Literacy skills in grade 1 based on letter knowledge

Abstract

This study analyzes the early literacy skills of a sample of Norwegian pupils in grade 1 (6 years old). The aim is to highlight central variables that characterize skills of pupils and what literacy skills they struggle with related to letter knowledge in the beginning of grade 1. The results show great differences between the approximately 20% of the pupils with lowest score in letter knowledge (n = 109) and the rest of the sample (n = 468) in various literacy measures, but specifically large differences are found in the variables of letter recall and phonological analysis. The results highlight some important variables that characterize the literacy skills of pupils with low mastery in reading and writing. This brings knowledge to teachers that can strengthen the teaching for this group of pupils.