Writing

• Vary sentence structures and maintain continuity by using joining words (e.g., and, or) to combine simple sentences and using words that indicate time and sequence to link sentences (e.g., first, then, next, before, finally, later).
  
• Spell familiar words correctly (e.g., words from their oral vocabulary, anchor charts, the class word wall, and shared-, guided-, and independent-reading texts). 
  
• Use punctuation to help communicate their intended meaning, with a focus on the use of: quotation marks to indicate direct speech; commas to mark grammatical boundaries within sentences; capital letters and final punctuation to mark the beginning and end of sentences. 

 Reading

• Identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand texts (e.g., activate prior knowledge through brainstorming and/or developing mind maps; ask questions to focus reading and clarify understanding; use visualization to clarify details about such things as homes and clothing of early settlers; use pictures to confirm understanding of printed text).