Competencies:

  1. Evidence Outcomes marked with an asterisk (*) are the minimum competencies identified in the READ Act.

Reading, Writing and Communicating

First Grade, Standard 3. Writing and Composition

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More information icon Prepared Graduates:

  • 6. Craft arguments using techniques specific to the genre.

More information icon Grade Level Expectation:

1. Write an opinion supported by reasons.

More information icon Evidence Outcomes:

Students Can:

  1. Introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about. (adapted from CCSS: W.1.1)
  2. State an opinion. (adapted from CCSS: W.1.1)
  3. Supply a reason for the opinion. (adapted from CCSS: W.1.1)
  4. Provide some sense of closure. (adapted from CCSS: W.1.1)

More information icon Academic Contexts and Connections:

More information icon Colorado Essential Skills:

  1. Accurately recognize one's own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior. (Personal Skills, Self-Awareness)
  2. Recognize personal characteristics, preferences, thoughts, and feelings. (Personal Skills, Initiative/Self-Direction)
  3. Compare attitudes and beliefs as an individual to others. (Civic/Interpersonal Skills, Global/Cultural Awareness)

More information icon Essential Questions:

  1. How can thoughts and ideas be organized to prepare for writing?
  2. How do we support our opinions in writing?

More information icon Essential Reasoning Skills:

  1. Critical writers can explain their opinions.

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More information icon Prepared Graduates:

  • 7. Craft informational/explanatory texts using techniques specific to the genre.

More information icon Grade Level Expectation:

2. Write informative/explanatory texts by naming a topic, providing related details, and giving the audience a sense of closure.

More information icon Evidence Outcomes:

Students Can:

  1. Name a topic. (CCSS: W.1.2)
  2. Supply some facts about the topic. (CCSS: W.1.2)
  3. Provide some sense of closure. (CCSS: W.1.2)

More information icon Academic Contexts and Connections:

More information icon Colorado Essential Skills:

  1. Recognize that problems can be identified and possible solutions can be created. (Entrepreneurial Skills, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving)
  2. Identify key attributes of a variety of information products (e.g., books, newspapers, online or print articles, social media). (Professional Skills, Information Literacy)
  3. Find information through the use of technologies. (Professional Skills, Use Information and Communications Technologies)

More information icon Essential Questions:

  1. How can thoughts and ideas be organized to prepare for writing?
  2. Why do writers give facts to help their reader understand the topic?

More information icon Essential Reasoning Skills:

  1. Critical writers can explain a topic with facts.

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More information icon Prepared Graduates:

  • 8. Craft narratives using techniques specific to the genre.

More information icon Grade Level Expectation:

3. Recount real or imagined, sequenced events that include details and a sense of closure.

More information icon Evidence Outcomes:

Students Can:

  1. Recount two or more appropriately sequenced events. (CCSS: W.1.3)
  2. Include some details regarding what happened. (CCSS: W.1.3)
  3. Provide some sense of closure. (CCSS: W.1.3)

More information icon Academic Contexts and Connections:

More information icon Colorado Essential Skills:

  1. Demonstrate curiosity, imagination, and eagerness to learn more. (Entrepreneurial Skills, Creativity/Innovation)
  2. Demonstrate a willingness to try new things. (Entrepreneurial Skills, Inquiry/Analysis)
  3. Accurately recognize one's own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior. (Personal Skills, Self-Awareness)

More information icon Essential Questions:

  1. How can thoughts and ideas be organized to prepare for writing?
  2. Why is it important to plan before beginning to write?
  3. Why is it important for people to share stories?

More information icon Essential Reasoning Skills:

  1. Critical writers produce narratives based on real/imagined experiences.

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More information icon Prepared Graduates:

  • 9. Demonstrate mastery of their own writing process with clear, coherent, and error-free polished products.

More information icon Grade Level Expectation:

4. Use appropriate grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

More information icon Evidence Outcomes:

Students Can:

  1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. (CCSS: L.1.1)
    • Print all upper- and lowercase letters. (CCSS: L.1.1a)
    • Use common, proper, and possessive nouns. (CCSS: L.1.1b)
    • Use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in basic sentences (for example: He hops; We hop). (CCSS: L.1.1c)
    • Use personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns (for example: I, me, my; they, them, their, anyone, everything). (CCSS: L.1.1d)
    • Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (for example: Yesterday I walked home; Today I walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home). (CCSS: L.1.1e)
    • Use frequently occurring adjectives. (CCSS: L.1.1f)
    • Use frequently occurring conjunctions (for example: and, but, or, so, because). (CCSS: L.1.1g)
    • Use determiners (for example: articles, demonstratives). (CCSS: L.1.1h)
    • Use frequently occurring prepositions (for example: during, beyond, toward). (CCSS: L.1.1i)
    • Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts. (CCSS: L.1.1j)
  2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. (CCSS: L.1.2)
    • Write complete simple sentences.
    • Capitalize dates and names of people. (CCSS: L.1.2a)
    • Use end punctuation for sentences. (CCSS: L.1.2b)
    • Use commas in dates and to separate single words in a series. (CCSS: L.1.2c)
    • Use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words. (CCSS: L.1.2d)
    • Spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions. (CCSS: L.1.2e)
  3. With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed. (CCSS: W.1.5)
  4. With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers. (CCSS: W.1.6)

More information icon Academic Contexts and Connections:

More information icon Colorado Essential Skills:

  1. Resist distractions, maintain attention, and continue the task at hand through frustration or challenges. (Personal Skills, Perseverance/Resilience)
  2. Articulate task requirements and identify deadlines. (Professional Skills, Task/Time Management)
  3. Find information through the use of technologies. (Professional Skills, Use Information and Communications Technologies)

More information icon Essential Questions:

  1. How does clear communication impact our readers?
  2. How do we help others improve their writing?
  3. How do we improve our writing?

More information icon Essential Reasoning Skills:

  1. Critical writers utilize the conventions of Standard English to convey their message.

Reading, Writing and Communicating

First Grade, Standard 4. Research Inquiry and Design

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More information icon Prepared Graduates:

  • 10. Gather information from a variety of sources; analyze and evaluate its quality and relevance; and use it ethically to answer complex questions.

More information icon Grade Level Expectation:

1. Participate in shared research and inquiry projects, writing, recalling, or gathering information to answer questions.

More information icon Evidence Outcomes:

Students Can:

  1. Participate in shared research and writing projects. For example: explore a number of “how-to” books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions. (CCSS: W.1.7)
  2. Write or dictate questions for inquiry that arise during instruction.
  3. With peers, use a variety of resources (for example: direct observation, trade books, texts read aloud or viewed) to answer questions of interest through guided inquiry.
  4. Use text features (for example: titles, illustrations, headings, bold type) to locate, interpret, and use information.
  5. Identify a clear and significant purpose for research. (for example: Is my purpose for researching frogs clear and is it important to understanding more about mammals?)
  6. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. (CCSS: W.1.8)

More information icon Academic Contexts and Connections:

More information icon Colorado Essential Skills:

  1. Recognize that problems can be identified and possible solutions can be created. (Entrepreneurial Skills, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving)
  2. Identify key attributes of a variety of information products (e.g., books, newspapers, online or print articles, social media). (Professional Skills, Information Literacy)
  3. Find information through the use of technologies. (Professional Skills, Use Information and Communications Technologies)

More information icon Essential Questions:

  1. Why must we be clear about our purpose for research and inquiry?
  2. Why is it important for us to use several resources to find the answers to our questions?
  3. Why is it critical for us to use accurate and supported data?

More information icon Essential Reasoning Skills:

  1. Researchers generate questions for inquiry.
  2. Researchers identify possible resources to answer questions.
  3. Researchers determine whether a source contains useful information to answer the question.
  4. Researchers develop an answer to the research questions.
  5. Researchers explain the answer to others.

Need Help? Submit questions or requests for assistance to bruno_j@cde.state.co.us