Praxis Teaching Reading: K-12 cheat sheet

The five pillars of reading instruction are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension; each pillar has distinct assessment and instructional implications.

Print concepts (directionality, front/back of book, word-by-word matching) are assessed with concepts-of-print tasks and typically mastered before formal phonics instruction begins.

Phonological awareness is the umbrella skill (syllables, rhymes, onset-rime, phonemes); phonemic awareness is the narrower ability to isolate and manipulate individual phonemes.

The alphabetic principle is the understanding that letters map to sounds; it is the bridge between phonemic awareness and decoding and must be taught explicitly in K-1.

Typical phonological awareness progression: word awareness, syllable segmentation, rhyme recognition, onset-rime blending, then phoneme blending, segmenting, and manipulation.

Orthographic mapping is the process by which readers bond letter sequences to pronunciations in memory; it requires phonemic awareness plus phonics knowledge plus repeated exposure.

The Simple View of Reading: reading comprehension = decoding x language comprehension; a weakness in either factor alone produces a comprehension deficit.

Emergent literacy develops through oral language, shared book reading, environmental print, and writing attempts; oral vocabulary in preschool predicts later reading comprehension.

Phoneme manipulation tasks (deletion, substitution) are the most advanced level of phonemic awareness and are strongly predictive of later decoding success.

Systematic, explicit phonics follows a scope and sequence: letter-sound correspondences, CVC words, digraphs, blends, silent-e, vowel teams, r-controlled vowels, diphthongs, then multisyllabic patterns.

Six syllable types: closed (cat), open (go), vowel-consonant-e (cake), vowel team (rain), r-controlled (car), and consonant-le (table); these guide multisyllabic decoding.

Synthetic phonics blends individual sounds into words; analytic phonics starts with whole words and analyzes their parts; both differ from embedded/incidental phonics.

Structural analysis covers morphemes (prefixes, suffixes, roots) and is the primary word-identification strategy for upper elementary and secondary readers.

Fluency has three components: accuracy, automaticity/rate, and prosody; rate alone is insufficient evidence of fluency.

Repeated reading, paired reading, and reader's theater are evidence-based fluency interventions; oral reading fluency norms are typically reported as correct words per minute.

A miscue analysis classifies errors as semantic, syntactic, or graphophonic; a high proportion of semantic miscues suggests the reader is over-relying on meaning.

Decodable texts align with taught phonics patterns and support beginning readers; predictable/leveled texts emphasize repetition and sight-word exposure.

Sight words should be taught as irregular words with partially regular sound-spelling patterns mapped explicitly, not only through visual memorization.

Tier 1 words are basic conversational vocabulary; Tier 2 words are high-frequency academic words used across domains (e.g., analyze, contrast); Tier 3 words are domain-specific.

Vocabulary instruction is most effective when it includes direct definitional instruction, contextual exposure, and multiple meaningful encounters with the word.

Comprehension is a strategic process: predicting, questioning, visualizing, monitoring, summarizing, and making inferences are core comprehension strategies.

Narrative text structure elements include characters, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution; expository text structures include description, sequence, compare-contrast, cause-effect, and problem-solution.

Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) distinguishes right-there, think-and-search, author-and-me, and on-my-own questions; it teaches students where answers come from.

A running record captures accuracy rate, error rate, self-correction rate, and fluency; comprehension check follows the oral reading.

Retelling assesses comprehension of narrative elements and is scored for inclusion of setting, characters, events, and sequence.

Reciprocal teaching uses four roles-predicting, questioning, clarifying, summarizing-and is designed to build self-regulated comprehension.

Morphological awareness (prefix/suffix/root knowledge) supports vocabulary growth and reading comprehension, especially in upper grades.

Screening assessments identify students at risk for reading difficulty; diagnostic assessments identify specific skill deficits; progress monitoring tracks response to intervention.

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) uses brief, timed probes (e.g., oral reading fluency, maze) to monitor progress and inform instructional decisions.

Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) yields independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels based on accuracy and comprehension criteria.

A running record's accuracy rate is calculated as (words correct / total words) x 100; 95-100% is independent, 90-94% instructional, below 90% frustration.

The three-tier RTI/MTSS model: Tier 1 core instruction, Tier 2 targeted small-group intervention, Tier 3 intensive individualized intervention.

Data-based decision making requires that progress-monitoring data be graphed and compared to a goal line, with instructional changes triggered by inadequate slope.

Formative assessment informs ongoing instruction; summative assessment evaluates learning at the end of a unit or year.

Standardized norm-referenced tests compare a student to a norm group; criterion-referenced tests measure mastery of specific skills or standards.

Instructional match requires that text difficulty, task demand, and grouping align with the student's assessed skill level and IEP or intervention goals.

Disciplinary literacy differs from content-area reading: it teaches the specific ways of reading, writing, and reasoning within a discipline (e.g., sourcing in history, lab reports in science).

Expository text features (headings, captions, glossaries, indexes, diagrams) should be explicitly taught as comprehension supports in content-area texts.

Academic language includes general academic words, discipline-specific vocabulary, and complex sentence structures; all three require explicit support for ELLs.

Sheltered instruction (SIOP) integrates language objectives with content objectives and uses visuals, gestures, and scaffolded language supports.

For English learners, L1 literacy and oral proficiency transfer to L2 reading; a student's first-language skills should be considered in assessment interpretation.

Students with dyslexia benefit from structured literacy: explicit, systematic, cumulative, multisensory instruction in phonology, sound-symbol correspondence, and morphology.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides multiple means of representation, engagement, and action/expression to support diverse learners.

Text complexity is evaluated on quantitative (readability), qualitative (structure, knowledge demands), and reader-task considerations; all three inform text selection.

Close reading of complex text involves repeated reading, text-dependent questions, and evidence-based discussion, and is distinct from strategy-only instruction.