Foundations of Reading Test (FoRT) key terms

The ability to notice and work with the sound structure of spoken language without relying on meaning or letters. It includes hearing syllables, rhymes, and individual sounds, and it develops before phonics instruction begins.

The most specific level of phonological awareness: the ability to identify, blend, segment, and manipulate individual phonemes in spoken words. It is a strong predictor of later decoding success and is taught orally, without print.

The smallest unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another in a language, such as the three sounds in /s/ /u/ /n/. Phonemes are sounds, not letters, so a single phoneme may be spelled in several ways.

A written letter or letter group that represents a phoneme. A grapheme may be one letter (b), two letters (sh), three (igh), or four (eigh), and mapping graphemes to phonemes is the core of phonics.

The understanding that speech sounds are represented by letters in a predictable system, so readers can use letters to identify words. Grasping this principle marks the shift from visual memorization to decoding.

Instruction in the predictable relationships between letters and sounds and how to apply them to read and spell words. Effective phonics is explicit, systematic, and sequenced from simple to complex patterns.

Using knowledge of letter-sound relationships to convert printed words into spoken words. Accurate decoding frees attention for meaning, and fluent decoding is a bridge to comprehension rather than an end in itself.

The reverse of decoding: using sound knowledge to select letters and spell words. Spelling reveals what a reader knows about orthographic patterns and is often used to diagnose phonics gaps.

Two letters that together spell one phoneme, as in sh, ch, th, and ck. Consonant digraphs are distinct from blends, in which each letter keeps its own sound.

A consonant cluster in which each letter's sound is pronounced, as in st, bl, and str. Blends differ from digraphs because no new single sound is produced; the sounds are simply joined.

A vowel sound that glides from one position to another within a single syllable, as in the vowel of boy or cow. The written form may be one letter or a vowel team.

Categories of syllables based on their spelling and vowel pattern, commonly closed, open, vowel-consonant-e, vowel team, r-controlled, and consonant-le. Knowing them helps students divide and decode longer words.

The process of dividing a written word into syllables using patterns such as vowel-consonant-consonant-vowel and consonant-le endings. It supports decoding of multisyllabic words and spelling accuracy.

The smallest unit of meaning in a word, either free (stand, book) or bound (-ed, un-, -ness). Morphological awareness helps students read and spell longer words and infer unfamiliar word meanings.

The study of how words are built from meaningful parts, including roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Instruction in morphology supports vocabulary growth, spelling, and comprehension of academic words.

A bound morpheme attached to a base or root word, either as a prefix (re-, pre-) or a suffix (-less, -tion). Affixes change meaning or part of speech and are a productive source of new vocabulary.

The origin and historical development of a word, including its route through Latin, Greek, or other languages. Knowing word origins helps students understand spelling irregularities and academic vocabulary.

Understanding of the conventional spelling patterns and letter sequences of a language, such as when to double a consonant or use -tch. It supports both accurate spelling and rapid word recognition.

The ability to recognize words accurately and quickly with little conscious effort. Automatic word recognition conserves cognitive resources for comprehension and is a key component of reading fluency.

Reading text with accuracy, appropriate rate, and meaningful expression. Fluency links word recognition and comprehension, and it is best assessed with oral reading plus comprehension checks rather than rate alone.

The expressive features of oral reading, including pitch, stress, phrasing, and pauses that reflect meaning. Weak prosody often signals that a reader is decoding word by word without comprehension.

The store of word meanings a reader can access, ranging from shallow recognition to deep understanding of nuance and use. It strongly predicts comprehension and is built through wide reading and explicit instruction.

Words and phrases used across content areas in school texts, such as analyze, evidence, and contrast, plus subject-specific terms. Explicit teaching of these words supports comprehension of informational text.

Information in surrounding text or illustrations that helps a reader infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word. Instruction should teach readers to use clues flexibly and to verify inferences against other sources.

The organized background knowledge a reader brings to a text, including concepts, experiences, and expectations. Activating and building schema before and during reading supports inference and retention.

Drawing a conclusion that is not stated directly by combining text information with background knowledge. Inference is central to comprehension and is supported by explicit modeling and text-based questioning.

A reader's awareness of whether understanding is occurring and the use of repair strategies when it is not. Proficient readers notice confusion and reread, slow down, or use context to restore meaning.

Thinking about one's own thinking, including planning, monitoring, and evaluating during reading. Metacognitive strategies help students transfer comprehension skills to new texts and tasks.

The organizational pattern of a text, such as description, sequence, compare-contrast, cause-effect, or problem-solution. Recognizing structure helps readers anticipate content and organize ideas for recall.

Text that tells a story, typically with characters, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution. Narrative structure supports retelling, story grammar instruction, and early comprehension development.

Informational text written to explain, describe, or persuade, often using headings, diagrams, and technical vocabulary. Its density and structure require explicit instruction in main idea and text features.

A student's oral or written recounting of a text, including key events or ideas and sometimes sequence and detail. Retelling assesses comprehension and oral language and can guide instruction.

Systematic examination of a reader's oral reading errors to determine whether they are meaning-based, syntax-based, or visual. The pattern of miscues reveals the strategies a reader uses and needs.

An assessment in which a teacher records a student's oral reading, marking accuracy, errors, self-corrections, and fluency. It yields an accuracy rate and informs instructional grouping and text selection.

The sources of information readers use to identify words and construct meaning: semantic (meaning), syntactic (grammar), and graphophonic (letters and sounds). Proficient readers integrate all three flexibly.

An individually administered assessment that uses graded word lists and passages to estimate a student's independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels. Results guide text selection and grouping.

Categories describing how well a text matches a reader: independent (read easily alone), instructional (read with support), and frustration (too difficult). Matching texts to levels supports growth without overload.

Frequent, brief assessment of a student's growth in a targeted skill, such as oral reading fluency or letter-sound knowledge. Data are graphed and used to adjust instruction within a response-to-intervention framework.

Ongoing assessment used during instruction to identify what students understand and to adjust teaching. It contrasts with summative assessment, which evaluates learning at the end of a unit.

Planning instruction so that content, process, or product varies with students' readiness, interests, and learning profiles. In reading, it often means flexible grouping and varied text difficulty.

Temporary support that lets a learner complete a task beyond independent ability, gradually withdrawn as competence grows. Examples include modeling, prompts, graphic organizers, and guided practice.

The range of tasks a learner can accomplish with guidance but not yet alone. Instruction targeted within this range, with appropriate support, produces the most growth in reading skills.

An instructional sequence moving from teacher modeling to guided practice to independent application. It is often summarized as I do, we do, you do and is used for comprehension strategy instruction.

A small-group comprehension routine in which students take turns predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing. The dialogue makes expert comprehension strategies visible and gradually transfers control to students.

A visual display such as a web, timeline, or Venn diagram that represents relationships among ideas in a text. Organizers support comprehension, planning, and retention, especially with expository text.

Repeated, purposeful reading of a short complex text to analyze details, craft, and argument using text evidence. It emphasizes rereading and text-dependent questions rather than personal response alone.

Questions answerable only by referring to the text rather than to prior opinion or general knowledge. They require students to locate evidence and explain how it supports an interpretation.

Specific words, sentences, or details from a text used to support a claim, inference, or analysis. Instruction in citing evidence strengthens argument writing and comprehension of complex texts.

The difficulty of a text as judged by qualitative features (levels of meaning, structure, knowledge demands), quantitative measures (readability), and reader-task considerations. It guides text selection for instruction.