The Common Core in Iowa

$Iowa flag$

Skills available for Iowa first-grade language arts standards

Standards are in black and IXL language arts skills are in dark green. Hold your mouse over the name of a skill to view a sample question. Click on the name of a skill to practice that skill.

Show alignments for:

Iowa Academic Standards for ELA and Literacy (adopted in 2024): Grade 1 Iowa Academic Standards for ELA and Literacy (adopted in 2024): Grade 1
Iowa Core: Language Iowa Core: Language
Iowa Core: Reading: Foundational Skills Iowa Core: Reading: Foundational Skills
Iowa Core: Reading: Informational Text Iowa Core: Reading: Informational Text
Iowa Core: Reading: Literature Iowa Core: Reading: Literature

Actions

Print standards

WF.1 Writing Standards: Foundational Skills

Writing Foundations
- WF.1.1 Print independently and legibly for a variety of tasks and purposes.
  - WF.1.1.a Form upper and lowercase manuscript letters and numerals correctly with proportion, line awareness, and spacing (between words and letters).
    - Choose the sentence that is spaced correctly (K-F.2)
  - WF.1.1.b Produce manuscript writing with accuracy and automaticity.

W.1 Writing Standards

Text Types and Purposes
- W.1.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.
  - Complete the fact and opinion sentences (1)
  - Complete the opinion passage with a reason (1)
- W.1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
  - Choose topic sentences for expository paragraphs (1)
  - Complete the fact and opinion sentences (1)
- W.1.3 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.
Production and Distribution of Writing
- W.1.5 With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
- W.1.6 With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
- W.1.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of "how-to" books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions).
- W.1.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

L.1 Language Standards

Conventions of Standard English
- L.1.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
  - L.1.1.a Use common, proper, and possessive nouns.
  - L.1.1.b Use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in basic sentences (e.g., He hops; We hop).
  - L.1.1.c Use personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns (e.g., I, me, my; they, them, their; anyone, everything).
  - L.1.1.d Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (e.g., Yesterday I walked home; Today I walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home).
  - L.1.1.e Use frequently occurring adjectives.
  - L.1.1.f Use frequently occurring conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, so, because).
    - Use conjunctions (1-CCC.1)
  - L.1.1.g Use determiners (e.g., articles, demonstratives).
    - Use the correct article: a or an (1-ZZ.1)
  - L.1.1.h Use frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., during, beyond, toward).
    - Select the best preposition to match the picture (1-BBB.1)
    - Select the best preposition to complete the sentence (1-BBB.2)
  - L.1.1.i Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts.
- L.1.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
  - L.1.2.a Capitalize dates and names of people.
    - Capitalize the names of people and pets (1-EEE.1)
    - Capitalize days and months (1-EEE.2)
  - L.1.2.b Use end punctuation for sentences.
    - Choose the right end mark (1-TT.5)
    - Statement, question, command, or exclamation? (1-TT.6)
  - L.1.2.c Use commas in dates and to separate single words in a series.
  - L.1.2.d Use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
- L.1.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 1 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
  - L.1.4.a Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
    - Use context to identify the meaning of a word (1-RR.1)
  - L.1.4.b Use known individual words to predict the meaning of compound words (e.g., birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly; bookshelf, notebook, bookmark).
  - L.1.4.c Use frequently occurring affixes as a clue to the meaning of a word.
    - Use words with prefixes and suffixes (1-QQ.1)
    - Understand words with prefixes and suffixes (1-QQ.2)
  - L.1.4.d Identify frequently occurring root words (e.g., look) and their inflectional forms (e.g., looks, looked, looking).
    - Match the -ed and -ing sentences to the pictures (1-YY.9)
- L.1.5 With guidance and support from adults, demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
  - L.1.5.a Sort words into categories (e.g., colors, clothing) to gain a sense of the concepts the categories represent.
    - Sort words into categories (1-MM.1)
  - L.1.5.b Define words by category and by one or more key attributes (e.g., a duck is a bird that swims; a tiger is a large cat with stripes).
    - Which word is not like the others? (1-MM.2)
    - Find the words with related meanings (1-PP.1)
  - L.1.5.c Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., note places at home that are cozy).
  - L.1.5.d Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs differing in manner (e.g., look, peek, glance, stare, glare, scowl) and adjectives differing in intensity (e.g., large, gigantic) by defining or choosing them or by acting out the meanings.
- L.1.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading, and being read to, and responding to texts, including frequently occurring conjunctions to signal simple relationships (e.g., because).

The Common Core in Iowa

Show alignments for:

Actions

RL.1 Reading Standards for Literature

Key Ideas and Details

RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

RL.1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

Craft and Structure

RL.1.4 Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

RL.1.5 Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types.

RL.1.6 Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

RL.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

RL.1.9 Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

RL.1.10 With prompting and support, read stories and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade 1.

RI.1 Reading Standards for Informational Text

Key Ideas and Details

RI.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

RI.1.2 Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

RI.1.3 Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

Craft and Structure

RI.1.4 Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.

RI.1.5 Know and use various text features (e.g., headings, tables of contents, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text.

RI.1.6 Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

RI.1.7 Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.

RI.1.8 Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.

RI.1.9 Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

RI.1.10 With prompting and support, read informational texts appropriately complex for grade 1.

RF.1 Reading Standards: Foundational Skills

Print Concepts

RF.1.1 Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.

RF.1.1.a Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation).

Phonemic Awareness

RF.1.2 Demonstrate the ability to identify and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words.

RF.1.2.a Distinguish long from short vowel phonemes (sounds) in single-syllable words.

RF.1.2.b Orally produce single-syllable words by blending phonemes (sounds), including consonant blends.

RF.1.2.c Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final phonemes (sounds) in spoken single-syllable words.

RF.1.2.d Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual phonemes (sounds).

Phonics and Word Recognition

RF.1.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics, which includes word analysis skills to support decoding and encoding words.

RF.1.3.a Decode and encode one-syllable words with common consonant digraphs.

RF.1.3.b Decode and encode regularly spelled one-syllable words with closed syllables and consonant blends.

RF.1.3.c Decode and encode regularly spelled one-syllable words with final-e (VCe) patterns. Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words with common vowel team patterns that represent long vowel sounds.

RF.1.3.d Use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word.

RF.1.3.e Decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables (may include closed and open syllables).

RF.1.3.f With prompting and support, decode and encode words with inflectional suffixes (e.g., -ed, -ing, -s/es, -er).

RF.1.3.g Read grade-appropriate high frequency words with accuracy and automaticity.

Fluency

RF.1.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

RF.1.4.a Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

RF.1.4.b Use decoding skills to self-correct word recognition, rereading as necessary.

RF.1.4.c Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

WF.1 Writing Standards: Foundational Skills

Writing Foundations

WF.1.1 Print independently and legibly for a variety of tasks and purposes.

WF.1.1.a Form upper and lowercase manuscript letters and numerals correctly with proportion, line awareness, and spacing (between words and letters).

WF.1.1.b Produce manuscript writing with accuracy and automaticity.

W.1 Writing Standards

Text Types and Purposes

W.1.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.

W.1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.

W.1.3 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.

Production and Distribution of Writing

W.1.5 With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.

W.1.6 With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

W.1.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of "how-to" books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions).

W.1.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

L.1 Language Standards

Conventions of Standard English

L.1.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

L.1.1.a Use common, proper, and possessive nouns.

L.1.1.b Use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in basic sentences (e.g., He hops; We hop).

L.1.1.c Use personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns (e.g., I, me, my; they, them, their; anyone, everything).

L.1.1.d Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (e.g., Yesterday I walked home; Today I walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home).

L.1.1.e Use frequently occurring adjectives.