Foundations of Reading: Important Vocabulary

Accuracy (part of fluency):

Reading words in text with no errors

Affix

A general term that refers to prefixes and suffixes.

After-Reading Comprehension Strategie

Strategies that require the reader to actively transform key information in text that has been read (e.g., summarizing, retelling).

Alphabetic Principle

The concept that letters and letter combinations represent individual phonemes in written words.

Ample Opportunities for Student Practice

Students are asked to apply what they have been taught in order to accomplish specific reading tasks. Practice should follow in a logical relationship with what has just been taught. Once skills are internalized, students are provided with more opportunities to independently implement previously learned information.

Analogy

Comparing two sets of words to show some common similarity between the sets. When done as a vocabulary exercise this requires producing one of the words (e.g., cat is to kitten as dog is to _____?).

Antonym

A word opposite in meaning to another word

Automaticity

Reading without conscious effort or attention to decoding.

Base Word

A unit of meaning that can stand alone as a whole word (e.g., friend, pig). Also called a free morpheme

Blending

The task of combining sounds rapidly, to accurately represent the word. 2 sounds that each can hear.

Choral Reading/Chanting

Two or more individuals reading aloud from the same text-this can help students to develop oral reading fluency.

Chunked Text

Continuous text that has been separated into meaningful phrases often with the use of single and double slash marks (/ and //). The intent of using chunked text or chunking text is to give children an opportunity to practice reading phrases fluently.

Chunking

A decoding strategy for breaking words into manageable parts (e.g., yes/ter/day). Chunking also refers to the process of dividing a sentence into smaller phrases where pauses might occur naturally (e.g., When the sun appeared after the storm, / the newly fallen snow. shimmered like diamonds).

Comprehension

Understanding what one is reading, the ultimate goal of all reading activity.

Concepts About Print

The understanding an individual has about the rules or accepted practices that govern the use of print and the use of written language. For example concepts about print include: reading left to right, top to bottom, words are made of letters, use of spaces between words, use of upper case letters, spelling patterns, punctuation, etc.

Concept Definition Mapping

Provides a visual framework for organizing conceptual information in the process of defining a word or concept. The framework contains the category, properties, and example of the word or concept.

Connected Text

Words that are linked (as opposed to words in a list) as in sentences, phrases, and paragraphs.

Consonant Blend

Two or more consecutive consonants which retain their individual sounds

Consonant Digraph

Two consecutive consonants that represent one phoneme, or sound (e.g., ch, sh).

Context/Context Cues

Information from the surrounding text that helps identify or gives meaning to a specific word or phrase i.e. “yesterday I read the book”. The words surrounding “read” help us know how to pronounce it.

Context Clue

Using words or sentences around an unfamiliar word to help clarify its meaning.

Conventional Spelling

Spelling that is in the standard or correct form for written documents.

Cueing System

Any of the various sources of information that may aid identification of a word such as: graphophonics, semantic and syntactic information.

Decodable Text

Text in which a high proportion of words (80%-90%) comprise sound-symbol relationships that have already been taught. It is used for the purpose of providing practice with specific decoding skills and is a bridge between learning phonics and the application of phonics in independent reading.

Decodable Words

Words containing phonic elements that were previously taught

Decoding

The ability to translate a word from print to speech, usually by employing knowledge of sound-symbol correspondences; also the act of deciphering a new word by sounding it out.

Diagnostic

Diagnostic tests can be used to measure a variety of reading, language, or cognitive skills. Although they can be given as soon as a screening test indicates a child is behind in reading growth, they will usually be given only if a child fails to make adequate progress after being given extra help in learning to read. They are designed to provide a more precise and detailed picture of the full range of a child’s knowledge and skill so that instruction can be more precisely planned.

Digraphs

A group of two consecutive letters whose phonetic value is a single sound (e.g., ea in bread; ch in chart; ng in sing).

Diphthong

A vowel produced by the tongue shifting position during articulation; a vowel that feels as if it has two parts, especially the vowels spelled ow, oy, ou, and oi.

Discourse

How we combine sentences to communicate ideas.

Echo Reading

Reading of a text where an adult or experienced reader reads a line of text, and the student repeats the line. A good technique for Emergent and Early Readers to build fluency and expression.

Elkonin Boxes

A framework used during phonemic awareness instruction. Elkonin Boxes are sometimes referred to as Sound Boxes. When working with words, the teacher can draw one box per sound for a target word. Students push a marker into one box as the segment each sound in the word.

Emergent Reader

a reader who is developing an association of print with meaning – the early stages of learning to read.

Expository Text

Text that reports factual information (also referred to as informational text) and the relationships among ideas. Expository text tends to be more difficult for students

Five Components of Reading

Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Floss Rule

Words of one syllable, ending in f, l, or s – after one vowel, usually ending in ff, ll, or ss (sounds /f/, /l/, /s/).

Fluency

Ability to read text quickly, accurately, and with proper expression. Fluency provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension.

Fluency Probe

An assessment for measuring fluency, usually a timed oral reading passage at the student’s instructional reading level.

Frustrational Reading Level

The level at which a reader reads at less than a 90% accuracy (i.e., one or more errors per 10 words read). Frustration level text is difficult text for the reader.

Grammar Conventions

the rules, or accepted practices, that govern the use of grammar in written or spoken language.

Grapheme

A letter or letter combination that spells a phoneme; can be one, two, three, or four letters in English (e.g., e, ei, igh, eigh)

Graphophonics (Phonics)

referring to the relationship between the letters and the letter sounds of a language

Graphophonemic Knowledge

Knowledge of the relationships between letters and phonemes.

Guided or Supported Reading

a method by which an experienced reader provides structure and purpose, and models strategies in order to move beginning readers towards independence

High Frequency Word

a small group of words (300-500) that account for a large percentage of the words in print and can be regular or irregular words. Often, they are referred to as “sight words” since automatic recognition of these words is required for fluent reading

Homograph

Words that are spelled the same but have different origins and meanings. They may or may not be pronounced the same

Implicit Instruction

Students discover skills and concepts instead of being explicitly taught

Independent Reading Level

The level at which a reader can read text with 95% accuracy (i.e., no more than one error per 20 words read)

Independent-Instructional Reading Level Range

The reading range that spans instructional and independent reading levels or level of text that a student can read with 90% to 95% or above accuracy.

Inference

: Drawing meaning from a combination of clues in the text without explicit reference to the text. “The sky was dark and cloudy so I took my umbrella.”

Inflectional Suffix

a suffix that expresses plurality or possession when added to a noun, tense when added to a verb, and comparison when added to an adjective and some adverbs.

Informational Test

Non-fiction books, also referred to as expository text, that contain facts and information.

Invented Spelling

An attempt by beginning writers to spell a word when the standard spelling is unknown, using whatever knowledge of sounds or visual patterns the writer has.

Inversions

Reversal or “flipping” of letters either horizontally or vertically, i.e.: p-d, or b-d, mw, u-n. Not unusual for Emergent writers or readers.

Language Experience Approach

a method of teaching reading by using the reader’s own dictated language

Letter Recognition

The identification of individual letters by name and/or sound in a variety of contexts.

Letter-Sound Correspondence

Making a connection between individual letters and the sounds they represent

Literal Comprehension

Understanding of the basic facts that the student has read

Miscue

Any substitution of a word in a text that a reader makes.

Modeled Reading

An experienced reader’s oral reading of a text to aid students in learning strategies, understanding intonation and expression, and the use of punctuation, among other aspects of reading.

Metacognition

An awareness of one’s own thinking processes and how they work

Morpheme

The smallest meaningful unit of language

Morphology

The system of meaningful parts from which words may be created.

Oddities

Vowels that are pronounced differently from the expected pronunciation (e.g., the “o” in old is pronounced /ō/ instead of the expected /o/)

Onset and Rime

In a syllable, the onset is the initial consonant or consonants, and the rime is the vowel and any consonants that follow it (e.g., the word sat, the onset is s and the rime is at. In the word flip, the onset is fl and the rime is ip).

Orthographic Units

The representation of the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols.

Partner/Peer Reading

Reading aloud taking turns with a partner who provides word identification help and feedback

Pattern Story or Cumulative Story

A story that has many elements or language patterns repeated until the climax; a predictable text.

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound within our language system. A phoneme combines with other phonemes to make words.

Phoneme Isolation

Recognizing individual sounds in a word (e.g., /p/ is the first sound in pan)

Phoneme Manipulation

Adding, deleting, and substituting sounds in words (e.g., add /b/ to out to make boat; delete /p/ in pan to make at; substitute /o/ for /a/ in a pat to make pot).

Phonemic Awareness

The ability to notice, think about, or manipulate the individual phonemes (sounds) in words. It is the ability to understand that sounds in spoken language work together to make words.

Phonics

The study of the relationships between letters and the sounds they represent; also used to describe reading instruction that teaches sound-symbol correspondences.

Phonics Approach

Teaching reading and spelling in a way that stresses the connection between letters and the sounds they represent, teaches the dissection of words into parts and then blending the sounds together again. Phonics can be taught directly or can be incorporated in ongoing reading and writing.

Phonogram

A succession of letters that represent the same phonological unit in different words, such as igh in flight, might, tight, sigh, and high.

Phonological Awareness

One’s sensitivity to, or explicit awareness of, the phonological structure of words in one’s language.

Phonology

The speech-sound system.

Picture Cues

Use of images that accompany and reflect the content of a text to help readers figure out words and understand the meaning of text.

Prefix

A morpheme that precedes a root and that contributes to or modifies the meaning of a word as re-in reprint.

Print Conventions/Conventions of Print:

The understanding an individual has about the rules or accepted practices that govern the use of print in the use of written language: for example concepts about print include: reading left to right, top to bottom, words are made of letters, use of spaces between words, use of upper case letters, spelling patterns, punctuation, etc.

Prosody

Reading with expression, proper intonation, and phrasing. This helps readers to sound as if they are speaking the part they are reading

Rate

the speed at which a person reads.

Readability Level

refers to independent, instructional, and frustrational levels of text reading

Retelling

Recalling the content of what was read or heard.

Rhyming

Words that have the same ending sound

Root

A bound morpheme, usually of Latin origin, that cannot stand alone but is used to form a family of words with related meanings

Schema

Refers to prior knowledge, the knowledge and experience that readers bring to the text.

Schwa

The vowel sound sometimes heard in an unstressed syllable and is most often sounded as ‘uh’ or as the short ‘u’ sound as in ‘cup.’

Self Monitoring

Paying attention to one’s own reading process while reading, and taking steps to reread or make corrections as needed to make sense of the text.

Sight Words

Words that are recognized immediately. Sometimes sight words are thought to be irregular, or high frequency

Spelling Patterns

Refers to digraphs, vowel pairs, word families, and vowel variant spellings

Suffix

An affix attached to the end of a base, root, or stem that changes the meaning or grammatical function of the word, as –en in oxen.

Syllable

A segment of a word that contains one vowel sound. The vowel may or may not be preceded and/or followed by a consonant.

Syntax

The pattern or structure of word order in sentences, clauses and phrases; the grammatical rules that govern language.

Systematic Phonics Instruction

Systematic phonics programs teach children an extensive, prespecified set of letter-sound correspondences or phonograms. Target Words: Words that are specifically addressed, analyzed, and/o

The Writing Process

A view of teaching writing as an ongoing process involving several steps such as: planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing.

Vowel Digraph or Vowel Pair

Two vowels together that represent one phoneme, or sound (e.g., ae, ai, oa).

Word Analysis/Word Attack StrategiesThe process of using strategies to figure out or decode unfamiliar words.

The process of using strategies to figure out or decode unfamiliar words