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F & P Writing skills continuum – Conventions for Grades 1 - 4
Source: The Continuum of Literacy Learning Grades Pre-K-8, Second edition
This document contains a summary of conventions skills by grade level. New skills that are introduced
are shown in red.
CONVENTIONS
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TEXT LAYOUT
Grade 1
 Understand that the print and pictures can be placed in a variety of places on the page
within a book
 Place words in lines, starting left to right, top to bottom
 Place titles and headings in the appropriate place on the page
 Understand that layout of print and illustrations are important in conveying the
meaning of a text
 Use underlining and bold print to convey meaning
 Use spaces between words.
Grade 2
 Arrange print on the page to support the text’s meaning and to help the reader notice
important information
 Understand that layout of print and illustrations are important in conveying the
meaning of a text
 Understand how to use layout, spacing, and size of print to create titles, headings, and
subheadings.
Grade 3
 Arrange print on the page to support the text’s meaning and to help the reader notice
important information
 Use layout of print and illustrations to convey the meaning of a text
 Use the size of print to convey meaning in a printed text
 Use layout, spacing and size of print to create titles, headings and subheadings
 Use underlining, italics, and bold print to convey a specific meaning
 Use underlining in words in titles
Grade 4
 Use layout, spacing and size of print to create titles, headings and subheadings
 Use underlining, italics, and bold print to convey a specific meaning
 Arrange print on the page to support the text’s meaning and to help the reader notice
important information
 Use and understand the layout of print and illustrations are important to conveying the
meaning of a text
 Use and Understand that size of text conveys meaning in printed text
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Use indentations or spacing to set off paragraphs
GRAMMAR
Sentence Structure
Grade 1
 Use conventional sentence structure (noun + verb)
Grade 2
 Write complete sentences
 Use a range of complete sentences (declarative, interrogative, exclamatory)
Grade 3
 Use a range of complete sentences (declarative, interrogative, exclamatory)
 Write some sentences with embedded clauses (complex) and dialogue
 Use conventional sentence structure for both simple and compound sentences
 Write uninterrupted dialogue in conventional structure
Grade 4
 Write dialogue in conventional structures
 Use conventional sentence structure for compound sentences with embedded clauses
 Use a range of sentence types (declarative, interrogative, exclamatory
 Write complete sentences with noun and verb
 Place clauses in sentences
 Place phrases in sentences
 Write simple and compound sentences
 Sometimes vary sentence structure and length for reasons of craft
 Write sentences in past, present, future, present perfect, and past perfect tenses
Parts of Speech
Grade 1
 Use noun and verb agreement (I can)
 Use prepositional phrases (to the bus, on the bus)
 Use modifiers (red dress; ran fast)
Grade 2
 Use subject and verb agreement in simple sentences (we were)
 Use nouns and pronouns that are in agreement (Mike / he)
 Use prepositional phrases, adjectives and adverbs correctly
Grade 3
 Use subject and verb agreement (we were)
 Use nouns and pronouns that are in agreement (Mike / he)
 Use prepositional phrases, adjectives and adverbs correctly
 Use nouns and adjectives correctly
Grade 4
 Use nouns and pronouns that are in agreement (Mike / he)
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Use prepositions and prepositional phrases, adjectives and adverbs correctly
Use nouns and adjectives and adverbs correctly
Use objective and nominative case pronouns correctly (me, him, her, I, he, she)
Use indefinite and relative pronouns correctly (everyone, both, who, whom)
Use verbs that are often misused (lie, lay, rise, raise)
Use verb and objects that are often misused ([verb] to her and me, she and I)
Tense
Grade 1
 Write in past tense (I went home yesterday.)
 Write in future tense (I’m going to go…)
Grade 2
 Write in past tense (I went home yesterday.)
 Write in future tense (I’m going to go…)
 Write in present tense (Owls love to…)
Grade 3
 Write in past tense (I went home yesterday.)
 Write in present tense (Owls love to…)
 Write in future tense (I’m going to go…)
Grade 4
 Write sentences in past, present, future, present perfect and past perfect tenses
 Maintain consistency of tense
PARAGRAPHING
Grade 4
 Understand and use paragraph structure (indented or block) to organize sentences that
focus on one idea
 Create transitions between paragraphs to show the progression of ideas
 Understand and use paragraphing to show speaker change in dialogues
CAPITALIZATION
Grade 1
 Demonstrate knowledge of the use of upper and lowercase letters of the alphabet
 Show awareness of the first place position of capital letters in words
 Use uppercase letters in titles
 Use a capital letter for the first word of a sentence
 Use capital letters in the beginning position in a few familiar, known proper nouns
Grade 2
 Use a capital letter for the first word of a sentence
 Use capital letters appropriately to capitalize days, months, provinces
 Use capital letters for names of people and places
 Use all capital letters for a head or for emphasis
 Use capitals to start the first word, last word and most other words in titles.
Grade 3
 Use a capital letter for the first word of a sentence
 Use capital letters appropriately to capitalize days, months, and specific places
 Use capital letters for names of people and places
 Use all capital letters for a head or for emphasis
 Use capitals to start the first word, last word and most other words in titles.
 Use capitals for the first word in a greeting or a letter.
 Use capital letters correctly in uninterrupted dialogue
Grade 4
 Use a capital letter for the first word of a sentence
 Use capital letters appropriately to capitalize days, months, places, holidays, city names
and titles of books
 Use capital letters correctly in dialogue
 Use capitalization for specialized functions (emphasis, key information, voice)
 Use more complex capitalization with accuracy, such as abbreviations and quotation
marks in split dialogue
PUNCTUATION
Grade 1
 Notice the use of punctuation marks in books and try them out in own writing
 Read one’s writing aloud and think where punctuation would go.
Grade 2
 Use periods, exclamation points, and question marks as ending marks
 Understand and use ellipses to show pause or anticipation, usually before something
surprising
 Use dashes and ellipses for emphasis or to slow down the text for readers
 Use quotation marks around the speaker’s exact words
 Use periods after abbreviations
 Notice the use of punctuation marks in books and try them out in own writing
 Use apostrophes in contractions and possessives
 Use commas to identify a series
Grade 3
 Use periods, exclamation points, and question marks as ending marks
 Use commas to identify a series
 Understand and use ellipses to show pause or anticipation, usually before something
surprising
 Notice the use of punctuation marks in books and try them out in own writing
 Use apostrophes in contractions and possessives
 Understand and use quotation marks to indicate simple dialogue
 Break words at the syllables at the end of a line using a hyphen
 Use correct punctuation in uninterrupted dialogue
Grade 4
 Use commas to identify a series
 Use apostrophes in contractions and possessives
 Break words at the syllables at the end of a line using a hyphen
 Consistently use periods, exclamation points, and question marks as ending marks
 Learn about the possibility of using punctuation and its effect on readers by studying
mentor texts
 Notice effective or unusual use of punctuation marks by authors
 Try out new ways of using punctuation
 Use dashes to indicate a longer pause or slow down the reading to emphasize particular
information
 Use commas and quotation marks correctly in writing interrupted and uninterrupted
dialogue
 Use brackets to set aside a different idea or kind of information
 Use colours to indicate something is explained or described
 Use commas and parentheses to set off parenthetical information
 Use hyphens to divide words
 Use indentations to identify paragraphs
SPELLING
Grade 1
 Use conventional symbols to write words
 Spell one hundred or more high-frequency words conventionally
 Say words to break them into syllables to spell them
 Use some phonogram patterns to generate words
 Attempt unknown words through sound analysis
 Say words slowly to hear a sound and write a letter that represents it
 Write some words with consonant letters appropriate for sounds in words (beginning
and ending)
 Write a letter for easy to hear vowel sounds
 Represent several sounds, including beginning and ending
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Use some inflectional endings such as -s and -ing
Represent many short and long vowel sounds in words
Spell words with regular consonant sound relationships and with regular short vowel
patterns correctly
 Represent many consonant sounds or vowel sounds with letters
 Attempt unknown words using known word parts
 Construct phonetic spelling that are readable
 Include a vowel in each word
 Represent consonant blends and digraphs with letter clusters in words
 Use simple resources to check spelling (word walls, personal word lists)
Grade 2
 Correctly spell familiar high frequency words (200+) words with regular letter-sound
relationships (including consonant blends and digraphs and some vowel patterns) and
commonly used endings
 Take apart multisyllable words to spell the parts accurately or close to accurately
 Use knowledge of phonogram patterns to generate multisyllable words
 Spell simple and some complex plurals
 Use simple rules for adding inflectional endings in words (drop e, double letter)
 Spell simple possessives
 Spell most contractions
 Spell words that have been studied (spelling words)
 Write easy compound words accurately
 Spell many one-syllable words that have vowel and r correctly
Grade 3
 Correctly spell a large core of high frequency words (300+) words with regular lettersound relationships (including consonant blends and digraphs and some vowel patterns)
and commonly used endings
 Take apart multisyllable words to spell the parts accurately or close to accurately
 Use knowledge of phonogr500+am patterns to generate multisyllable words
 Spell simple and some complex plurals
 Use simple rules for adding inflectional endings in words (drop e, double letter)
 Spell most possessives
 Spell most contractions
 Spell words that have been studied (spelling words)
 Write many compound words accurately
 Spell many one-syllable and two-syllable words that have vowel and r correctly
Grade 4
 Correctly spell words that have been studied (spelling words)
 Correctly spell a large number of high frequency words (500+) words with a wide range
of plurals, and base words with inflectional endings
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Use a range of spelling strategies to take apart and spell multisyllable words (word
parts, connections to known words, complex sound to letter cluster relationships)
Spell complex plurals correctly (knife, knives; woman, women, sheep, sheep)
Be aware of the spelling of common suffixes (ion, ment)
Spell a full range of contractions, plurals and possessives, and compound words
Spell two or three syllable words
Use difficult homophones (their, there) correctly
HANDWRITING / WORD PROCESSING
Grade 1
 Leave appropriate space between words
 Hold pencil or pen with satisfactory grip
 Return to the left margin to start a new line
 Use a preferred hand consistently for writing
 Write left to right in lines
 Write letters and words that can be easily read
 Write letters in groups to form words
 Form upper and lowercase letters efficiently in manuscript print
 Form upper and lowercase letters proportionately in manuscript print
 Access and use simple programs on the computer (easy word-processing games)
 Locate letter keys on a computer keyboard to type simple messages.
Grade 2
 Form upper and lowercase letters efficiently and proportionately in manuscript print
 Begin to develop efficient keyboarding skills
 Use word processor to plan, draft, revise, edit and publish
 Make changes on the screen to revise and edit, and publish documents
Grade 3
 Use word processor to plan, draft, revise, edit and publish
 Make changes on the screen to revise and edit, and publish documents
 Use efficient keyboarding skills
 Write fluently in both manuscript and cursive handwriting with appropriate spacing
Grade 4
 Write fluently and legibly in cursive handwriting with appropriate spacing
 Use word processing with understanding of how to produce and vary text (layout, font,
special techniques)
 Use word processor to get ideas down revise, edit and publish
 Use efficient keyboarding skills to create drafts, revise, edit and publish
 Show familiarity with computer and word-processing terminology
 Create website entries and articles with appropriate text layout, graphics and access to
information through searching
 Make wide use of computer skills in presenting text.