FTCE Reading K-12 cheat sheet

The Simple View of Reading: Reading Comprehension = Decoding × Language Comprehension; a deficit in either factor limits overall reading comprehension.

Five essential components of reading instruction (National Reading Panel, 2000): phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Three-tier RTI/MTSS model: Tier 1 is core classroom instruction for all students; Tier 2 is targeted small-group intervention; Tier 3 is intensive individualized intervention.

Scarborough's Reading Rope: word recognition strands (phonological awareness, decoding, sight recognition) intertwine with language comprehension strands (background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning, literacy knowledge).

The Four-Part Processing Model for word recognition (Adams): phonological processor (speech sounds), orthographic processor (letter patterns), meaning processor (semantics), and context processor (sentence context).

Chall's stages of reading development: Stage 0 (prereading, birth–6), Stage 1 (initial reading/decoding, 6–7), Stage 2 (confirmation/fluency, 7–8), Stage 3 (reading to learn, 8–14), Stage 4 (multiple viewpoints, 14–18), Stage 5 (construction and reconstruction, 18+).

Print concepts develop before formal reading: directionality (left-to-right, top-to-bottom), front/back of book, and the difference between letters, words, and sentences.

The Matthew effect (Stanovich): early reading success leads to more reading and greater growth, while early difficulty leads to less reading and widening gaps.

Evidence-based instruction is explicit, systematic, cumulative, and diagnostic; it includes modeling, guided practice, and independent application.

Phonological awareness is the umbrella term for awareness of sounds in spoken language at the syllable, onset-rime, and phoneme levels; phonemic awareness is the most advanced level, focusing on individual phonemes.

The phonemic awareness continuum: phoneme isolation (identify a sound) → phoneme identity (same sound in different words) → phoneme categorization (odd one out) → phoneme blending (combine sounds) → phoneme segmentation (break apart) → phoneme deletion/addition/substitution (manipulate).

Blending and segmenting are the strongest phonemic awareness predictors of later reading success; both should be taught explicitly.

A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that distinguishes meaning (e.g., /b/ vs. /p/ in bat/pat); English has approximately 44 phonemes.

Phonemic awareness tasks are oral/aural and do not involve letters; phonics tasks involve matching sounds to letters.

Onset is the initial consonant(s) before the vowel in a syllable; rime is the vowel and everything after it (e.g., in 'cat', onset = /k/, rime = /æt/).

Syllable awareness develops before phoneme awareness; activities include clapping syllables and counting words in sentences.

Rhyming and alliteration are early phonological awareness skills that support later phonemic awareness.

English includes consonant digraphs (two letters, one sound: sh, ch, th, wh, ph) and vowel teams (two vowels, one sound: ai, ee, oa); these are phonics concepts, not separate phonemes.

Phonics is the relationship between letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes); systematic phonics instruction teaches these relationships in a defined sequence.

Consonant blends (e.g., bl, st, str) are two or three consonants whose sounds are blended together; each letter retains its sound, unlike digraphs.

Vowel digraphs/teams (ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, ow) represent one vowel sound; diphthongs (oi/oy, ou/ow) involve a glide from one vowel sound to another.

The six syllable types: closed (VC), open (V), vowel-consonant-e (VCe), vowel team (VV), r-controlled (Vr), and consonant-le (Cle).

Syllabication rules: divide between two consonants (VC-CV), keep consonant blends/digraphs together, and divide before a consonant-le ending.

Fluency comprises accuracy, automaticity, and prosody (expression); it is the bridge between word recognition and comprehension.

Fluency benchmarks are often expressed as correct words per minute (cwpm); typical end-of-year goals: Grade 1 ~60, Grade 2 ~90, Grade 3 ~110, Grade 4 ~120, Grade 5 ~130 (varies by measure).

Repeated reading, paired reading, and reader's theater are evidence-based fluency strategies; timed repeated readings with feedback improve rate and accuracy.

Decodable texts align with the phonics sequence being taught; predictable texts rely on repetition and picture cues and do not reinforce phonics.

Vocabulary types: receptive (understanding words heard/read) vs. expressive (using words in speaking/writing); oral vs. print; and tiered vocabulary (Tier 1 basic, Tier 2 high-frequency academic, Tier 3 domain-specific).

Effective vocabulary instruction includes direct explanation of word meanings, multiple exposures in varied contexts, and opportunities for active processing (e.g., semantic mapping, word sorts).

Comprehension strategies: activating prior knowledge, predicting, questioning, monitoring, visualizing, summarizing, and text structure analysis.

Narrative text structure elements: characters, setting, problem, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution/theme.

Expository text structures: description, sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect, and problem/solution; signal words (e.g., because, however, first) help identify structure.

Question-answer relationships (QAR): right there (literal), think and search (integration), author and me (inferential), and on my own (evaluative).

Bloom's revised taxonomy (remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create) can guide comprehension question levels.

Close reading involves repeated readings of complex text with text-dependent questions focused on craft, structure, and integration of knowledge.

The gradual release of responsibility model (I do, we do, you do) supports comprehension strategy instruction.

Assessment types: screening (identify at-risk students), diagnostic (pinpoint specific skill deficits), progress monitoring (track response to intervention), and outcome/summative (evaluate program effectiveness).

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) uses brief, standardized probes (e.g., oral reading fluency, maze) administered frequently to monitor progress.

Reliability refers to consistency of scores; validity refers to whether an assessment measures what it claims to measure.

Norm-referenced tests compare a student to a norm group; criterion-referenced tests compare performance to a predetermined standard or skill set.

Data-based decision making: use screening data to group students, progress-monitoring data to adjust intervention, and diagnostic data to select targeted strategies.

The RTI/MTSS problem-solving model: define the problem, analyze why it occurs, implement an intervention, and evaluate the response.

Evidence-based intervention programs for struggling readers often include explicit phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency practice, and comprehension strategy instruction, delivered with fidelity.

Formative assessment (ongoing, informal) informs daily instruction; summative assessment (end-of-unit/year) evaluates learning outcomes.

Accommodations (e.g., extended time, oral administration) change how a student accesses content without changing what is measured; modifications change the content or expectations.