Report Card Comments Made Easier!

My Guide to Writing Report Card Comments

I was going to title this blog “Report Card Comments Made Easy” but as you know there is nothing easy about writing report card comments.

Reading, writing, oral communication, media, five strands for math, four strands for science, two strands for social studies, physical education, art, health, drama and dance. So many specific expectations, some of which are mandated in certain jurisdictions such as Ontario, that need to be reported on.  Oh!  Don’t forget about the Learning Skills; responsibility, organization, independent work, collaboration, initiative and self-regulation.

​Not only do you need a comment for each of the above but you need a comment for all four achievement levels (level 4 (A), level 3 (B), level 2 (C) and level 1 (D)).

That’s a lot of comments and a daunting task, especially for new teachers who do not have previous experience and a comment database to draw on!

Let me show you how I write my comments.  I always start with the level 3 (B) comment because this corresponds with what the student should be able to demonstrate for their grade.  Once I have that comment, I adjust the wording for the other achievement levels. Let me demonstrate.

One of the specific expectations for reading is:

“read appropriate texts at a sufficient rate and with sufficient expression to convey the sense of the text to the reader and to an audience.”

The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1-8, Language

For the achievement level 3 (B) I would write “{Name} reads with confidence, fluency and comprehension during guided and independent reading using text that is at grade level.”

From this starting point, I would then write the level 4 (A) comment

“{Name} reads with confidence, fluency and comprehension during guided and independent reading using text above grade level.

Level 2 (C)

“{ Name} is beginning to read with confidence during guided and independent reading. Continued practice will improve fluency, and comprehension and bring him/her closer to grade level expectations.

Level 1 (D)

“{Name} struggles to read with confidence, fluency and comprehension during guided and independent reading using text that is below grade level. She/He is encouraged to read and discuss books at her/his level on a daily basis.

Similarly, Learning Skills can be written in the same way. Pick a few expectations for each Learning Skill, decide what the student should be able to demonstrate for their grade at the end of the term and that is your level 3 (B) comment.

While this seems simple enough, it’s very time consuming when you think of all the expectations you need to cover for each subject as well as Learning Skills.

Too make your life easier, I have made available through Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT), my fully editable comments for all expectations for each of the four achievement levels for grades 2 and 3.

Currently, I have three separate Grade 2 report card comments products available for Math, Science and Language as well as Grade 3 report card comments for Language.  All that’s left for you to do is copy, paste (and edit if you chose) and you are done with your report cards for the main subjects.  Additional Grade 3 products for the remaining subjects will be available in the near future.  If you Follow Me at my TpT store , you will receive notification when these new products are available.

Report Card Comments Units

For Learning Skills I have created an editable Learning Skills Rubrics and Report Card Comments unit that includes the six skills and expectations for all four achievement levels.

I highlight the expectation that I am assessing and the assessment level the student achieved in different colors for each term. For example, for the progress report card I highlight in blue, report card 1 in pink and report card 2 in yellow. This means that you can make a copy of this rubric for each student that will cover the entire year.

So, now you have the plan for making your report card writing easier.

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Happy teaching and good luck with your report cards.

Laurie