Phonemic awareness teaches students how use word segments to learn to read. Breaking words into segments helps with decoding by allowing students to identify familiar sound sequences. Blending activities help students use familiarity with sounds and segments to figure out new words. For example, if students can say "m" and "ad" they can blend those segments into "mad." Teachers also use rhyming activities to reinforce students' knowledge of the sound structure in words.
Many first grade reading goals focus on decoding strategies which help students read unfamiliar words. Phonics, the matching of sounds with letters, is often a primary strategy. However, because English is irregular many sounds-letter relationships are inconsistent, such as the pronunciation of the letters "s" and "c" and many of the vowel sounds. Therefore, phonetic strategies are often combined with phonemic ones. For example, understanding word families such as "and, sand, hand, land" combines the phonemic ability to segment words with phonetic decoding to help emerging readers identify new words.
Goals for fiction comprehension include identifying basic plot elements, retelling simple stories, summarizing simple passages, and statements of personal reactions to stories. Teachers use questioning, such as "Why were the kids mad at the Cat in the Hat?" to determine plot comprehension. Class discussions provide opportunities for retelling and summarizing stories without the pressure of writing. Journals, either written or in picture form, enable students to share their personal reactions to stories.
Nonfiction writing requires different comprehension skills than fiction. It is organized differently, and usually features somewhat more formal writing. Students are expected to obtain information from text throughout their academic careers, from following directions to learning a new subject. First grade goals for nonfiction comprehension target the student's ability to follow simple directions; relate background knowledge to the text, such as talking about a trip to the beach when reading about the ocean; describe the main idea; and summarize simple passages. Class discussions and journals are frequently used to help students develop these skills.