Language and Linguistics

Question 1

5 Finger Rule

Answer 1

A method to help students determine if this is a book they would like to read.

How it works: Open book to middle section and hold up a finger for each unknown word on a page. After completing the page, see how many fingers are held up:

1–may be too easy

2 or 3 fingers -just right

4 fingers –challenging

5 fingers– too difficult so save for later

Question 2

Adjective

Answer 2

A word or words that describe a noun.

Adjectives usually enhance the meaning of the noun.

Question 3

Adverb

Answer 3

A word that alters, transforms, or changes a verb.

Question 4

Affix

Answer 4

A word part added to the front of a word which is a prefix, or a word part added to the end of a word which is a suffix.

Question 5

Alphabetical Principle

Answer 5

Words are composed of letters that represent sounds and that letters and sounds carry meaning.

It also includes the skill to know that print is read from left to right and from top to bottom. It is considered phonics instruction.

Question 6

Automaticity

Answer 6

Effortless reading of words that usually does not include reading with expression (prosody).

When students continue reading and re-reading text, this helps with their skills in recognizing words; it becomes more automatic.

Question 7

Book Orientation

Answer 7

Introduction of a book to students through discussion about items such as the front and back covers, title page, the story itself, and unusual names and/or new words, etc.

Question 8

Closed Syllable

Answer 8

A closed syllable ends in a consonant. This is the most common spelling unit in English and accounts for 505 out of all the total syllables in text.

Example:

Help. Hot. Dog.

Question 9

Complex Sentence

Answer 9

A complex sentence has an independent clause and a dependent clause.

An independent clause can be a stand-alone sentence, but a dependent clause lacks an element to make it an independent clause.

Example:

While I waited for lunch, I realized that I had left my car keys at home.

Question 10

Compound Sentence

Answer 10

A compound sentence has two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (and, for, but, etc.)

Example:

I want to eat at an Italian restaurant, but you want to eat at a Greek restaurant.

Question 11

Compound-Complex Sentence

Answer 11

A compound-complex sentence is made up of two independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

Example:

The bird was sitting in its nest and it was happily singing, but then it fell out.

“But then it fell out” is a dependent clause. “The bird was sitting in its nest” and “it was happily singing” are both independent clauses.

Question 12

Concepts of Print

Answer 12

The understanding of how print works in books. Includes knowing the front and back covers of books, how a book opens, and that print is written and read from left to right, top to bottom.

When reading to young children, it often helps to point to words as they are being read in order in order to enhance this concept.

Question 13

Conjunction

Answer 13

A part of speech which is used to join words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence.

Question 14

Conventional Spelling

Answer 14

When children know and use most basic spelling rules and spell most words correctly. They can often recognize misspelled words, which is a tremendous help in editing either their own or other’s writing drafts.

Question 15

Conventional Stage

Answer 15

4^th stage of reading

Ages 6-7

Students in this stage:

Demonstrates more control over many aspects of the writing process

Can adjust writing for different purposes such as for information, biographies, and narratives

Question 16

Criterion-Referenced Assessment

Answer 16

A test based on certain pre-determined learning standards, goals, or criteria. The purpose is to determine if students have actually acquired these standards.

Example:

John is not successful in the learning standards for the learning standards for the writing process.

Question 17

Criterion-Referenced State Tests

Answer 17

Tests in which a standard has been set for the test taker to achieve in order to pass the test

Question 18

Critical Reader

Answer 18

A student who applies background knowledge of the text and becomes part of the writer’s audience. It involves analyzing and evaluating the text rather than taking every word as factual.

Question 19

Consonant+L-E Syllable

Answer 19

A consonant+l-e syllable occurs at the end of a word. If the consonant+l-e syllable is found next to an open syllable, then the vowel in the open syllable stays long. If the consonant+l-e is next to a closed syllable, the vowel in the closed syllable stays short.

Example:

bugle, candle, bubble, circle, and trample.

Question 20

Curriculum-Based Reading Assessments

Answer 20

The basis of these texts is the curriculum that is being taught.

Question 21

Declarative Sentence

Answer 21

A declarative sentence simply makes a statement or expresses an opinion; a declarative sentence makes a declaration.

Question 22

Descriptive Text

Answer 22

Writing used to create detailed descriptions of people, places, and things.

Question 23

Diagraph

Answer 23

A combination of two letters that represent a single and distinct speech sound.

Examples of common vowel digraphs: ea as in teach; ei as in eight; ow as in owl. Examples of common consonant digraphs: ph as in phone; sh as in shoe; th as in think.

Question 24

Dipthong

Answer 24

A particular sound that is formed by combining two vowels together.

Examples include the oy in toy; ow in owl; oi as in foil. Because of the way the vowels are combined, a diphthong is sometimes called a gliding vowel.

Question 25

Early/Developing Stage

Answer 25

This stage (sometimes called the Pre-Reading Stage) of reading occurs typically in grades K-1

Students can :

• Understand basic reading strategies including directionality
• Match words
• Locating known words
• Rely less on pictures
• Begin to phonetic clues to sound out words

Question 26

Emergent Stage

Answer 26

2^nd stage of reading

Sometimes called: Experimental Stage

Ages 4-5

Students in this stage:

Begins to understand/demonstrate relationship between written and spoken words. Knows that what is said (speech) can be written.

Question 27

Exit Slips

Answer 27

An informal type of assessment that requires students to write a response to a teacher prompt or question on a card or slip of paper at the end of class.

Some examples include:

• What is one thing that you learned today?
• What area do you think we need to discuss more thoroughly?

Question 28

Expository Text

Answer 28

Factual material that describes and discusses something or tries to persuade.

Examples are biographies, magazines, and newspapers.

Question 29

Fluency Development

Answer 29

Reading fluency is the ability to read easily and with understanding and expression (prosody).

When students acquire the ability to read fluently, they are not struggling to sound out words and can better concentrate on the meaning of what they are reading.

Question 30

Fluent Stage

Answer 30

At this stage, students can quickly recognize many words and apply phonics and word analysis skills to analyze unfamiliar words.

Because of these skills, fluent readers can read more easily and with accuracy and expression

Question 31

Formative Assessment

Answer 31

Tests and/or methods used before and during the teaching of specific learning standards.

Formative assessments are typically not graded.

Question 32

Genres

Answer 32

Categories or groups of literary compositions such as fiction which might include: poetry, fables, fairy tales, short stories, and novels; non-fiction which might include biographies, history, science, or geography.

Question 33

Grammar Conventions

Answer 33

Typically refers to punctuation, capitalization, paragraph, development, and spelling.

Question 34

Grapheme-Phoneme Correspondence

Answer 34

A grapheme is a letter or group of letters that represents on sound.

Phonemes are the actual sounds produced by the letters.

The relationship between these written letters and how they sound is the grapheme-phoneme correspondence, sometimes called the letter sound correspondence.

Question 35

Graphophonemic Knowledge

Answer 35

These skills deal with how letters and sounds are related to written letters and words.

It includes the ability to

1. Match upper and lower case letters
2. Recognize alphabetic order
3. Name letters
4. Recognize the letters’ sounds

Question 36

Guided Reading Practice

Answer 36

The teacher introduces what is to be read and then guides and supports the students while prompting them to apply reading strategies.

The goal is to help the students become independent readers.

Question 37

High-Frequency Words

Answer 37

The words most commonly used in books according to grade level.

The goal is to ensure that students know all these words by the end of that particular grade.

Question 38

Hyperbole

Answer 38

Purposefully using exaggeration for either emphasis or humor.

Example:

I am so hungry I could eat the refrigerator.

Question 39

Imperative Sentence

Answer 39

An imperative sentence gives a command or makes a request

Question 40

Independent Reading

Answer 40

This is when students read a text with little or no support from adults.

Important Components:

• The length of time vary based on the level of the students’ reading abilities
• To provide a wide range of texts, based on reading levels along with varying interests and genres

Question 41

Independent Reading Level

Answer 41

The level at which a student can read with ease and with excellent comprehension.

It is typically accepted that students need to read with 90–95% accuracy to be at this level.

Question 42

Informal Reading Inventory

(IRI)

Answer 42

This form of assessment is individually administered and used to determine a student’s instructional reading needs.

The IRI assesses needs in the areas of:

• Word recognition
• Word meaning
• Reading strategies
• Reading fluency
• Comprehension

Question 43

Interjection

Answer 43

An interjection is a part of speech that expresses emotions, such as excitement, joy, or surprise.

Question 44

Interrogative Sentence

Answer 44

An interrogative sentence asks a question.

An interrogative sentence usually begins with one of these words:

Who, what, when, where, why, how, or do and ends with a question mark.

Question 45

Instructional Reading Level That Is Challenging But Manageable

Answer 45

A measure of reading where a reader (any student in grades 1-8) has difficulty with one in ten words.

Question 46

Exclamatory Sentence

Answer 46

An exclamatory sentence expresses great emotion such as excitement, surprise, happiness or anger and ends with an exclamation point.

Question 47

KWL Chart

Answer 47

A chart that has three categories:

• What one knows
• What one wants to know
• What one has learned

The first two sections are filled in at the beginning of a new learning project/reading experience, and the last section is filled in after the topic has been taught.

Question 48

Language-Rich Environment

Answer 48

Classrooms that are considered language-rich promote literacy development through a number of common attributes including:

• Daily reading aloud to student
• An abundance of available books
• Word walls filled with new vocabulary
• Labels attached to many everyday items
• Inspirational quotes posted throughout

Question 49

Letter Knowledge

Answer 49

This knowledge enables students to recognize all the letters of the alphabet, both uppercase and lowercase.

It is the understanding that the purpose of letters is to produce meaning in words.

Question 50

Letter-Sound Correspondence

Answer 50

This refers to the specific sound(s) of letters of the alphabet or letter combinations.

Question 51

Literacy Acquisition

Answer 51

Acquiring the ability to understand, respond to, and use the written language that is typically required by communities and our society.

Various educators see literacy acquisition as a three-step process for students:

1. Learning the conventions of written language and the skills to read and write
2. Making meaning from what they read
3. Thinking beyond the literal translations of what they read

Question 52

Literacy Development

Answer 52

The process of the growth of students’ reading, writing, and oral language skills.

Question 53

Literary Analysis

Answer 53

A higher level of critical thinking which comes after students are able to understand and describe the text which they are reading.

Question 54

Miscue Analysis

Answer 54

Determining the kinds of reading strategies a reader uses during the process of reading from a text.

A miscue is an incorrect guess, but it often gives the teacher clues to what strategy the reader is using and how difficult the material is for that student. The student may be using such strategies as beginning sounds, context clues, or picture clues.

Question 55

Morphemic Analysis

Answer 55

A morpheme is the smallest meaningful part of a word.

Morphemic analysis is a strategy used to determine the meaning of a word by examining specific parts of the word: prefixes, suffixes, and roots.

Question 56

Narrative Text

Answer 56

Writing that tells a story and is used to entertain, to gain, and to hold a reader’s interest.

Narratives tell a story, sometimes to entertain or sometimes to convey an important lesson or concept.

Question 57

Norm-Referenced Assessment

Answer 57

A test that measures a student’s success or non-success compared to other students, of the same age or grade level, who have already taken the test.

Question 58

Noun

Answer 58

The name of a person, place, event, idea, or thing.

Question 59

Onomatopoeia

Answer 59

The use of words that imitate the sound associated with the common sound of the object or action it is describing.

Example: Water plops -> splish-splash

Question 60

Onset Rimes

Answer 60

The ability to hear and understand that the beginning sound in a word is the onset, and the remaining sound is the rime.

In the word cat, the onset is /c/ and the rime is /at/. In the word fit, the onset is /f/ and the rime is /it/.

Question 61

Open Syllable

Answer 61

An open syllable ends in a vowel.

The vowel has a long vowel sound.

Example:

“va” in vacant: va/cant

“a” in agent: a/gent

“bru” in brutal: bru/tal

Question 62

Orthographic

Answer 62

The conventional/established spelling in a language.

Question 63

Peer Assessment

Answer 63

Evaluation of a student’s work by one or more other students in the same grade and working on the same topic.

Question 64

Performance-Based Assessment

Answer 64

A kind of assessment that requires students to show mastery of specific skills by demonstrating, producing, or performing something.

Question 65

Personification

Answer 65

Giving human qualities to something that is inanimate.

Question 66

Persuasive Text

Answer 66

Writing that seeks to evaluate and present a subjective argument to explain a situation or answer a problem.

Question 67

Phonemic Spelling

Answer 67

When students spell the way they hear the word pronounced.

Example:

come – “kum”

made – “mad”

Question 68

Phonological Awareness

Answer 68

The understanding and ability to hear individual sounds in words, syllables, and in the spoken language apart from print.

Question 69

Pre-Communicative Spelling

Answer 69

When students use scribble shapes and sometimes letter-like shapes for spelling words but are unable to make the forms.

Question 70

Pre-Conventional Stage

Answer 70

1^st stage of reading

Sometimes called: Awareness/Exploration Stage

Ages 2-5

Students in this stage:

Aware that drawings and print have specific meanings and may try to “read” what they draw

Question 71

Pre-Phonemic Spelling

Answer 71

When children have some letter awareness. They may spell a lengthy word with a few letters

Example:

play – “pa”

talk – “tk”

Question 72

Prefix

Answer 72

A letter or set of letters that can be added to the beginning of a root word and changes its meaning.

Question 73

Preposition

Answer 73

A part of speech that relates various parts of a sentence using direction, location, or time.

Some common prepositions include above, on, over, toward, down, inside, after, and before.

Examples: “The girl is inside the car” and “She will give her speech after John finishes his.”

Question 74

Print Awareness

Answer 74

The understanding of the relationship between written language and oral language.

Question 75

Print-Rich Learning Environment

Answer 75

An environment at school or home in which students have constant exposure and interaction with signs, labels, word displays, charts, poems, books, food labels, resources for writing, and computers.

Question 76

Proficient Writing

Answer 76

5^th and last stage of reading

Ages 7-9

Students in this stage:

Understands and is able to write for various purposes and audiences. Expresses correct usage of most spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar.

Question 77

Prosody

Answer 77

Refers to the way a student orally reads words and sentences; it includes clarity, emphasis, tempo, and intonation.

Prosody is one of the major components of reading fluency and is a link between word recognition and comprehension.

Question 78

Qualitative Measure

Answer 78

Information that is not in numerical form. Qualitative measures require informed judgments by the teacher.

Question 79

Quantitative Measure

Answer 79

Information that is in numerical form, such as scores on an achievement test. Quantitative measures are ones that can be analyzed statistically.

Question 80

R-Controlled Syllable

Answer 80

An r-controlled syllable that contains a vowel followed by the letter r.

The “r” controls the vowel and changes the way the vowel is pronounced.

Example:

car, guitar, mother, manor

Question 81

Reading Comprehension

Answer 81

Processes through which students derive & construct meaning from the printed page. This kind of reading is opposed to word-calling which is just naming words but not understanding how meaning is derived from the words in sentences and paragraphs.

Question 82

Reading Fluency

Answer 82

The ability to read easily and with understanding and expression (prosody). It involves not only the rate of reading but accuracy and inflection.

Question 83

Reading Level

Answer 83

Independent reading level is the highest level at which a reader has adequate background knowledge for the topic and can access the text very quickly and with few errors.

A student at this level has difficulty with no more than one word out of twenty words.

Question 84

Rubric

Answer 84

A scoring guide based on several criteria rather than a single numerical score

Question 85

Running Records

Answer 85

An on-going method to assess students’ reading through listening to them read while checking on their accuracy, error rate, and self-correction rate.

Question 86

Scaffold

Answer 86

Scaffolding refers to building on simpler skills to develop more difficult ones.

Question 87

Schema Development

Answer 87

Determining a structure of background knowledge that a reader has about what is being read or written.

Teachers often have to develop a schema before reading new information.

Question 88

Self-Assessment

Answer 88

Evaluation of one’s own work, typically based on pre-determined standards, often from a rubric.

Question 89

Semiphonetic Spelling

Answer 89

At this stage of spelling development, students may not have directionality–from left to right and top to bottom, but they are able to use letters to represent sounds. They may omit some important letters in words and spell with only a few letters.

Question 90

Simile

Answer 90

A figure of speech that compares two different things, and that contains “like” or “as.”

Example:

She turned as white as a sheet

Question 91

Simple Sentence

Answer 91

A simple sentence has the basic elements to make a sentence: a subject, verb, and a complete thought.

Example:

Jesus wept.

Bill drove.

Question 92

Story Elements

Answer 92

Setting, characters, plot, themes, sequence, problem, and solution.

Question 93

Suffix

Answer 93

A letter or set of letters that can be added to the ending of a root word and changes its meaning.

Question 94

Summative Assessment

Answer 94

Tests that are given at certain points and the conclusion of an instructional period, unit, or project. They are used to determine if students have actually learned what has been taught. They are typically used as part of a student’s academic grade.

Question 95

Syllable

Answer 95

A syllable is any one of the parts into which a word is naturally divided when it is pronounced. It is an unbroken sound that makes up words.

Question 96

Tier 1 Vocabulary

Answer 96

Basic words that commonly appear in everyday spoken language.

They usually do not require explicit instruction and do not have multiple meanings.

Question 97

Tier 2 Vocabulary

Answer 97

Words that are used frequently in texts across several content areas. They require specific instruction within the content areas.

Question 98

Tier 3 Vocabulary

Answer 98

Words that are infrequently used except in specific content areas. They are an integral part of content learning and must be specifically taught.

Examples:

Words in the areas of biology, mathematics, and medicine.

Question 99

Transitional Spelling

Answer 99

When students use some conventional spelling but still miss spell many irregular words.

Question 100

Transitional Stage

Answer 100

3^rd stage of reading

Sometimes called: Early Stage

Ages 5-6

Students in this stage:

Writes a single letter (often the beginning consonant of the word) to represent an entire word or syllable; begins to understand and use basic punctuation

Question 101

Verb

Answer 101

A part of speech that describes or indicates an action and is needed to make a complete sentence. Verbs are “doing” words and can show physical or mental action, or a state of being.

Question 102

Vocabulary Development

Answer 102

Refers to students’ ability to effectively know and use words in their listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Question 103

Vocabulary Development

Answer 103

The vowel-consonant-e syllable has a silent “e” and makes the vowel before it long; this syllable is usually found at the end of a word.

Example:

name, mice, cake

Question 104

Vowel Team Syllable

Answer 104

A vowel team syllable has two vowels next to each other that combine to form a new sound.

Example:

The “ou” in south; the “au” in taught; and the “oa” in boat.

Question 105

Writing Process

Answer 105

The steps that students go through to compose finished text:

• Planning – Deciding on the central idea/topic of the writing.
• Drafting – Bringing together similar ideas and organizing them into paragraphs.
• Revising – Reviewing the draft and making necessary corrections for sentence usage, organization, coherence, and audience.
• Editing – Reviewing the draft a second time, but this time for corrections in grammar, mechanics, and spelling.
• Publishing – Writing the final product to ensure its neatness and understanding.

Question 106

Word Recognition

Answer 106

This term typically refers to students’ ability to recognize written words correctly and with little effort. Word recognition skills become more important as students learn to read more fluently.