Building first-graders' vocabulary helps ensure they reach the standard first-grade reading level. Being able to decode unfamiliar words enhances a student's ability to make sense of words in a sentence, which abets their comprehension of what they are reading. A strong vocabulary leads to word recognition and the ability to detect when words are spelled incorrectly, according to the 2010 Common Core State Standards Initiative.
Phonemes, the basic units of speech sounds, are a significant component of reading taught to first-graders. Reading levels in a first-grade classroom require students to be able to sound out the syllables of words, distinguish between short and long vowel sounds, generate sounds from letters and identify or develop rhyming words. Phonemic awareness in reading allows first-graders to accurately sound out and speak what they read, which helps with their reading fluency and comprehension of the text.
One of the things that first-grade teachers look for when assessing reading levels is reading fluency. Students are evaluated for their reading level based on how they read aloud in a way that sounds like natural speech. To demonstrate fluency, the student must show consistent reading patterns across repeated assessments.
Aside from knowing how to sound out words and building a good vocabulary, first-graders are also expected to understand what they read. They should be able to understand how events in a story connect, predict what will happen next and understand the relationship between cause and effect in the story. Comprehension is assessed in the classroom when teachers ask students to summarize a story or to answer specific questions relating to the story's events.