OAE Foundations of Reading cheat sheet

Ehri's phases of word reading: pre-alphabetic (visual cues), partial alphabetic (some letter-sound links), full alphabetic (complete phoneme-grapheme mapping), consolidated alphabetic (recognition of letter chunks/analogies); instruction should target the phase the reader is in.

Chall's stages: Stage 0 (birth to age 6, emergent literacy), Stage 1 (grades 1-2, decoding and fluency with familiar text), Stage 2 (grades 2-3, confirmation and fluency), Stage 3 (grades 4-8, reading to learn), Stage 4 (high school, multiple viewpoints), Stage 5 (college, construction and reconstruction).

Frith's three-phase model: logographic (whole-word visual), alphabetic (letter-sound decoding), orthographic (automatic recognition of spelling patterns).

Print concepts tested early: front/back of book, directionality (left-to-right, top-to-bottom), return sweep, concept of word (spoken word matches written word), and that print carries meaning.

Alphabetic principle = the understanding that letters represent phonemes in a systematic, predictable way; it is the bridge from oral language to decoding.

Emergent literacy predictors: phonological awareness, letter-name knowledge, letter-sound knowledge, oral vocabulary, and print concepts; letter-name fluency in kindergarten is a strong predictor of later decoding.

Simple View of Reading: Reading Comprehension = Decoding x Language Comprehension; a deficit in either factor limits comprehension, and the two factors are separable for diagnosis.

Orthographic knowledge develops from partial to full spelling representations; repeated exposure to words in text builds the mental lexicon that supports instant word recognition.

Synthetic phonics teaches phonemes in isolation then blends; analytic phonics starts from whole words and analyzes component sounds; both are valid, but systematic explicit phonics outperforms incidental approaches.

Phonological awareness is the umbrella term for awareness of sound structure (syllables, onsets/rimes, phonemes); phonemic awareness is the narrow subset dealing with individual phonemes.

Continuum of difficulty: word awareness -> syllable awareness -> onset-rime -> phoneme blending/segmenting -> phoneme deletion/addition/substitution (hardest).

Phoneme counting, blending, and segmenting are the core phonemic tasks; deletion and manipulation tasks require the highest level of representation.

Phonological awareness instruction should be oral and brief (10-15 minutes), with manipulatives (chips, Elkonin boxes) to anchor sounds to tokens.

Elkonin boxes: one box per phoneme; the child pushes a marker per sound, then writes the grapheme, linking phonemic awareness to phonics.

Rhyming and alliteration are early, easier tasks; they are necessary but insufficient for phonemic awareness and do not substitute for blending/segmenting practice.

A child who can rhyme but cannot segment is at the syllable/onset-rime level, not the phoneme level; instruction should target the phoneme level explicitly.

Phonological awareness in English is measured by tasks such as the Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation and the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP).

Phonemic awareness is a causal predictor of later reading; instruction in phonemic awareness improves both decoding and spelling, especially for at-risk readers.

Consonant digraphs: two letters, one phoneme (sh, ch, th, wh, ph, ck, ng). Consonant blends: two or three consonants each pronounced (bl, str, spl).

Vowel digraphs/teams: two vowels representing one phoneme (ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, ow, oo, ou, oi, oy, au, aw). Diphthongs are gliding vowels (oi/oy, ou/ow).

Silent-e (VCe) rule: final e is silent and usually makes the preceding vowel long (cap -> cape, hop -> hope).

Six syllable types: closed (VC, short vowel), open (V, long vowel), VCe (silent e, long vowel), vowel team, r-controlled (ar, er, ir, or, ur), consonant-le (final stable syllable).

Syllabication heuristics: divide between two consonants (rab-bit), before a consonant-le (ta-ble), after an open syllable (ba-con), and keep digraphs/blends together (thun-der, mons-ter).

Morphemic analysis: prefixes, suffixes, roots, and inflectional endings (-s, -ed, -ing, -er, -est) change meaning or grammatical function; derivational affixes change word class (teach -> teacher).

Structural analysis strategies: compound words, contractions, possessives, and Greek/Latin roots (tele-, -graph, -scope, -tion) support multisyllabic decoding.

Irregular/high-frequency words (said, was, come, they) are taught as sight words with explicit orthographic mapping, not by phonics rules alone.

Decoding assessment: running records and nonsense-word lists (e.g., CTOPP, DIBELS Nonsense Word Fluency) distinguish decoding from sight-word knowledge.

Fluency = accuracy + automaticity + prosody; it is the bridge between word recognition and comprehension.

Oral reading fluency benchmarks: by end of grade 1 roughly 50-60 wcpm, grade 2 roughly 90 wcpm, grade 3 roughly 110 wcpm, grade 4 roughly 120 wcpm, grade 5 roughly 130 wcpm (DIBELS/ORF approximations; local norms vary).

Accuracy criterion for independent-level text is typically 95-100%; instructional level 90-94%; frustration below 90%.

Repeated reading, paired reading, echo reading, choral reading, and Readers Theatre are evidence-based fluency routines.

Prosody indicators: appropriate phrasing, pitch, stress, and expression; prosody correlates with comprehension and can be rated on a 4-point rubric.

Fluency is not speed alone; rate without comprehension or prosody signals a word-recognition or language-comprehension problem, not fluency.

Timed repeated reading with performance feedback and graph monitoring produces larger gains than unmonitored practice.

For students with dyslexia, fluency work should follow accurate decoding; building speed before accuracy is counterproductive.

Tier 1 = basic conversational words; Tier 2 = high-frequency academic words across domains (analyze, contrast, evidence); Tier 3 = domain-specific technical terms (photosynthesis, denominator).

Vocabulary instruction should be explicit, multifaceted, and repeated: definition, context, examples/non-examples, and multiple exposures (at least 6-8 meaningful encounters).

Context clues types: definition, synonym/restatement, antonym/contrast, example, inference, and punctuation clues (dashes, parentheses).

Morphological instruction (roots, prefixes, suffixes) is a generative strategy for academic vocabulary; teaching 20 high-utility roots can unlock hundreds of words.

Semantic maps, concept sorts, word walls, and Frayer models build deep word knowledge and relationships among words.

Breadth (how many words) and depth (how well words are known) are distinct; comprehension depends more on depth of academic vocabulary.

Academic language functions (compare, explain, describe, persuade) require explicit teaching of both vocabulary and sentence frames.

Incidental vocabulary learning from reading is limited for struggling readers; explicit instruction plus wide reading is the recommended combination.

Comprehension strategies: predicting, questioning, visualizing, monitoring/clarifying, summarizing, inferring, and activating prior knowledge; gradual release (model -> guided -> independent) is the instructional sequence.

Text structures: narrative (story grammar: characters, setting, problem, events, resolution) and expository (description, sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution).

Levels of comprehension: literal (explicit), inferential (implied), evaluative/critical (judgment), and applied/creative.

Reciprocal teaching components: predicting, questioning, clarifying, summarizing; students rotate roles.

Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) categories: Right There, Think and Search, Author and Me, On My Own; this teaches where answers come from.

Comprehension depends on background knowledge; building knowledge through content-rich texts and read-alouds improves inference and vocabulary.

Graphic organizers should match the text structure (Venn diagram for compare/contrast, timeline for sequence, cause-effect chain).

Metacognition: self-monitoring, fix-up strategies (reread, look back, adjust rate), and comprehension monitoring are hallmarks of skilled readers.

Close reading routines: multiple readings for different purposes (key ideas, craft/structure, integration of knowledge) with text-dependent questions.

Writing process: planning/prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing; revision addresses content and organization, editing addresses conventions.

6+1 Traits: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation.

Sentence types: simple, compound (coordinating conjunctions FANBOYS), complex (subordinating conjunctions), and compound-complex.

Conventions scope: capitalization, punctuation (period, question, exclamation, comma, apostrophe, quotation marks, colon, semicolon), spelling, grammar/usage, and paragraphing.

Spelling stages: pre-phonemic (scribbles), early phonemic (letter-sound approximations), letter-name (semi-phonetic), within-word (pattern-based), syllable juncture, and derivational relations.

Developmental spelling analysis (e.g., Words Their Way inventories) identifies the instructional level: letter-name, within-word, syllables/affixes, or derivational.

Handwriting fluency and keyboarding are transcription skills that free cognitive resources for composition; automatic transcription supports writing quality.

Writing assessment should use rubrics with explicit criteria and student-friendly models; self-assessment and peer revision improve revision quality.

Screening (universal, brief, predictive), diagnostic (detailed, identifies specific skill deficits), progress monitoring (frequent, sensitive to growth), and outcome (summative) assessments serve different purposes.

Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM): brief, standardized, timed measures (e.g., DIBELS, AIMSweb) used for screening and progress monitoring; slope of improvement guides instructional change.

Reliability = consistency; validity = measures what it claims; a test can be reliable but invalid for a purpose.

Standard scores (mean 100, SD 15), percentile ranks, and stanines are norm-referenced; criterion-referenced tests compare performance to a standard.

Discrepancy vs. response-to-intervention (RTI) identification for specific learning disability: RTI uses universal screening, tiered intervention, and progress monitoring before referral.

Tiers: Tier 1 core (80%), Tier 2 targeted small-group (15%), Tier 3 intensive individualized (5%); movement between tiers is data-driven.

Miscue analysis: substitutions, omissions, insertions, reversals, and self-corrections reveal the cueing systems (meaning, structure, visual) the reader uses.

Informal Reading Inventory (IRI): graded word lists and passages to determine independent, instructional, and frustration levels plus comprehension.

Intervention should be explicit, systematic, cumulative, and multisensory, with fidelity checks and frequent progress monitoring to verify response.

A strong constructed response names the specific skill deficit, cites evidence from the scenario or assessment data, and links the deficit to an evidence-based strategy.

Structure: claim (what the student needs) -> evidence (data from the assessment or observation) -> reasoning (why the strategy addresses the deficit) -> implementation (materials, grouping, duration, progress monitoring).

Use precise terminology: phonological awareness vs. phonemic awareness, decoding vs. comprehension, accuracy vs. rate, screening vs. diagnostic.

When given a running record, report accuracy percentage, error types (meaning/structure/visual), and self-correction rate; then state the instructional implication.

When given a spelling sample, identify the developmental stage, then prescribe word study at that stage rather than grade-level lists.

Intervention plans should specify Tier, group size, minutes per session, frequency, duration, and the specific progress-monitoring measure and decision rule.

Avoid recommending strategies that do not match the deficit (e.g., repeated reading for a phonemic awareness gap; comprehension strategies for a decoding gap).

Justify with research-based principles: explicit instruction, systematic scope and sequence, cumulative review, scaffolding, and corrective feedback.

A complete answer addresses both the student's strengths and needs and explains how progress will be measured and when instruction will be adjusted.