Reading: Foundational Skills Report Card Comments, Grades 3-5
Foundational skills are the building blocks of reading words: hearing and blending sounds, matching letters to sounds, sounding out words, knowing sight or heart words, and reading aloud smoothly with expression and self-correction.
Below are 13 sample sentences for Grades 3-5: two strengths and one next step for each of the 4 comment levels (Exceeds the standard / Meets the standard / Approaching the standard / Beginning), plus a tip for families. They are a small selection from the 161 reading: foundational skills sentences in the full pack. Copy one, then add a detail only you know about the student.
Jump to: Exceeds the standard · Meets the standard · Approaching the standard · Beginning · Writing tips
Fills in the name and pronouns on this page. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Exceeds the standard E
Strengths
- When reading science and social studies texts, [Name] pronounces new subject words like "photosynthesis" correctly by applying syllable patterns.
- Punctuation guides how [Name] reads aloud, with clear pauses at periods, a tone that fits each question and extra feeling for exclamations.
Next step
- Reading a wider range of genres, including classic novels and nonfiction with technical vocabulary, will give [Name] fresh practice with complex words.
Meets the standard M
Strengths
- Reading content-area texts, [Name] is able to sound out new science and social studies vocabulary by syllable, with occasional support for very long words.
- Most of the time, [Name] reads new words carefully rather than guessing, looking through each part of the word from the first letter to the last.
Next step
- Learning common Greek and Latin roots such as "graph," "tele" and "struct" will help [Name] work out longer words in content-area reading.
Approaching the standard A
Strengths
- Reading novels aloud, [Name] is developing expression and working on changing [his/her/their] voice for dialogue.
- [Name] reads familiar books with growing smoothness and is working on carrying that pace into new texts.
Next step
- Following along with a fluent reader, then reading the same page aloud, will help [Name] build smoother phrasing in chapter books.
Beginning B
Strengths
- Base words with endings like "-ing," "-ed" and "-ful" are a focus, and [Name] is starting to read the base word first and then add the ending.
- Rereading the same short text several times with support is building accuracy and comfort for [Name] as a reader.
Next step
- Rereading a short passage from a chapter book with a partner several times will help [him/her/them] build a smoother pace with fewer pauses.
Support at home
- Praising your child for going back to fix a misread word shows that self-correcting is an important part of reading.
How to write reading: foundational skills comments for Grades 3-5
- Focus on longer words: breaking multisyllabic words into parts, using prefixes and suffixes like re- and -tion, and noticing roots. Give one example word from a chapter book or a science text.
- Describe fluency as more than speed. Comment on phrasing, expression and fixing a sentence that does not make sense, since a fast reader who skips errors needs different practice from a careful, slower one.
- Connect word skills to content reading, such as sounding out new terms in social studies or science texts. This shows families why decoding still matters after the early grades.
Watch out: Putting a words-per-minute figure or a reading assessment result in the comment. Families cannot act on a number alone. Describe what the reading sounds like and name one strategy, such as tapping out sounds.
At the top of the scale, describe accurate, independent work and how the child extends it, such as choosing harder books or explaining a strategy to a partner. For Meets, use steady words like usually or as taught in class; for Approaching, say what happens with reminders or a model; for Beginning, name what is emerging and the support in place. Describe the skill in action, not the mark.
What Reading: Foundational Skills covers
In these comments, reading: foundational skills covers these behaviours:
- hears, blends and segments the sounds in spoken words (phonological awareness, mainly K-1)
- knows letter sounds and uses phonics and word analysis to decode words, including multisyllabic words in grades 3-5
- recognizes high-frequency and irregular words
- reads with accuracy, appropriate rate and expression (fluency) and self-corrects
More US standards-based K-5 comments
- Reading: Foundational Skills, Grades K-2
- Reading: Comprehension, Grades 3-5
- Writing, Grades 3-5
- Speaking and Listening, Grades 3-5
- Math: Number and Operations, Grades 3-5
- Math: Measurement and Geometry, Grades 3-5
- Science, Grades 3-5
- Social Studies, Grades 3-5
- Opening and closing sentences
- All US standards-based K-5 skills and grade bands
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How these sentences were made, and what has been checked: About these comments.