Reading

Re-reads books to build up his/her confidence in word reading, his/her fluency and his/her understanding and enjoyment

Anticipates, where appropriate, key events in stories (ELG)

Demonstrates an understanding of what has been read to him/her by retelling stories and narratives using his/her own words and recently introduced vocabulary (ELG)

Uses and understands recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role-play (ELG)

Reads individual letters by saying the sounds for them

Is able to blend sounds into words, so that he/she can read short words made up of known letter-sound correspondences

Can read some letter groups that each represent one sound and say the sounds for them

Can read a few common exception words matched to the school's phonic programme

Is able to read simple phrases and sentences made up of words with known letter-sound correspondences and, where necessary, a few exception words

Reads aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with his/her phonic knowledge, including some common exception words (ELG)

Can read words consistent with his/her phonic knowledge by sound-blending (ELG)

Is able to say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs (ELG)

Speaking and Listening

Understands how to listen carefully and why listening is important

Learns new vocabulary

Uses new vocabulary through the day

Engages in storytimes

Listens to and talk about stories to build familiarity and understanding

Listens carefully to rhymes and songs, paying attention to how they sound

Learns rhymes, poems and songs

Engages in non-fiction books

Listens to and talks about selected non-fiction to develop a deep familiarity with new knowledge and vocabulary

Holds conversation when engaged in back-and-forth exchanges with his/her teacher and peers (ELG)

Listens attentively and responds to what he/she hears with relevant questions, comments and actions when being read to and during whole class discussions and small group interactions (ELG)

Makes comments about what he/she has heard and asks questions to clarify his/her understanding (ELG)

Asks questions to find out more and to check he/she understands what has been said to him/her

Is able to articulate his/her ideas and thoughts in well-formed sentences

Can connect one idea or action to another using a range of connectives

Is able to describe events in some detail

Uses talk to help work out problems and organise thinking and activities, explaining how things work and why things might happen

Is developing social phrases

Can retell the story, once he/she has developed a deep familiarity with the text; some as exact repetition and some in his/her own words

Uses new vocabulary in different contexts

Can express his/her ideas and feelings about his/her experiences using full sentences, including use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions, with modelling and support from his/her teacher (ELG)

Offers explanations for why things might happen, making use of recently introduced vocabulary from stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems when appropriate (ELG)

Participates in small group, class and one-to-one discussions, offering his/her own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary (ELG)

Writing

Can form lower-case and capital letters correctly

Is able to spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s

Can write short sentences with words with known sound-letter correspondences using a capital letter and full stop

Re-reads what he/she has written to check that it makes sense

Spells words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters (ELG)

Writes recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed (ELG)

Writes simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others (ELG)