Year 1 English Curriculum Objectives

Reading - Word Reading

• Apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words
• Respond speedily with the correct sound to graphemes (letters or groups of letters) for all 40+ phonemes, including, where applicable, alternative sounds for graphemes
• Read accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words containing GPCs that have been taught
• Read common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word
• Read words containing taught GPCs and –s, –es, –ing, –ed, –er and –est endings
• Read other words of more than one syllable that contain taught GPCs
• Read words with contractions [for example, I’m, I’ll, we’ll], and understand that the apostrophe represents the omitted letter(s)
• Read books aloud, accurately, that are consistent with their developing phonic knowledge and that do not require them to use other strategies to work out words
• Reread these books to build up their fluency and confidence in word reading

Reading - Comprehension

• Develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by listening to and discussing a wide range of poems, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently
• Develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by being encouraged to link what they read or hear to their own experiences
• Develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by becoming very familiar with key stories, fairy stories and traditional tales, retelling them and considering their particular characteristics
• Develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by recognising and joining in with predictable phrases
• Develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by learning to appreciate rhymes and poems, and to recite some by heart
• Develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by discussing word meanings, linking new meanings to those already known
• Understand both the books they can already read accurately and fluently and those they listen to by drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher
• Understand both the books they can already read accurately and fluently and those they listen to bychecking that the text makes sense to them as they read, and correcting inaccurate reading
• Understand both the books they can already read accurately and fluently and those they listen to by discussing the significance of the title and events
• Understand both the books they can already read accurately and fluently and those they listen to by making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done
• Understand both the books they can already read accurately and fluently and those they listen to by predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far
• Participate in discussion about what is read to them, taking turns and listening to what others say
• Explain clearly their understanding of what is read to them

Writing - Transcription

Spelling

• Spell words containing each of the 40+ phonemes already taught
• Spell common exception words
• Spell the days of the week
• Name the letters of the alphabet in order
• Use letter names to distinguish between alternative spellings of the same sound
• Add prefixes and suffixes using the spelling rule for adding –s or –es as the plural marker for nouns and the third person singular marker for verbs
• Use the prefix un–
• Use –ing, –ed, –er and –est where no change is needed in the spelling of root words [for example, helping, helped, helper, eating, quicker, quickest]
• Apply simple spelling rules for the sounds /f/, /l/, /s/, /z/ and /k/ spelt ff, ll, ss, zz and ck
• Apply the spelling rule for the /ŋ/ sound spelt n before k
• Divide words into syllables
• Spell words with -tch
• Apply the spelling rule for the /v/ sound at the end of words
• Apply the spelling rules for adding s and es to words (plural of nouns and the third person singular of verbs)
• Apply the spelling rules for adding the endings –ing, –ed and –er to verbs where no change is needed to the root word
• Apply the spelling rules for adding –er and –est to adjectives where no change is needed to the root word
• Spell words with the sounds ai and oi
• Spell words with the sounds ay and oy
• Spell words with the sound a–e
• Spell words with the sound e–e
• Spell words with the sound i–e
• Spell words with the sound o–e
• Spell words with the sound u–e
• Spell words with the sound ar
• Spell words with the sound ee
• Spell words with the sound ea (/i:/)
• Spell words with the sound ea (/ɛ/)
• Spell words with the sound er (/ɜ:/)
• Spell words with the sound er (/ə/)
• Spell words with the sound ir
• Spell words with the sound ur
• Spell words with the sound oo (/u:/)
• Spell words with the sound oo (/ʊ/)
• Spell words with the sound oa
• Spell words with the sound oe
• Spell words with the sound ou
• Spell words with the sound ow (/aʊ/)
• Spell words with the sound ow (/əʊ/)
• Spell words with the sound ue
• Spell words with the sound ew
• Spell words with the sound ie (/aɪ/)
• Spell words with the sound ie (/i:/)
• Spell words with the sound igh
• Spell words with the sound or
• Spell words with the sound ore
• Spell words with the sound aw
• Spell words with the sound au
• Spell words with the sound air
• Spell words with the sound ear
• Spell words with the sound ear (/ɛə/)
• Spell words with the sound are (/ɛə/)
• Spell words ending –y (/i:/ or /ɪ/)
• Use new consonant spellings ph and wh
• Use k for the /k/ sound
• Add the prefix –un
• Spell compound words
• Spell common exception words
• Write from memory simple sentences dictated by the teacher that include words using the GPCs and common exception words taught so far

Handwriting

• Sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly
• Begin to form lower-case letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place
• Form capital letters
• Form digits 0-9
• Understand which letters belong to which handwriting ‘families’ (ie letters that are formed in similar ways) and to practise these

Writing - Composition

• Write sentences by saying out loud what they are going to write about
• Write sentences by composing a sentence orally before writing it
• Write sentences by sequencing sentences to form short narratives
• Write sentences by re-reading what they have written to check that it makes sense
• Discuss what they have written with the teacher or other pupils
• Read their writing aloud, clearly enough to be heard by their peers and the teacher

Writing - Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation

• Develop their understanding of the concepts set out in English appendix 2 by:
  • (1G5) Leaving spaces between words
  • (1G3.3) Joining words and joining clauses using ‘and’
  • (1G5.1) Beginning to punctuate sentences using a capital letter
  • (1G5.2) Beginning to punctuate sentences using a full stop
  • (1G5.3) Beginning to punctuate sentences using a question mark
  • (1G5.4) Beginning to punctuate sentences using an exclamation mark
  • (1G5.1) Using a capital letter for names of people, places, the days of the week, and the personal pronoun ‘I’
  • Use the grammatical terminology in English appendix 2 in discussing their writing

English Appendix 2 guidance:

• (1G6.3) Regular plural noun suffixes –s or –es [for example, dog, dogs; wish, wishes], including the effects of these suffixes on the meaning of the noun
• (1G6.3) Suffixes that can be added to verbs where no change is needed in the spelling of root words (e.g. helping, helped, helper)
• (1G6.2) How the prefix un– changes the meaning of verbs and adjectives [negation, for example, unkind, or undoing: untie the boat]
• (1G3.1) How words can combine to make sentences
• (1G3.3) Joining words and joining clauses using 'and'
• (1G3) Sequencing sentences to form short narratives
• (1G5) Separation of words with spaces
• (1G5.1) Introduction to capital letters to demarcate sentences
• (1G5.2) Introduction to full stops to demarcate sentences
• (1G5.3) Introduction to question marks to demarcate sentences
• (1G5.4) Introduction to exclamation marks to demarcate sentences
• (1G5.1) Capital letters for names and for the personal pronoun I

• Terminology for pupils
  • (1G5.1) letter
  • (1G5.1) capital letter
  • (1G6) word
  • (1G6.3) singular
  • (1G6.3) plural
  • (1G3.1) sentence
  • (1G5) punctuation
  • (1G5.2) full stop
  • (1G5.3) question mark
  • (1G5.4) exclamation mark