OAE English Language Arts (020) cheat sheet

English Language Arts

• Phonological awareness is sound-based and oral (rhyming, syllable counting, phoneme blending/segmentation); phonics is the letter-sound correspondence system used to decode print.

• The five essential components of reading instruction are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension; fluency bridges word recognition and comprehension.

• Decoding strategies: CVC words use closed syllables (short vowel); silent-e makes the vowel long; vowel teams and r-controlled vowels each follow predictable patterns.

• Text complexity for grade-level placement is judged on three axes: quantitative (readability measures), qualitative (structure, knowledge demands, levels of meaning), and reader/task considerations.

• Literary analysis elements: plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution), characterization (direct vs. indirect), point of view, setting, theme, and tone vs. mood.

• Figurative language terms: simile (like/as), metaphor (direct comparison), personification, hyperbole, oxymoron, and symbolism; imagery appeals to the senses.

• The writing process stages are prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing; revision addresses content and organization, editing addresses conventions.

• Genres and forms: narrative, expository/informative, argumentative, and descriptive; poetry forms include sonnet, ballad, haiku, and free verse, distinguished by meter, rhyme, and stanza structure.

• Research and citation: primary vs. secondary sources; MLA and APA differ in discipline focus and in-text citation format (author-page vs. author-date).