Primary (Grades 1–3) report card comments
Grouped by achievement level. Each set gives you an opening, the evidence behind it, and one next step a family can act on.
Written by a practising Ontario teacher · Last reviewed: September 2026
Level 4 — 80% and above
Pick one of each. 27 combinations, so a class of thirty does not come home with the same sentence eight times.
Level 3 — 70 to 79%
Pick one of each. 27 combinations, so a class of thirty does not come home with the same sentence eight times.
What they can do
The evidence
Next step
Your comment
Level 2 — 60 to 69%
Pick one of each. 27 combinations, so a class of thirty does not come home with the same sentence eight times.
What they can do
The evidence
Next step
Your comment
Level 1 — 50 to 59%
Pick one of each. 27 combinations, so a class of thirty does not come home with the same sentence eight times.
What they can do
The evidence
Next step
Your comment
Below Level 1 — under 50%
Pick one of each. 27 combinations, so a class of thirty does not come home with the same sentence eight times.
What they can do
The evidence
Next step
Your comment
Next steps by subject
The opening and the evidence travel between subjects; the next step should not. “Read more” in every subject is the line parents learn to skip.
English / Language
-
To extend
Reading something Alex would not have chosen — a different form, a harder register — would push them further than more of the same.
-
To consolidate
Planning before writing, even in two lines, is the habit that would most improve their written work.
-
To secure the basics
Twenty minutes of reading most days, on anything Alex enjoys, is the single most useful thing right now.
Mathematics
-
To extend
Problems that do not announce their method would stretch Alex, who is already secure with the ones that do.
-
To consolidate
Showing the working, even when the answer is obvious, is what makes the harder questions possible later.
-
To secure the basics
Short, regular practice of number facts would free up their attention for the reasoning, which is where Alex loses ground.
Science
-
To extend
Asking what else could explain a result — not just whether it matched the prediction — is the next step for Alex.
-
To consolidate
Linking the observation to the underlying idea, rather than reporting it alone, would strengthen their lab work.
-
To secure the basics
Reviewing key vocabulary before each unit would give Alex a firmer footing with the explanations.
Social Studies / History / Geography
-
To extend
Weighing sources against each other, rather than summarising each in turn, is where Alex would be most challenged.
-
To consolidate
Supporting each claim with specific evidence would lift their written work noticeably.
-
To secure the basics
Talking through current events at home builds the background knowledge this subject leans on heavily.
French / Second language
-
To extend
Using the language outside the tasks set — reading, listening, anything authentic — is what would move Alex on now.
-
To consolidate
Speaking aloud regularly, even imperfectly, would build their confidence faster than written practice alone.
-
To secure the basics
Short daily exposure matters far more than long sessions at this stage for Alex.
The Arts
-
To extend
Taking a creative risk that might not work is the next step, and Alex has the technique to afford it.
-
To consolidate
Reflecting on why a choice worked, not only that it did, would deepen their practice.
-
To secure the basics
Regular time to make things, without a mark attached, is what would help Alex most.
Physical Education & Health
-
To extend
Taking a leadership role — organising, officiating, coaching a peer — would extend Alex beyond their own performance.
-
To consolidate
Applying strategy rather than effort alone is the next step in their game play.
-
To secure the basics
Regular participation, and coming prepared, is what Alex needs to focus on first.
Related
Or let the gradebook write it
These sentences do not know your students. Your gradebook does.
A bank can only offer you a level. Level Up Classroom writes the comment from what it already holds for that student — their category averages, the strand they are weakest in, the assignments still outstanding, their learning skill marks — so the comment names the actual reason rather than the general one.
You review and edit every comment before it goes anywhere, and student names are replaced with placeholders before any text reaches the AI, so a child’s name never leaves your browser.
A gradebook that does this for you
Level Up Classroom tracks achievement and learning skills together, and drafts report card comments from the marks you have already entered. Free to start.
Try it free
What they can do
The evidence
Next step
Your comment