Praxis 5002 cheat sheet

Phonological awareness is the umbrella, entirely oral skill of noticing the sound structure of speech (words in sentences, syllables, onsets and rimes, phonemes); phonemic awareness is the narrow subset dealing with individual phonemes.

The developmental continuum runs from larger to smaller units: word awareness, then syllable segmentation, then onset-rime, then phoneme blending and segmenting, then phoneme manipulation (deletion, addition, substitution).

Phonics is the teaching of grapheme-phoneme correspondences; it is most effective when explicit, systematic, and taught alongside phonemic awareness and connected text.

Consonant digraphs are two letters representing one sound (sh, ch, th, wh, ph, ck); consonant blends are two or three consonants in which every letter sound is still heard (bl, st, str, spr).

Silent-e (VCe) usually marks a long vowel (cap to cape); an open syllable ends in a vowel and is usually long (go, ta-ble); a closed syllable ends in a consonant and is usually short (cat, rab-bit).

The six syllable types are closed, open, silent-e (VCe), vowel team, r-controlled, and consonant-le; multisyllabic words are decoded by dividing them into these pronounceable chunks.

The alphabetic principle is the understanding that letters and letter patterns map onto the sounds of spoken words, enabling decoding of unfamiliar print.

Orthographic mapping is the binding of a word's spelling, pronunciation, and meaning in memory so it is recognized instantly; it requires accurate decoding plus repeated exposure, not visual memorization of whole shapes.

Fluency has three components: accuracy, automaticity, and prosody; it is commonly measured as words correct per minute (WCPM) on a grade-level passage, and repeated reading with a model is the best-supported intervention.

Vocabulary tiers: Tier 1 is everyday conversational language; Tier 2 is high-frequency academic language used across domains (contrast, illustrate, significant); Tier 3 is low-frequency domain-specific terminology. Tier 2 words are the priority for direct instruction.

Effective explicit vocabulary instruction includes a student-friendly definition, multiple contextual examples, semantic mapping or word relationships, morphological analysis, and roughly six or more meaningful encounters with the word.

Literal comprehension answers are stated directly in the text; inferential comprehension requires linking textual evidence with background knowledge; evaluative comprehension requires judgment about the text.

Narrative text is analyzed with story grammar: characters, setting, initiating event, internal response, attempts, consequence, and resolution.

Expository text uses recurring structures - description, sequence, comparison-contrast, cause-effect, problem-solution - each signaled by cue words such as because, however, in contrast, and finally.

Text complexity is judged on three dimensions: quantitative (readability formulas), qualitative (levels of meaning, structure, knowledge demands), and reader-and-task considerations; all three must be weighed together.

Reading levels by oral reading accuracy: independent 95-100 percent, instructional 90-94 percent, frustration below 90 percent; instructional level is where new learning occurs with teacher support.

Comprehension strategy instruction is most effective when strategies are modeled with think-alouds, practiced in small groups, and applied to real text rather than taught as isolated skills.

Morphological instruction - prefixes, roots, and suffixes - supports both decoding of multisyllabic words and inferring meaning of unfamiliar academic vocabulary.

The writing process is prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing; it is recursive rather than linear, and revising (content, organization, ideas) is a separate step from editing (conventions).

The Six Plus One traits are ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation; traits provide shared language for feedback and analytic scoring.

Sentence structures: simple (one independent clause), compound (two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction or semicolon), complex (independent plus dependent clause), compound-complex.

Coordinating conjunctions are remembered as FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so; subordinating conjunctions (because, although, when, since, if) create dependent clauses.

Sentence purposes are declarative (states), interrogative (asks), imperative (commands), and exclamatory (expresses strong feeling).

Agreement rules: a verb must match its subject in number and person; indefinite pronouns such as everyone, each, either, and nobody are singular; pronoun-antecedent agreement follows the same logic.

Punctuation uses: commas set off introductory elements, items in a series, and nonrestrictive clauses; a semicolon joins two independent clauses; a colon introduces a list or explanation.

Spelling develops through precommunicative, semiphonetic, phonetic, transitional, and conventional stages; invented spellings reveal a child's phonics knowledge and instruction should target the next stage.

Writing assessment can be holistic (one overall score) or analytic (separate scores per trait or criterion); analytic rubrics give more specific feedback and better target revision.

Oral language has five components: phonology (speech sounds), morphology (word parts), syntax (sentence structure), semantics (meaning), and pragmatics (social use of language).

Receptive language (understanding) typically develops before expressive language (producing) in both first- and second-language acquisition.

Typical first-language milestones: babbling around 6 months, first words around 12 months, about 50 words and two-word combinations around 18-24 months, telegraphic speech, then complete sentences.

Cummins distinguishes BICS (basic interpersonal communication skills, roughly 2 years to develop) from CALP (cognitive academic language proficiency, roughly 5-7 years); content-area reading depends on CALP.

Second-language acquisition stages are preproduction (silent period), early production, speech emergence, intermediate fluency, and advanced fluency; the silent period is normal and should not be forced.

Academic language functions used in school include recounting, describing, explaining, comparing, and arguing; each function carries characteristic vocabulary and sentence patterns.

Accountable talk norms - building on others' ideas, citing evidence, asking clarifying questions, and taking turns - increase student talk and are facilitated rather than dominated by the teacher.

Pragmatics covers turn-taking, topic maintenance, register shifting by audience, nonverbal cues, and conversational repair; these rules differ across cultures and are taught explicitly to English learners.