Grades K-2 Reading IEP goals
214 reading templates list kindergarten to grade 2 among their grade bands, across 8 skills: phonological awareness, phonics & decoding, letter names & sounds, print concepts & early literacy, reading fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary, sight word recognition. Each opens in the builder with a matching data sheet.
214 templates · 8 skills · K–2 · How we write and review goals
Goals by skill
Numbers are illustrative; set targets from the student's own baseline.
Phonological Awareness Reading
Segment spoken words into phonemes (timed)
Phoneme segmentation
By the annual IEP review date, given a 1-minute oral probe of spoken one-syllable words with two to four phonemes, the student will say each individual sound in each spoken word independently at a rate of at least 35 sounds correct per minute, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by timed probes collected weekly.
Blend spoken phonemes into words
Phoneme blending
By the annual IEP review date, given 10 words presented orally as separate phonemes with about a one-second pause between sounds, the student will blend the sounds and say the whole word aloud independently with at least 80% accuracy on oral blending items, across 3 consecutive sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected twice weekly.
Phonics & Decoding Reading
Say letter sounds on a timed probe
Letter-sound correspondence
By the annual IEP review date, given a 1-minute probe of randomly ordered lowercase letters, the student will say the most common sound for each letter or letter combination in order independently at a rate of at least 40 correct letter sounds per minute, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by timed probes collected weekly.
Decode closed-syllable and silent-e words
One-syllable word patterns
By the annual IEP review date, given a list of 20 unfamiliar one-syllable words mixing closed-syllable (CVC, CCVC, CVCC) and silent-e (CVCe) patterns, the student will read each word aloud independently with at least 90% accuracy on the word list, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by curriculum-based measurement probes collected weekly.
Letter Names & Sounds Reading
Point to a named letter
Receptive letter identification
By the annual IEP review date, given a row of 3 uppercase letter cards and the spoken name of one of them, the student will point to or touch the named letter independently with at least 85% accuracy on letter identification trials, across 3 consecutive sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected twice weekly.
Name uppercase letters shown in random order
Uppercase letter naming
By the annual IEP review date, given 26 uppercase letter cards shown one at a time in random order, the student will say the name of each letter independently with at least 90% accuracy on uppercase letters, across 3 consecutive sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly.
Print Concepts & Early Literacy Reading
Handle a book from front to back
Book handling
By the annual IEP review date, during independent book time, given an unfamiliar picture book handed to the student closed and upside down, the student will look through the book from the front cover to the back cover following the book handling steps, performing at least 6 of 7 steps independently, across 3 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by a task-analysis checklist collected weekly.
Show where to start reading on a page
Left-to-right and return sweep
By the annual IEP review date, during shared reading of an unfamiliar picture book, when the adult asks show me where I start reading on 8 pages, the student will point to the first word in the top left of the print on each page independently with at least 88% accuracy on start-of-print questions, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly.
Reading Fluency Reading
Read an unpracticed passage aloud (words correct per minute)
Oral reading rate
By the annual IEP review date, given an unpracticed passage at the student's instructional level, the student will read the passage aloud for 1 minute independently at a rate of at least 72 words correct per minute, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by curriculum-based measurement probes collected weekly.
Read connected text accurately
Oral reading accuracy
By the annual IEP review date, given an unpracticed passage at the student's instructional level, the student will read the passage aloud independently with at least 96% accuracy on words read in the passage, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by curriculum-based measurement probes collected weekly.
Reading Comprehension Reading
Answer literal questions about a passage
Literal questions
By the annual IEP review date, after reading an unpracticed instructional-level passage and given 10 literal questions about it, with the passage available for look-backs, the student will answer who, what, where, when, and why questions about details stated in the passage independently with at least 80% accuracy on literal comprehension questions, on 3 of 4 consecutive weekly passages, as measured by work-sample analysis collected weekly.
Retell a story with key elements
Narrative retell
By the annual IEP review date, after reading an unpracticed instructional-level narrative passage, the student will retell the story orally in sequence, including the characters, setting, problem, key events, and resolution without looking back at the text, earning a score of at least 8 out of 10 on a 5-element story retell rubric scored 0–2 per element, on 3 of 4 consecutive scored retells, as measured by a defined scoring rubric collected every two weeks.
Vocabulary Reading
Explain taught vocabulary words with examples
Explaining taught words
By the annual IEP review date, given 5 target words taught during the current unit, presented orally and in print, the student will explain the meaning of each word in their own words and give an example sentence or situation that fits it independently, earning a score of at least 8 out of 10 on a word-explanation rubric (5 words, each scored 0–1 for meaning and 0–1 for example), on 3 consecutive unit checks, as measured by a defined scoring rubric collected at the end of each instructional unit.
Use taught vocabulary in discussion
Using target words in discussion
By the annual IEP review date, during a 30-minute small-group discussion of a shared text, the student will use a taught target vocabulary word correctly in a spoken sentence without prompting at least 4 times per 30-minute discussion period, in 3 of 4 consecutive observed discussions, as measured by frequency recording collected weekly.
Sight Word Recognition Reading
Read a set of high-frequency words
High-frequency word recognition
By the annual IEP review date, given a set of 25 high-frequency words from the student's current instructional word list, presented one at a time on cards in random order, the student will read each word aloud within 3 seconds of seeing it independently with at least 90% accuracy on the word set, across 3 consecutive sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected twice weekly.
Read high-frequency words on a timed list
High-frequency word fluency
By the annual IEP review date, given a 1-minute timed list of previously taught high-frequency words in random order, the student will read the words aloud in order independently at a rate of at least 40 words read correctly per minute, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by timed probes collected weekly.
In kindergarten through grade 2, reading goals target foundational skills and are measured with short probes, word lists, or direct observation that fit a young student's attention span. Criteria usually use small item sets and frequent checks.
Matching data sheets
Each goal above links to the blank sheet built for its measure. These are the sheets this set of goals uses:
- Frequency & rate trackerCounts a defined behavior during a fixed observation period. Calculates rate when time is recorded.Used by 22 goals here
- Accuracy trackerNumber correct out of number attempted, with percent accuracy and support level.Used by 108 goals here
- Opportunity trackerRecords each opportunity as independent, prompted, or not demonstrated.Used by 68 goals here
- Latency trackerTimes the gap between a cue and the start of the response.Used by 3 goals here
- Reading fluency trackerWords attempted, errors, words correct per minute, and accuracy for each probe.Used by 3 goals here
- Duration trackerTimes how long a behavior lasts and compares it with the target duration.Used by 1 goal here
- Rubric trackerScores each rubric criterion and totals the score for each sample.Used by 4 goals here
- Task-analysis checklistMarks each step of a routine as independent, with support, or not completed across sessions.Used by 5 goals here
Frequently asked questions
How are reading goals measured in the early grades?
With brief, repeatable measures: a one-minute probe, a 10-item set, or a few observed opportunities per day. The goal's mastery rule states how many measurements must meet the criterion.
Should early-grade goals be tied to grade-level standards?
Goals come from the student's present levels and should enable progress in the general curriculum, but the criterion is set from baseline data, not copied from a standard. The standard can inform what skill to target.
How many goals should a K-2 student have?
One per area of need identified in the evaluation. Young students often have goals across several areas (communication, early literacy, self-regulation), so keeping each goal to one measure keeps data collection realistic.
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