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MCLASS Resources

1st Grade - Practice and Master the MCLASS Testing Skills

MCLASSResources 1st Grade - Practice and Master the MCLASS Testing Skills
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MCLASS GOALS

Please take a look at the composite score below to see what your child needs to attain to be at grade level. There is also a breakdown of the 7 test that cumulate the composite score over all.

1. LETTER NAMING FLUENCY (LNF)

Students must recognize the name of at least 59 letters in 1 minute (CAPITAL and lower case included in random order).



Practice with the Interactive rainbow and a timer.
Group 1: m, a, t, d, o, c, g, and i
Group 2: n, h, s, f, v, z, p, and e

Group 3: all other letters
Regroup as needed. Gradual progress is better than frustration.


Interactive Rainbow Letters


Note: Make sure your student knows the difference between letters and sounds. To score points in MClass (in this section) they need to know names only. BUT knowing the sounds the letters make will give them points when skill 2 (Phonemic Awareness/segmentation) is tested.

Find more practice below, and a suggested practice test form.😉

LETTER RECOGNITION PRACTICE
Set a timer for 1 minute and say the letters as fast as you can reading them left to right
Paint by Letter -PBS KIDS
Click on Mixed Case, this will have you practice capital and lowercase letters

2. PHONEMIC SEGMENTATION FLUENCY (PSF)

In this section students listen to a word said aloud. Then say the sounds they hear. They score one point per each correct sound they identify. They must develop speed to be able to be able to score at least 45 points in 1 min.


"Listen to the word I say. Say the sounds you hear."

You say CAT, they say /c/ /a/ /t/


IMPORTANT: Not all words tested are as simple as CAT. Remind students to focus on sounds only and to not try to think about the letters they use when they write.

For example:

CAR has only two sounds (Phonemes): /c/ /ar/
CHIP has three sounds: /ch/ /i/ /p/

BAND has four sounds: /b/ /a/ /n/ /d/



NOTE: it is recommended to avoid showing letters or written words during this practice.

Phoneme Segmentation Break it Down Game
PSF Practice
Say the word that goes with the picture. Then say the sounds you hear in the word.

3. & 4. Nonsense Word Fluency and Decoding

Students will be reading Non-Sense words with a 1 minute timer. These are make believe words which check a student's ability to make letter-sound correspondences. Credit is given for every correct sound made in each word. The student is able to decode individual sounds, or read the word as a whole.


  • Students goal is 55 for NWF-CLS.
  • Decode sound by sound and then blend. (IF you need it).
  • Read as fast as you can during the 1 minute!

Letter Sounds Practice (Nonsense Words)
Set a timer for 1 minute. Read as many words as you can, reading the words left to right
Roll a nonsense word Game
Roll a dice and read the row which matches the dice number

5. Word Reading (WRF)

Students are given 1 minute to read as many sight words as they can, and the final score is the number of words read correctly within 1 minute.

Students can point to each word, then run their finger fast beneath the whole word. Students must fully blend words to receive credit. No credit is given for individual letter sounds.


  • Students goal is 25 words read correctly in 1 minute
  • Decode sound by sound and then blend. (IF you need it).
  • Read as fast as you can during the 1 minute!
Sight Word Practice Assessment
Set a timer for 1 minute. Read as many words as you can, reading the words left to right

6. Reading Fluency (ORF)

Reading fluency is a student’s ability to read words in a text. Students will be given a passage to read the aloud for 1 minute. Words skipped, substituted, and hesitations of more than three seconds are scored as errors. Words self-corrected within three seconds are scored as accurate.



  • Students goal is to read 39 words read correctly in 1 minute
  • Decode sound by sound and then blend. (IF you need it).
  • Read as fast as you can during the 1 minute!
Reading Fluency Practice
Set timer for 1 minute. Read as many words as you can, reading left to right

7. Reading Fluency Accuracy

ORF Accuracy is the proportion of words read correctly in one minute and is derived by dividing the number of words read correctly by the total number of words read, including those that were incorrect.


  • Students goal is to read 91% accuracy in 1 minute
  • Decode sound by sound and then blend. (IF you need it).
  • Read as fast as you can during the 1 minute!