Massachusetts Standards
Massachusetts 1st Grade ELA Standards
All 43 Massachusetts English language arts standards for 1st grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's document, linked at the end of this page.
43 standards
Reading Standards for Literature
9 standardsRL.1.1
Ask and answer questions about the important parts of a story without being prompted, like why the fox wanted the grapes.
RL.1.2
Retell a story in order with its important parts and say what lesson it teaches, like slow and steady wins the race.
RL.1.3
Describe a story's characters, where it happens and its big events on your own, pointing to details from the story.
RL.1.4
Find words and phrases in stories or poems that hint at feelings or call up the senses, like crunchy, buzzing, or sniffled.
RL.1.5
Name features of familiar kinds of stories, such as folktales and fairy tales, like talking animals, magic, or once upon a time openings.
RL.1.6
Tell who is speaking at different points in a story, like when the narrator stops and a character starts talking.
RL.1.7
Use a story's pictures together with its words to describe a character, the setting or what is happening.
RL.1.9
Tell how the adventures of characters in two stories are alike and different, like two heroes who both face a wolf.
RL.1.10
With help, read and understand grade 1 stories and poems from many genres, cultures, and points of view.
Reading Standards for Informational Text
10 standardsRI.1.1
Ask and answer questions about the important parts of a story without being prompted, like why the fox wanted the grapes.
RI.1.2
Name the main topic of an informational book on your own and retell its key facts, like what a book about the moon teaches.
RI.1.3
Describe how two people, events or ideas in an informational book are connected, like how rain fills the river that fish live in.
RI.1.4
Ask and answer questions to work out or check what words and phrases mean in a nonfiction text.
RI.1.5
Use a book's headings, table of contents, glossary or an on-screen menu to find a fact quickly.
RI.1.6
Tell which facts come from a book's pictures and which come from its words, like a photo showing a bird's colors while the text names its food.
RI.1.7
Use an informational book's pictures and words together to describe its main ideas, like how a diagram shows the parts of a plant.
RI.1.8
Point out the reasons an author gives to back up a point, like the three reasons a book gives for brushing your teeth.
RI.1.9
Spot the basic ways two books on the same topic are alike and different, like how each one pictures and describes a frog.
RI.1.10
With help, read and understand nonfiction written at least at a first grade level, like simple books about animals or weather.
Reading Standards for Foundational Skills
4 standardsRF.1.1
Follow print left to right and top to bottom, know that letters in order make a word with spaces between words, and name every upper and lowercase letter.
RF.1.2
Hear and make rhymes, clap syllables, say the first, middle and last sounds in a short word like cat, and swap a sound to make a new word, like cat to hat.
RF.1.3
Say the main sound of each consonant, know the long and short sounds of a, e, i, o and u, and read common sight words like the, of and you.
RF.1.4
Read 1st-grade books aloud smoothly and accurately with expression, understand them, and reread when a word or sentence does not make sense.
Writing Standards
9 standardsW.1.1
Write opinion pieces that name the topic or book, share an opinion with a reason, and wrap up with an ending.
W.1.2
Write to inform by naming a topic, giving some facts about it, and adding an ending, like a page on how frogs grow.
W.1.3
Write stories or poems that tell two or more events in order with some details, time words like then and next, an ending, and for poems rhymes or repeated vowel sounds.
W.1.4
Write pieces whose ideas and order fit the task, purpose, and reader, like a clear how-to for a classmate.
W.1.5
With an adult's help, stick to one topic, listen to classmates' questions and suggestions about a piece of writing, and add details to make it stronger.
W.1.6
With an adult's help, use digital tools like a tablet or classroom computer to write, polish and publish a piece, sometimes with a partner.
W.1.7
Take part in a class research project, like reading several how-to books on one topic and writing step-by-step instructions together.
W.1.8
With an adult's help, answer a question by remembering something that happened or by looking in books the teacher provides.
W.1.10
Write often for many tasks, reasons, and readers, like journal entries, letters, and labels.
Speaking and Listening Standards
6 standardsSL.1.1
Talk with classmates and adults about 1st-grade topics and books, following discussion rules, building on what others say over several turns, and asking when confused.
SL.1.2
Ask and answer questions about the key details of a read-aloud, a talk or a video, like what the main character wanted.
SL.1.3
Ask a speaker questions to learn more or to clear up something confusing, and answer questions about what they said.
SL.1.4
Describe people, places, things, and events with fitting details, sharing ideas and feelings clearly with good word choices.
SL.1.5
Add a drawing, photo or other visual when it makes an idea, thought or feeling clearer to listeners.
SL.1.6
Speak in complete sentences when the task and situation call for it, like when answering a question in class.
Language Standards
5 standardsL.1.1
Use correct grammar, writing simple and compound sentences and questions, matching nouns and verbs, using past, present, and future, and using nouns, pronouns, and articles.
L.1.2
Capitalize the first word of a sentence and the word I, name the period and question mark, and spell simple words the way they sound, like kat for cat.
L.1.4
Figure out a new word from the sentence around it, use parts like un- and -ful as clues, and spot a root word like look inside looks, looked and looking.
L.1.5
With an adult's help, sort words into groups like colors and clothing, define a duck as a bird that swims, and act out how look, peek and stare differ.
L.1.6
Use words learned from talk, first grade activities, and books, including joining words like because to show simple links between ideas.
The official Massachusetts documents
- Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts and Literacy, Pre-K to 12, 2017 · adopted March 2017 · current for 2026-27
The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Massachusetts's standards, not the official wording, which Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.