NBPTS Literacy: Reading-Language Arts flashcards
NBPTS Literacy: Reading-Language Arts · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Phonemic awareness
- The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual phonemes in spoken words, such as blending, segmenting, and deleting sounds. It is oral and does not involve printed letters.
- Phonics
- Instruction in the relationship between letters and the sounds they represent, applied to decoding and encoding printed words. It is print-based, unlike purely oral phonemic awareness.
- Phonological awareness
- The broader umbrella term for sensitivity to the sound structure of language, including syllables, onsets and rimes, and phonemes. Phonemic awareness is the most advanced subset.
- Alphabetic principle
- The understanding that speech sounds map onto letters in a systematic, predictable way. It underpins decoding and is a prerequisite for conventional reading and spelling.
- Decoding
- Applying letter-sound knowledge to convert printed words into spoken words. Accurate, automatic decoding frees cognitive resources for meaning construction during reading.
- Encoding
- The reverse of decoding: using sound-symbol knowledge to spell words. Encoding supports and reflects the same underlying phonics knowledge used in reading.
- Fluency
- Reading with accuracy, appropriate rate, and prosody (expression). It bridges word recognition and comprehension; rate without accuracy or expression is an incomplete measure.
- Prosody
- The expressive dimension of fluency: appropriate phrasing, intonation, and stress. It signals that a reader is constructing meaning rather than merely calling words.
- Vocabulary tiers
- Tier 1 everyday words, Tier 2 high-frequency academic words used across domains, and Tier 3 domain-specific terms. Tier 2 words offer the highest instructional payoff.
- Comprehension strategies
- Deliberate mental actions such as predicting, questioning, visualizing, monitoring, summarizing, and making inferences. They are taught through modeling and gradual release, then applied to text.
- Gradual release of responsibility
- An instructional sequence moving from teacher modeling (I do) to guided practice (we do) to independent application (you do). It scaffolds strategy learning toward student autonomy.
- Running record
- An observational assessment recording a student's oral reading, including accuracy rate and miscues. Miscues are analyzed for semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic cueing patterns.
- Miscue analysis
- Examination of oral reading errors to infer the cueing systems a reader uses. A meaning-preserving substitution suggests strategic use of semantic cues rather than decoding failure.
- Three cueing systems
- Semantic (meaning), syntactic (grammar and structure), and graphophonic (letter-sound and visual) information sources readers use to identify words and construct meaning.
- Screening assessment
- A brief measure administered to all students to identify those at risk for reading difficulty. It flags need for further diagnostic assessment rather than pinpointing specific skill gaps.
- Diagnostic assessment
- An in-depth measure used after screening to pinpoint specific skill strengths and gaps, such as in phonemic awareness or decoding. It informs targeted instructional planning.
- Progress monitoring
- Frequent, brief measurement of a student's response to intervention over time. Data guide instructional adjustments and determine whether an intervention is working.
- Summative assessment
- An end-of-period evaluation of achievement against standards, such as a unit test. It differs from formative and progress-monitoring measures that guide ongoing instruction.
- Formative assessment
- Ongoing, in-the-moment gathering of evidence during instruction to adjust teaching. It is low-stakes and used to inform immediate instructional decisions rather than to grade.
- Invented spelling
- Young children's systematic, nonstandard spellings reflecting developing phonics knowledge, such as letter-name strategies. It is a developmental stage, not an error to penalize.
- Emergent literacy
- Early literacy behaviors before conventional reading, including print awareness, oral language, and concepts of print. Foundational for later conventional literacy development.
- Concepts of print
- Understandings such as front-to-back directionality, that print carries meaning, and that words are separated by spaces. These are foundational early literacy skills.
- Reading comprehension
- Constructing meaning from text by integrating word recognition, vocabulary, background knowledge, and strategic reasoning. It is the ultimate goal of reading instruction.
- Inferential comprehension
- Deriving meaning not explicitly stated by connecting textual clues with background knowledge. It contrasts with literal comprehension, which relies on explicitly stated information.
- Schema theory
- The idea that readers interpret text through organized prior knowledge structures. Activating and building relevant schema improves comprehension and retention of new information.
- Text structure
- How information is organized in a text, such as compare-contrast, cause-effect, sequence, or problem-solution. Recognizing structure supports comprehension and recall.
- Balanced literacy
- An instructional framework combining explicit skills instruction with authentic reading and writing, often including read-aloud, shared, guided, and independent reading.
- Guided reading
- Small-group instruction in which students read leveled texts at similar instructional levels while the teacher scaffolds and coaches strategic reading behaviors.
- Interactive writing
- A shared writing activity where teacher and students compose text together, negotiating spelling and conventions. It builds phonics, concepts of print, and writing skills.
- Word study
- Instruction examining word patterns, spelling features, and morphology rather than rote memorization. It develops orthographic knowledge supporting both reading and spelling.
- Morphology
- The study of meaningful word parts, such as prefixes, roots, and suffixes. Morphological knowledge supports vocabulary growth and decoding of multisyllabic words.
- Reader response theory
- The view that meaning arises from the transaction between reader and text, shaped by the reader's experiences. It supports literature discussion and personal interpretation.