FTCE Reading K-12 study plan

Define and contrast the five essential components of reading instruction (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension) and state how each interacts with the others

Trace the historical shift from the reading wars to evidence-based instruction, naming at least three converging research findings that shaped current practice

Map the major theoretical models of reading (simple view of reading, Scarborough's reading rope, automaticity theory) and explain what each predicts about struggling readers

Identify the stages of literacy development from emergent through advanced and list observable behaviors at each stage

Distinguish phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics, and give a classroom example of each that a grader could classify unambiguously

Segment and manipulate words by syllable, onset-rime, and phoneme, correctly counting phonemes in at least 20 sample words including digraphs and vowel teams

Sequence a phonological awareness continuum from rhyme and syllable work through phoneme blending, segmenting, deletion, and substitution

Select or design two brief phonological awareness activities appropriate for small-group intervention

Classify the six syllable types and apply syllable division rules to decode 20 multisyllabic words

Explain the alphabetic principle and contrast synthetic, analytic, and embedded phonics approaches with a stated evidence position

Build a scope and sequence for phonics instruction covering consonants, short vowels, digraphs, blends, silent-e, vowel teams, r-controlled vowels, and multisyllabic patterns

Describe how decodable text supports phonics application and state criteria for selecting it

Define fluency in terms of rate, accuracy, and prosody, and explain why prosody signals comprehension rather than speed

Calculate words correct per minute and accuracy percentage from sample oral reading data, and interpret the results against grade-level expectations

Distinguish repeated reading, echo reading, choral reading, and paired reading, and match each to a reader profile

Identify the components of vocabulary knowledge (breadth, depth, receptive, expressive) and explain the Matthew effect in vocabulary growth

Compare explicit, implicit, and incidental vocabulary instruction and design a Tier 2 word-teaching routine using context, morphology, and multiple exposures

Apply morphological analysis to derive meaning from affixes and roots in 15 academic words

Distinguish narrative and expository text structures and identify the signal words that reveal each

Explain the gradual release of responsibility model (I do, we do, you do) as it applies to comprehension strategy instruction

Describe and differentiate the core comprehension strategies: predicting, questioning, visualizing, monitoring, summarizing, and text structure awareness

Explain how background knowledge and schema influence comprehension and describe two ways to build it before reading

Distinguish literal, inferential, and evaluative questioning, and write two questions at each level for a short passage you compose

Explain the role of metacognition and self-monitoring in skilled comprehension and describe a fix-up strategy set

Distinguish screening, diagnostic, progress-monitoring, and outcome assessments, and state the purpose and typical timing of each

Interpret standard scores, percentile ranks, and grade equivalents, and explain why grade equivalents mislead

Describe the components of a comprehensive reading assessment and identify which component measures which of the five essential skills

Explain curriculum-based measurement and how to set a measurable goal from baseline data

Apply a response-to-intervention or multi-tiered framework to place three hypothetical readers in Tier 1, 2, or 3 with stated decision criteria

Design a data-based intervention plan for one struggling reader including baseline, goal, method, and review schedule

Evaluate the evidence base for common instructional practices and identify which are supported and which are not

Synthesize all four domains into a coherent instructional philosophy statement grounded in research