Ontario Report Card Comments: The Elementary Teacher's Guide
- A report card comment is personal. If it could fit eight other kids, it is not done.
- Every comment has three beats: what the student can do, when and how they showed it, and one next step a family can act on.
- Start with a strength, then be honest. Kind and true beats warm and vague.
- AI can help, but only tools you can trust with student data: board-approved, or built for it like Gradefully.
Break down report card comments into 3 parts
I've been a teacher for nearly 10 years. I teach high school now, but I started my career in elementary school. However, now I read elementary report cards from the other side, as a parent. Here is what really matters: say something true about my kid, prove it with something that really happened in your room, and end with a job we can do at home.
That is the whole craft. It is also, almost word for word, what the policy asks for: Growing Success wants comments that say what the student has learned, describe significant strengths, identify next steps and help parents support their child at home, in language parents understand.
This student, not the unit. Skills in plain words, never marks or curriculum jargon. Qualify it honestly: almost always, often, sometimes, not yet.
Name the piece of work where you saw it: the project, the test, the moment. This is what makes the comment about a real child.
Small enough to start right now, worded so the student and the family both know what to do. How can parents support their child?
Before any comment goes home, read it back against four checks:
- No numbers and no jargon. Growing Success itself asks you to avoid the wording of the curriculum expectations and the achievement chart. What does "considerable effectiveness" even mean?
- The name-swap test. Cover the name and read it again. If it could describe eight other students, it is not finished. Adding a first name does not make a comment personal; the evidence does.
- It agrees with the grade. Three sentences of praise beside an N or a 55% reads as a typo, and the family will assume the letter is the mistake.
- The family can act on it. "Needs to be more organized" is a diagnosis. "Write each due date in the agenda before packing up" is a next step.
Where this page comes from. Policy statements are from Growing Success (2010), the current provincial report card forms, and the AEFO guide to preparing report cards, in Sources. Read those documents for more information. Where we describe common practice rather than policy, we say so. Your board can add requirements of its own. Teaching Grades 9 to 12? That version of this page is the high school teacher's guide.
Three reports per year, and what each one asks of you
Elementary Ontario teachers file three formal reports a year. Each one serves a different purpose.
| Progress report card | First provincial report card | Second provincial report card | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goes home | Oct 20 to Nov 20 | Jan 20 to Feb 20, for the fall term | Late June, for the rest of the year |
| Achievement | No grades or marks: three "progressing" checkboxes per subject. | Letter grades (1 to 6) or percentages (7 and 8). | Same, with Report 1's grades printed beside. |
| Comments | One shared space; not every subject needs one. | A Strengths/Next Steps box per subject. | Same as the first report. |
| Learning skills | Identical on all three: all six skills get a letter (E, G, S, N) plus the comment box. | ||
| The job | Open the conversation. | Report the fall term. | Report the year, no surprises left. |
The progress report is deliberately lighter. It reports general progress toward the expectations, not achievement of them, so it does not need a stack of marked evaluations behind it; your observations and classroom work are the evidence. The reason is that the Ministry of Education expects you to take time at the beginning of the year to teach routines and do diagnostic evaluations that are evaluations for learning; therefore it is not expected that you have a clear level for each student. However, you should have a class profile and be able to report on the progress of each student.
Growing Success frames it as the start of a conversation with the family, not a verdict on eight weeks.
The learning skills box is the one parents actually read
On every elementary report card, the learning skills and work habits come before the subjects. That placement is policy, and it is correct. As a parent, this is the box I read first and the one that matters most to me.
As you know, these are the transferable skills that will carry students through their whole academic career and beyond.
Here are the basics. You evaluate each of the six skills with a letter: Excellent (E), Good (G), Satisfactory (S) or Needs Improvement (N).
Usually the homeroom teacher writes the comment, though other teachers can contribute, and schools do this differently. The comment follows the same recipe as above: one or two strengths of the student and how they show them, then one clear, actionable next step that will make a difference.
You do not need to report on every one of the six. Pick the ones that matter for that student. If you want sentence starters, or help seeing what each skill actually looks like, our free Learning Skills Comment Builder assembles a comment from the behaviours you actually saw.
The six learning skills and work habits
Responsibility Work arrives when agreed; owns their part when something goes wrong.
- Puts materials back where they belong
- Finishes the job they were given, name on the page
- Says when something breaks or goes wrong instead of hiding it
- Hands in work on the agreed date without chasing
- Remembers gym clothes, library books and signed forms
- Owns a mistake instead of passing the blame
- Tracks their own deadlines across subjects
- Flags a late risk before the due date, not after
- Carries jobs that affect others: team roles, borrowed equipment
Organization Has a plan for multi-step work; can find their own materials and notes.
- Keeps a desk and cubby they can find things in
- Follows a two- or three-step routine on their own
- Starts with the right materials out
- Uses the agenda without being told
- Works through a project plan sheet step by step
- Keeps binders and folders sorted by subject
- Plans backwards from a due date on their own
- Juggles more than one assignment at a time
- Keeps digital files and folders they can navigate
Independent Work Starts without a second prompt; keeps going while you are with another group.
- Starts a familiar task after one instruction
- Works alone for short stretches
- Tries one strategy before putting a hand up
- Uses class time without reminders
- Checks work against the success criteria before calling it done
- Keeps going while you are with another group
- Manages a full period productively
- Re-reads the instructions before asking
- Adjusts the plan mid-task when it is not working
Collaboration Does a fair share; listens properly to classmates who see it differently.
- Shares materials and takes turns
- Listens while a partner speaks
- Stays with the group during the task
- Does a fair share of the group's work
- Accepts a role that is not their favourite
- Disagrees politely and hears different ideas out
- Helps the group split the work and pull it back together
- Draws quieter members in
- Behaves well in group chats and shared documents
Initiative Asks questions past what the task required; tries things that might not work.
- Chooses a book or activity without being told
- Asks curious questions
- Volunteers to help
- Tries a task before asking exactly what to do
- Brings in ideas and examples nobody asked for
- Volunteers for new roles and jobs
- Goes past the minimum on purpose
- Tries an approach that might not work
- Asks for feedback before the due date, not after the mark
Self-Regulation Asks for help early and specifically; stays with a problem after the first attempt fails.
- Names the feeling and uses a calm-down strategy, with support
- Asks for help when stuck
- Keeps trying with encouragement
- Notices they are off track and resets
- Asks for help early, with a specific question
- Stays with a hard task past the first failed attempt
- Sets a goal and actually checks progress against it
- Knows what helps them work, seat, timing, noise, and chooses it
- Can say what is hard and what they need
The four letters
An honest caveat. Growing Success names the four letters and stops there; it publishes no rubric between an E and a G. The ladder above is adapted from the descriptor tool in the AEFO guide, which was written with the Ministry but is guidance, not policy. If your board has its own chart, use that one.
And now the comment
The learning skills and work habits comment is the best place to honestly communicate how each student is doing in class. We are not looking at their knowledge in different subjects. You want to pick 1-3 different skills that are the student's strengths and comment on those. Explain what it is and how they show it in class.
Next pick one next step that will really make a difference in the success of the student. Be clear about what they can do at school and at home. Parents want to help their child succeed.
The length for these comments can vary depending on each board's reporting software. At my school board it is a max of 2200 characters. Aim for 1-3 sentences per skill that you comment on.
A strong student who still has somewhere to go
- Plans multi-step work on her own; sets her own checkpoints
- Kept the group's materials sorted during the bridge build
- Starts on her own; checks against the success criteria
- Hears out different ideas before the group decides (new this term)
- Hands in first drafts as if they were final drafts
Amira plans her own way through multi-step work. During the bridge-building project she set her own checkpoints, kept her group's materials sorted and had every piece ready before the build began, which kept the whole table moving. She works the same way when nobody is beside her: she starts as soon as instructions are given, and stays on task for the full period. Collaboration has grown this term too. Amira now hears out ideas that are different from her own before the group decides, and her partners notice the difference. In her writing assignments she will hand in her first draft as her final draft. A good next step for her is to build in one round of review before she hands work in. We have started a simple three-point check before she submits, and she is beginning to catch her own small slips. At home, you could ask Amira to walk you through that checklist on one piece of homework each week.
Why it works. Three skills, each supported with evidence, and the next step is honest and has a clear plan.
The hard one: honest without being harsh
- Stops after the first failed attempt; closes the laptop
- Will not ask for help; says "I don't get it" and disengages
- Used a step checklist successfully during the data unit
- Explains his reasoning well out loud (probability games)
When Jayden has a strategy in front of him he stays with difficult work. During the data unit he used a step checklist and finished every task, including the ones he found hard, and he was rightly proud of it. He also thinks well out loud: in our probability games he explained his reasoning clearly and helped his partner find a mistake. Right now, when a first attempt does not work, Jayden tends to stop rather than ask. He will close the laptop and wait, and a period can be gone before anyone notices. Next step: before setting the work aside, use the two-question routine we practised, which is to re-read the worked example and then ask one specific question. In class, I will check in with him ten minutes into independent work. At home, you could ask to see the checklist before homework starts and ask him what question he asked that day.
Why it works. Two real strengths, not softeners. The difficulty named plainly, tied to the letter it explains, and framed as a skill to build rather than a character verdict. Then a routine he has already succeeded with, a check-in from the teacher, a job for the family and a conversation offered, which is what an N should always come with.
Hot tip: Start tracking right away
Start tracking the learning skills and work habits right away. This makes comment season really fast. There are lots of ways to track. I use Gradefully's student journal. Some teachers like the pen and paper method. You can download this free tracker and print pages as needed. Write some notes during a work period or when you see something noteworthy. It is also your receipts: when a family asks why the letter is not an E, you answer from a dated record.
Download the tracking sheetSubject comments: big boxes and very small ones
The subject-specific comments follow the same 3-beat recipe. What can the student do, where and how do they show it, one actionable next step.
These comments should be based on the expectations from the curriculum but paraphrased in student and parent friendly writing. Stay away from the curriculum jargon.
There is no mandated size for each comment, but there are restrictions imposed by your board's chosen software. In my board they allow 2200 characters for math and languages, and only about 230 characters for the other subjects. So keep it short and to the point.
Language: one grade, four strands behind it
Since the 2023 Language curriculum, Language gets a single grade on the provincial report card. The four strands are printed right in the comment area of the form, but your comment does not need to cover all of them. Tell the family what their child can do as a reader, a writer and a speaker, in that plain vocabulary, covering what you actually taught this term. Use the qualifier ladder and be honest about where the help starts. For a struggling reader, the kindest thing you can write is the truth with a strength in front of it and a routine behind it.
Honest about a struggling reader
- Strong oral retell; listens closely
- Knows letter sounds, starting to blend; guesses at longer words
- Reads short texts with daily support
Mateo listens closely and can retell a story in order with the important parts in place. He is reading short texts with daily support: he knows his letter sounds and is starting to blend them, and he still guesses when a word is long. He is not yet reading at the Grade 3 level. Next step: we will keep his daily small-group reading time going. At home, have him read one page aloud each night and sound out two tricky words instead of skipping them.
Why it works. It opens with something Mateo genuinely does well. It says "not yet at the Grade 3 level" in plain words, so the grade will not ambush anyone. And both the school and the family leave with a job.
Mathematics: one grade, five strands
Math is also a single grade, with the five strands, Number, Algebra, Data, Spatial Sense and Financial Literacy, listed on the form. You don't need to mention all five, though some teachers like to. Comment on the units you taught, the piece of work that showed you what this student can do, and the one gap most worth closing next.
Strong number sense, thin explanations
- Quick, accurate number work; caught her own error in the budgeting task
- Clear double-bar graph from her class survey in the data unit
- Written solutions show answers, not reasoning
Keiko is quick and accurate with number work: she multiplies and divides confidently and caught her own error in our class budgeting task. In the data unit she built a clear double-bar graph from her survey and explained what it showed. On paper, her solutions often give the answer and skip the thinking. Next step: use our "show one step, give one reason" frame so the page shows how she got there. At home, asking her to explain one solution out loud works well.
Why it works. Two strengths, each pinned to a real task from a real strand. One gap, stated without softening. One frame she can use Monday, and a home version that costs a parent two minutes.
The small boxes: science, social studies, health and PE, the arts
Here you get two or three sentences, so pick the one thing that mattered most this term and anchor it in the student's actual work. Still the three moves, just compressed:
Sana's ancient Egypt presentation showed real research: she explained how the Nile's flooding set the farming year, without notes. Next step: name where each fact came from.
Naming the actual project does two jobs at once. It lets a parent open a conversation at dinner about something specific, and it shows them you know their kid. A tiny box is not an excuse for a comment that could belong to anyone.
Two boxes with extra rules. If achievement is reported as R, Growing Success asks for more than a comment: describe the remedial measures planned and the parental support that will be needed, and contact the family as soon as possible so the report card is never the first news. And when a student is working on modified IEP expectations, the required IEP statement must appear in the comment box; your special education staff will have the exact wording.
Here are some tips from a veteran teacher
Start writing your comments in September! The single habit that changes report card week: after a test, a presentation or a project, write one line about how the student did against the curriculum, while it is fresh. "Great knowledge of the planets, struggles with orbital mechanics and the effect of seasons." It takes ten seconds. When the report cards open, you re-read your own lines and the comments practically write themselves, with the evidence already attached.
I was tired of doing this on sticky notes and in spreadsheet margins, so I built it into Gradefully: every student has a teacher feedback box right beside their marks. Then, come report card time, Gradefully's comment generator takes those notes and gives you a solid personal comment for each student. You can try it free for 60 days, no credit card required.
You don't have to use Gradefully. Use anything, but use something. You will thank yourself once report card season hits.
Get your students to write them! A second source writes half the box for you: the students. Once or twice a term, have them rate themselves on the six skills and name one goal, on paper or in a quick form. The answers are often surprisingly honest, a Grade 4 knows exactly who starts without reminders, and a student's own goal makes the comment personal in a way no bank can. The students who most need an N usually leave it blank, and that tells you something too. Write those ones yourself.
Plus, you are supposed to be teaching these skills explicitly in your class. This self-reflection is part of that.
Four ways a comment goes dead
1. Grading the child instead of the skill
Warmth is welcome; character verdicts are not. A sentence about who the student is cannot be improved on, and cannot be argued with either.
✗ Sofia is a bright, lovely girl and a pleasure to teach.
✓ Sofia asks questions that push the discussion past the task, and she follows up on the answers.
2. Restating the expectation
Growing Success asks you to avoid comments that repeat the curriculum expectations or the achievement chart. A family cannot picture "considerable effectiveness".
✗ Demonstrates an understanding of the properties of matter with considerable effectiveness.
✓ Liam can predict what happens when a solid is heated and explain why, using particle theory.
3. Next steps nobody can act on
A next step is an instruction, not a wish. Could the student start it Monday morning without asking what you meant?
✗ Needs to be more organized and should try harder.
✓ Next step: write each due date in the agenda at the end of class, and check it before packing up.
4. The comment that could belong to anyone
A bank sentence is a shape to borrow. The evidence has to be yours, or the comment is about nobody.
✗ Works well with others and completes assignments on time.
✓ In the water-quality project Devon took the note-taking role nobody wanted and had the group's data ready a day early.
One more, not really about writing. A report card should never be the first time a family hears bad news. If a comment will surprise someone, phone first. The comment then confirms a conversation instead of starting one. If you need more next steps that pass the Monday-morning test, we keep a bank of 150.
AI and writing comments
TLDR: as teachers we have to protect student data. Free online AI tools are not built for minors' data and can use what you paste to train their models. Only use trusted tools built for it (like Gradefully đŸ˜‰) or tools your board has approved.
Let us be honest about the technology: give a modern AI model your real observations with a decent prompt, and it will draft a warm, specific, three-beat comment in seconds. Here is a good one I used before making Gradefully. The interesting question is not whether the draft is good. It is what you had to paste into the tool to get it.
A report card comment is a minor's personal record: a name, attached to achievement and behaviour. A free chatbot account is not a place for that. Free consumer AI tools can use what you type to train their models, their terms can change under you, and you have no way to know where a student's name travels next. So the rule is short: never put student names and their school performance into a tool your board has not approved or whose privacy policy you have not read. If the tool is free and the policy is vague, the answer is no. You are most likely violating your board's policy.
This problem is the reason Gradefully's comment drafting works the way it does. Student names are replaced with codes before anything reaches the AI. The drafting runs on OpenAI servers in the United States, and we say so plainly: requests are held for up to 30 days on OpenAI's servers for abuse monitoring, then deleted, and they are not used to train AI models. The gradebook itself stays on Canadian servers and data is encrypted at rest and in transit. The full picture, including what the name-coding cannot catch, is on our privacy page. And whatever tool you use, the last step never changes: you read and edit every comment before it goes home. That part should not be automated.
Questions elementary teachers actually ask
Does the Ontario elementary progress report card have grades?
No. The fall progress report card reports progress with three checkboxes per subject: progressing with difficulty, progressing well and progressing very well. Letter grades in Grades 1 to 6 and percentage marks in Grades 7 and 8 appear only on the two provincial report cards. The progress report card still reports the six learning skills with the letters E, G, S and N.
Do I have to comment on every subject on the progress report card?
No. The progress report card has one shared space for subject comments, and Growing Success says it is not necessary for teachers to comment on all subjects or strands in that space. Comment where you have something useful to say, and check what your own school expects on top of that.
Is Language one grade or several on the Ontario elementary report card?
One grade. Since the 2023 Language curriculum, the elementary provincial report card carries a single grade for Language, with the four strands listed in the comment area of the form. French as a second language is still reported separately for listening, speaking, reading and writing.
What goes in the learning skills comment box?
The box is labelled Strengths/Next Steps for Improvement, and Growing Success asks the teacher to elaborate on the student's demonstration of the six learning skills and work habits. Pick the two or three skills you have real classroom evidence for, name the strengths with the moment you saw them, then give one next step for school and one thing the family can do at home. It should not be all six letters restated as sentences.
How long can an elementary report card comment be?
There is no provincial number. Growing Success sets no character or word limit; it only says report cards print on letter-size paper with achievement comments in nine-point type. Every limit you meet comes from your board's report card software, and the boxes vary a lot: the learning skills box is usually generous while a single arts box can be tiny. Check your own template before you write thirty comments.
Can I use ChatGPT to write report card comments?
Be very careful. A report card comment contains a minor's personal information: a name attached to achievement and behaviour. Free consumer AI tools can use what you type to train their models, so student names and performance should never be pasted into one. Use a tool your board has approved or one with a clear privacy policy that keeps student data out of training, and read and edit every comment yourself before it goes home.
Where the claims on this page come from
Page numbers are the printed page.
- Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools, First Edition, Covering Grades 1 to 12
- Guide d'appui à la préparation des bulletins scolaires
- Elementary Progress Report Card, Grades 1–6 (form 83-0465E)
- Elementary Provincial Report Card, Grades 1–6 (form 0461E)
- Elementary and secondary report card templates
The AEFO guide is joint AEFO, employer-association and Ministry guidance, not policy. Links checked July 2026. If a source here does not say what we say it says, tell us at /contact/ and we will fix it.
Report card season, minus the blank box
Gradefully keeps your marks, your class lists and your running observations in one place, and drafts each comment in the three-move shape. You still read and edit every one before it goes home.