MTEL Foundations of Reading (190) key terms

The broad ability to notice and work with the sound structure of spoken language, including syllables, rhymes, and individual sounds, without necessarily linking those sounds to letters.

The specific ability to hear and manipulate individual phonemes in spoken words, such as blending, segmenting, and deleting sounds; it is a subskill of phonological awareness and does not involve print.

The smallest unit of sound in a spoken language that can distinguish one word from another, as the /b/ in bat versus the /k/ in cat.

A written letter or group of letters that represents a single phoneme in spelling, such as the two letters sh standing for one sound.

Instruction in the predictable relationships between letters and the sounds they represent, used to help readers decode unfamiliar printed words.

The process of converting printed letters into spoken sounds and blending them to recognize or pronounce a written word.

The reverse of decoding: translating spoken words into written form by matching sounds to letters, as in spelling a dictated word.

The understanding that speech is composed of sounds and that letters systematically represent those sounds, which underlies all phonics learning.

Awareness of the conventional letter patterns and spelling rules of a language, including which sequences are legal and how words are typically written.

A word a reader recognizes instantly and effortlessly without needing to decode it; it may be irregular or simply very familiar.

The two parts of a syllable: the onset is the initial consonant or consonants, and the rime is the vowel and everything after it, as in /str/ and /ing/.

A unit of pronunciation containing one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants, that is produced as a single beat in a word.

The smallest meaningful unit of language, which may be a whole word or a bound part such as a prefix or suffix that carries meaning.

The study of how words are built from meaningful parts, including roots, prefixes, and suffixes, and how those parts change meaning or grammatical function.

A bound morpheme attached to a base word to alter its meaning or grammatical role, such as a prefix added to the front or a suffix added to the end.

The ability to read text accurately, at an appropriate rate, and with suitable expression, which frees attention for comprehension.

The stage at which word recognition requires little conscious effort, allowing the reader to devote mental resources to understanding meaning.

The expressive features of oral reading, including appropriate pitch, stress, and phrasing, that reflect a reader's understanding of sentence meaning.

The body of words a person understands and can use; breadth and depth of word knowledge strongly support reading comprehension.

Information in surrounding text or sentence structure that helps a reader infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word.

The construction of meaning from text by integrating word knowledge, background knowledge, and reasoning about what is read.

A reader's organized prior knowledge about a topic, which is activated during reading and helps link new information to what is already known.

A conclusion drawn by combining clues in the text with the reader's background knowledge when the information is not stated directly.

A reader's awareness and regulation of their own thinking, including monitoring whether understanding is occurring and selecting strategies to repair it.

An instructional technique in which a teacher or student verbalizes the thinking processes used while reading or solving a task, making strategies visible.

An assessment in which a teacher records a student's oral reading, marking accurate, substituted, omitted, and inserted words to analyze error patterns and accuracy.

The systematic examination of a reader's oral reading errors to determine whether they are meaning-based, structure-based, or visual-based, guiding instruction.

A graded set of passages and questions used to estimate a student's independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels through oral reading and comprehension checks.

The early reading and writing behaviors of young children, such as handling books and recognizing print, that develop before conventional reading instruction begins.

Basic understandings about written language, including that print carries meaning, moves left to right, and consists of letters, words, and sentences.

An instructional approach that combines explicit skill instruction, such as phonics, with rich reading, writing, and discussion experiences to address multiple components of literacy.

Temporary support a teacher provides, such as prompts or models, that is gradually removed as a learner gains competence with a task.

The range of tasks a learner can accomplish with assistance but not yet independently, which defines where instruction should be aimed.

Planning and adjusting instruction, materials, or grouping to match the varied readiness levels and needs of students in a classroom.

Direct, clear teaching of a skill through explanation, modeling, guided practice, and feedback, rather than expecting students to discover it on their own.

Frequent, brief assessment of a student's growth in a skill over time, used to judge whether an intervention is working and to adjust instruction.