MTTC Reading (005) key terms

The ability to notice, think about, and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words, such as blending or segmenting them, without relying on printed letters. It is a purely oral skill and a strong predictor of later reading success.

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. English has roughly 44 phonemes represented by about 26 letters.

The broader awareness of the sound structure of language, including syllables, rhymes, onsets, and rimes as well as individual phonemes. It develops along a continuum and is the umbrella category that contains phonemic awareness.

The oral task of breaking a spoken word into its separate phonemes, as in /s/ /u/ /n/ for sun. It is a key indicator of phonemic awareness and supports spelling development.

An approach to teaching reading and spelling that emphasizes the predictable relationships between letters or letter patterns and the sounds they represent. Instruction is typically explicit and systematic rather than incidental.

A written letter or group of letters that represents a single phoneme, such as the three letters in the grapheme igh for the long /i/ sound. Graphemes may contain one to four letters.

The mapping between a speech sound and the letter or letters that commonly spell it. Knowledge of these mappings allows readers to decode unfamiliar words and allows writers to encode words they can say.

The process of translating printed words into spoken words by applying knowledge of letter-sound relationships and spelling patterns. Accurate, automatic decoding frees attention for comprehension.

The process of translating spoken words into written form, drawing on phonemic awareness and knowledge of spelling patterns. It is the spelling counterpart of decoding and reveals a student's grasp of sound-symbol relationships.

The two parts of a single-syllable word: the onset is the initial consonant or consonants before the vowel, and the rime is the vowel plus everything after it, as in bl-ock. Recognizing these units supports rhyming and word families.

A unit of pronunciation containing one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants, as in the three beats of com-pu-ter. Syllable awareness helps students divide longer words for reading and spelling.

Two letters that together spell a single sound, such as sh in ship or ea in bread. Digraphs differ from blends because the individual letters do not retain their own sounds.

A written or spoken combination in which two or more consonant sounds are joined but each sound is still heard, as in the st of stop or the bl of blue. Consonant blends are sometimes called clusters.

A vowel sound that glides from one position to another within a single syllable, as in the /oi/ of coin or the /ou/ of house. The tongue moves during production, unlike a pure vowel.

Two or more adjacent letters that together represent one vowel sound, such as ai in rain, ee in feet, or oa in boat. Vowel teams are a frequent focus of phonics instruction beyond the basic code.

The conventional writing system of a language, including its spelling rules, letter patterns, and accepted conventions. English orthography is described as deep because it encodes meaning and word origin as well as sound.

The process of dividing written words into syllables according to spelling conventions, such as separating consonant pairs between syllables in rabbit. It gives readers a strategy for approaching multisyllabic words.

The ability to read text accurately, at an appropriate rate, and with suitable expression. Fluent reading allows the reader to devote cognitive resources to meaning rather than to word identification.

The stage at which word recognition occurs quickly and with little conscious effort after repeated practice. Automatic word identification is a prerequisite for fluent, comprehending reading.

The expressive features of oral reading, including appropriate phrasing, intonation, stress, and pauses. Prosody signals that a reader is grouping words into meaningful units rather than calling words one by one.

The ability to identify a printed word and access its pronunciation and meaning. It develops from effortful decoding toward instant recognition of familiar words, often called sight vocabulary.

Words a reader recognizes immediately and effortlessly without needing to decode them. These are typically high-frequency words that have been encountered repeatedly in reading and instruction.

Words that appear very often in written English, such as the, and, was, and said. Automatic recognition of these words supports fluency because they account for a large share of running text.

The study of the smallest meaningful units of language, called morphemes, and the rules for combining them. Knowledge of morphology helps students decode and infer the meaning of unfamiliar multisyllabic words.

The smallest unit of language that carries meaning, such as the root help or the plural suffix -s. A morpheme may be a whole word or a bound part that must attach to another element.

A morpheme attached to a base or root word to change its meaning or grammatical function. Prefixes attach before the base, as in redo, and suffixes attach after it, as in hopeful.

An affix placed before a base word or root that modifies its meaning, such as un- in unhappy or pre- in preview. Teaching common prefixes gives students a tool for unlocking vocabulary.

An affix placed after a base word or root that changes its meaning or part of speech, such as -less in hopeless or -tion in creation. Suffixes often determine a word's grammatical role.

The core element of a word that carries its basic meaning and to which affixes may be added. Roots may be free, standing alone as in act, or bound, as in the Latin root struct in construct.

The origin and historical development of a word, including the language it came from and how its form and meaning changed. Knowing word origins can explain irregular spellings and deepen vocabulary knowledge.

A group of words that share a common spelling pattern or rime, such as cat, hat, mat, and sat. Studying families helps beginning readers apply known patterns to new words.

An instructional approach in which students use the known pronunciation of a familiar word or word part to decode an unfamiliar word with a similar pattern, such as using cat to read mat. It builds on rime and word-family knowledge.

Phonics instruction that follows a planned sequence of skills and directly teaches each sound-spelling relationship rather than waiting for it to arise incidentally. It is a hallmark of effective early reading programs.

The process of constructing meaning from text by integrating the reader's prior knowledge with information in the text. It is the ultimate goal of reading and depends on both decoding and language understanding.

An organized body of background knowledge stored in memory that a reader brings to a text. Activating relevant schemas helps readers connect new information to what they already know and improves comprehension.

A conclusion drawn by combining clues in the text with the reader's background knowledge when the information is not stated directly. Inferencing is a core comprehension strategy tested frequently.

The most important point a text conveys about its topic, often stated in a topic sentence or implied across a passage. Identifying it requires distinguishing central information from supporting details.

The strategy of briefly restating the key ideas of a text in one's own words while omitting minor details. Effective summaries reflect the text's structure and preserve its central meaning.

The organizational pattern an author uses to arrange ideas, such as cause and effect, compare and contrast, sequence, description, or problem and solution. Recognizing structure supports comprehension and memory of content.

Text written to inform, explain, or describe rather than to tell a story. It typically features factual content, clear organizational patterns, and text features such as headings and diagrams.

Text that tells a story, usually organized around characters, setting, plot, and theme. Understanding story grammar helps readers comprehend and retell fictional selections.

The set of elements commonly found in narratives, including characters, setting, initiating event, internal response, attempts, consequence, and resolution. Instruction in these elements supports comprehension and retelling.

Visual and organizational elements of a text such as headings, captions, bold print, glossaries, indexes, and diagrams. They guide readers to important information, especially in expository material.

Awareness and regulation of one's own thinking while reading, including monitoring whether understanding is occurring and selecting fix-up strategies when it is not. It distinguishes strategic from passive readers.

An instructional technique in which a teacher or student verbalizes the thinking processes used while reading, such as questioning, predicting, or monitoring confusion. It makes invisible comprehension strategies visible to learners.

A small-group instructional approach in which students take turns leading dialogue using four strategies: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing. It builds comprehension and metacognitive control through scaffolded practice.

What a reader already knows about a topic, vocabulary, or text type before reading. Strong relevant prior knowledge compensates for weaker decoding and is essential for making inferences.

The systematic examination of a reader's oral reading errors to understand the strategies being used. Miscues are analyzed for whether they preserve meaning, syntax, and visual information.

An assessment in which a teacher records a student's oral reading verbatim, noting accuracy, error types, and self-corrections. 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 (letter-sound) cues. Skilled readers integrate all three efficiently.

An individually administered assessment that uses graded passages to determine a student's independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels, along with comprehension and oral reading performance.

The estimated difficulty of a text based on factors such as word length, sentence length, and vocabulary. Formulas and leveling systems help teachers match texts to readers.

The overall challenge a text presents, judged through quantitative measures, qualitative features such as structure and knowledge demands, and the match to a reader's purpose. It guides selection of instructional texts.

Temporary support provided by a teacher or more capable peer that enables a student to accomplish a task beyond current independent ability. Support is gradually withdrawn as competence grows.

The range of tasks a learner can complete with guidance but not yet independently. Instruction targeted within this range is most productive and is the basis for scaffolding decisions.

The practice of adjusting content, process, or product to meet varied learner needs within the same classroom. In reading it may involve flexible grouping, varied texts, or alternative response formats.

Temporary, purposeful student groupings that change as needs and skills change, used for targeted reading instruction. Groups are based on assessment data rather than fixed ability labels.

Small-group instruction in which students read texts at their instructional level while the teacher supports strategy use and comprehension. Groupings and text levels are adjusted based on ongoing assessment.