First Grade reading & spelling words
First grade is the year the alphabet turns into a system. Children move past single sounds into blends (st, cr, spl), digraphs (sh, ch, th) and the silent-e pattern that flips a short vowel long. These sixteen weeks give a child enough repeated exposure to those patterns that they stop treating each new word as a puzzle and start seeing familiar chunks.
Skills covered in First Grade
- Beginning and ending blends: stop, crab, jump, hand
- Digraphs sh, ch, th, wh and their sounds
- Silent-e words: cake, ride, hope, cute
- Writing a whole word from memory rather than copying
- Reading simple sentences without stopping on every word
Who should start at this level?
- Your child reads short words but stumbles on anything with two consonants together
- They read "cap" for "cape" — the silent e is not registering
- A second or third grader who is behind and needs the phonics foundation rebuilt
- A child who finished kindergarten sight words confidently
Sample First Grade words
A dozen words taken from the first four weeks of the first grade sets.
- cat
- dog
- sun
- run
- fun
- big
- ship
- chip
- shop
- thin
- that
- this
Try a 60-second activity at home
Blend hunt with "stop"
- 1Flash the word, then hide it and ask what two letters came first.
- 2Have your child write the word from memory.
- 3Ask them for one more word that starts the same way — stem, stick, star.
- 4Reveal the word and let them check their spelling.
The sixteen First Grade weeks
Week 1
cat, dog, sun…
10 words
First Grade · Week 2Week 2
run, fun, big…
10 words
First Grade · Week 3Week 3
ship, chip, shop…
10 words
First Grade · Week 4Week 4
thin, that, this…
10 words
First Grade · Week 5Week 5
ring, king, sing…
10 words
First Grade · Week 6Week 6
black, clock, flag…
10 words
First Grade · Week 7Week 7
stop, step, stamp…
10 words
First Grade · Week 8Week 8
cake, bike, game…
10 words
First Grade · Week 9Week 9
rain, mail, wait…
10 words
First Grade · Week 10Week 10
boat, road, coat…
10 words
First Grade · Week 11Week 11
tree, see, feet…
10 words
First Grade · Week 12Week 12
light, night, right…
10 words
First Grade · Week 13Week 13
play, stay, gray…
10 words
First Grade · Week 14Week 14
they, said, have…
10 words
First Grade · Week 15Week 15
about, other, again…
10 words
First Grade · Week 16Week 16
people, little, friend…
10 words
Ready for the full week?
Start a whole week of 1 word sets free. No account needed.
Questions parents ask about First Grade
My child sounds out every word slowly. Is that normal in first grade?
It is common, and it is exactly what this method targets. Flashing a word briefly trains recognition, so slow decoding gradually becomes instant reading.
Should we finish all sixteen weeks in order?
Yes for most children — the patterns build on each other. If a week feels easy, repeat it once and move on quickly.