First Grade · Reading · week 36

Celebration: 40+ Words a Minute

Read a decodable passage at 40 or more words per minute with strong accuracy, celebrating a year of phonics growth.

You have learned so many sounds this year: digraphs, blends, silent e, and vowel teams. Today you get to show off your reading speed on a passage you can read all by yourself.

The goal is 40 or more words in one minute, read accurately. That is not about rushing -- it is about how automatic all your sounds have become.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Let your child read the passage once untimed first so the timed read is not the very first look at the words.
  • Time exactly one minute and count only the words read correctly, marking any skipped or misread word.
  • Celebrate the number, whatever it is -- this is a milestone to be proud of, not a pass-fail test.
  • Look back at a passage from early in the year, if you saved one, and compare how far your child has come.
Talk about it:
  • How did it feel to read this fast and this well?
  • Which phonics skill from this year felt the most useful today?
  • What kind of book do you want to tackle next?

Mastery looks like: They read a grade-level decodable passage at 40 or more correct words per minute with strong accuracy.

Common stumbles: Sacrificing accuracy for speed by guessing at words instead of decoding them correctly.

See it visually

Interactive, spoken-aloud tools that show this idea in motion.

Blending & SegmentingSlide sounds together to read a word — /s/ /u/ /n/ → “sun”.try →
Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Reading for this learner.
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