Phonics and Fluency

Question 1

Prefix

Answer 1

A letter or letters at the beginning of a root word that changes its meaning

Example:
re, de, un

Question 2

Vowel Digraph

Answer 2

two vowels that make a single vowel sound when together in a word, also known as “vowel teams”

Example:
the “ai” in paint; the “ee” in need; the “oa” in boat

Question 3

Partner / Small Group Reading

Answer 3

A strategy in which students read semi-independently in pairs or small groups.

Question 4

R-Controlled Vowel

Answer 4

a vowel followed by the letter r where the “r” that doesn’t make its normal short or long sound

Example:
In the word, “tiger,” the letter e is an r-controlled vowel, as its pronunciation changes because it is followed by an r.

Question 5

Consolidated Alphabetic Stage

Answer 5

a stage of word recognition in which students read by using memorized letter chunks, affixes, and syllables to read words

Example:
A student in this stage would not need to sound out each letter in a word like “reminder” but would decode it by breaking it into recognizable chunks, “re-mind-er.”

Question 6

Context Clues / Contextual Analysis

Answer 6

using the words before and after an unknown word to determine its meaning

Example:
It was a beautiful day that made it idyllic for swimming.

Question 7

Speed (when reading)

Answer 7

the pace at which the reader reads the text

Question 8

Affix

Answer 8

A letter or letters that change a root word’s meaning

Ex:
prefixes or suffixes

Question 9

Reading fluency

Answer 9

ability to read with appropriate speed, accuracy, and prosody

Question 10

connotation

Answer 10

the implied meaning of a word; the feeling a word conveys

Example:
Describing a person as “shrewd” may make them feel negatively, even though the definition (sharp-witted, intelligent) is positive.

Question 11

Full Alphabetic Stage

Answer 11

a stage of word recognition in which students use their full working knowledge of letter-sound correspondence to decode unfamiliar words letter-by-letter

Example:
a child comes across the word “desk” while reading and sounds it out “d-e-s-k”

Question 12

Grapheme

Answer 12

A written letter or a combination of letters that represents a single sound.

Example:
“ph” makes a “f” sound

Question 13

Final Stable syllable

Answer 13

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

Example:
bugle, candle, bubble, circle, and trample

Question 14

Diphthong

Answer 14

one vowel sound made by the combination of two vowel sounds

Example:
the “ou” in south; the “au” in taught; the “oy” in oyster

Question 15

Synonyms

Answer 15

words with the same or a similar meaning

Example:
angry/mad/furious; bad/evil/immoral/tainted; and fast/quick/rapid.

Question 16

Vowel-Consonant-E Syllable

Answer 16

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, compete

Question 17

Prosody

Answer 17

the reader’s ability to convey expression, including using correct emphasis, punctuation, and tone, while reading aloud

Question 18

Decoding

Answer 18

In reading out loud, being able to sound out words by breaking them into simple forms.

In reading for comprehension, the understanding of how to read each letter or letter pattern in a word to determine the word’s meaning

Question 19

Supervised Oral Reading

Answer 19

A strategy in which a student reads aloud to a teacher or tutor.

Question 20

Automaticity

Answer 20

the ability to read words effortlessly

Question 21

Phoneme

Answer 21

the smallest individual sounds in a word

Example:
The word “bit” has three phonemes – b – i – t.

Question 22

Root (Word Formation)

Answer 22

the smallest unit or core of a word that carries the meaning

Example:
form means “shape,” as in reform, conform, formulate

Question 23

Homographs

Answer 23

words that have the same spelling as another word but have different meaning

Example:
tired meaning fatigue (verb); tire meaning a rubber cushion that fits around a wheel of an automobile (noun)

Question 24

Audio/Video-Assisted Reading

Answer 24

A strategy in which a teacher plays an audio recording of a book or show an animated illustration of a book while students read along

Question 25

Pre-alphabetic stage

Answer 25

a stage of word recognition in which students have no working knowledge of the alphabetic system and “read” words based on memorizing what they look like

Example:
a child says “Wal-Mart” when passing the store’s sign

Question 26

Inference

Answer 26

a conclusion based on evidence, observation, and reasoning

Question 27

Word families

Answer 27

a group of words with a shared ending letter group/sound

Example:
back, black, stack, shack, quack, lack, tack

Question 28

Accuracy (when reading)

Answer 28

the reader’s ability to correctly pronounce words

Question 29

Antonyms

Answer 29

words with the opposite meanings

Example:
hot/cold; and big/little

Question 30

Rereading Familiar Text

Answer 30

Strategy in which students reread a familiar text to increase their rate, prosody, and confidence.

Question 31

Term,Choral Reading / Echo Reading

Answer 31

A strategy in which students first listens to the teacher read a short passage aloud, and then the class and the teacher all read it aloud at the same time

Question 32

Automatic stage

Answer 32

the final stage of word recognition in which a person decodes fluently and knows many strategies to identify new words

Students in the automatic stage of word recognition are able to read fluently and with greater comprehension because their focus shifts more toward the meaning of the text as a whole and less on individual words.

Question 33

Denotation

Answer 33

a literal, dictionary meaning of a word

Question 34

Suffix

Answer 34

letter or letters at the end of a root word that changes its meaning

Example:
s, es, ed, ing, ly, er, or, ion, tion, able, and ible

Question 35

Encode

Answer 35

using individual sounds to spell a word

Example:
To encode, a student must represent the sounds of a word with letters. For example, the word cat would be encoded as /c/, /a/ and /t/.

Question 36

Literature circles

Answer 36

strategy in which a teacher organizes students into small groups to discuss a common text

Question 37

Structural/morphemic analysis

Answer 37

using meaningful word parts (morphemes) to study a word and determine its meaning

Question 38

Independent reading

Answer 38

reading done by students independent of the teacher. This reading can be either assigned or student selected. Typically silent.

Question 39

alphabetic knowledge

Answer 39

The ability to recognize, name, and write letters.

Question 40

Phonics / Graphophonemic Principle

Answer 40

Using the relationship between symbols (letters and words) and sounds of a language to read and write

Question 41

Partial Alphabetic stage

Answer 41

a stage of word recognition in which students combine their limited alphabetic knowledge with context clues to read

Example:
a child sees a picture of a truck in a book about vehicles, locates a word that starts with ‘t’ on the same pages, and says “truck”

Question 42

Constant digraph

Answer 42

two consonants that make a single consonant sound when together in a word

Example:
In the word “wish,” the letters s and h form the consonant digraph, sh.

Question 43

Closed syllable

Answer 43

Syllable that ends in a consonant; vowel has its short sound

Example:
hot, help, dog, mistake

Question 44

Teacher-modeled reading

Answer 44

A strategy in which a teacher reads aloud to students emphasizing his/her own fluency and prosody.

Question 45

Morpheme

Answer 45

A combination of sounds that has meaning in speech or writing and cannot be divided into smaller grammatical parts. This includes prefixes and suffixes.

Example:
write, cat, laugh, box

Question 46

Readers’ theater

Answer 46

A strategy in which a teacher directs students in a dramatic enactment of a play or book

Question 47

Word lists

Answer 47

Term definition.
a list of words taken out of context and written or printed consecutively

Word lists will specifically require students to read the words without the help of context from a sentence or story, an important factor in determining their stage of word recognition.

Question 48

Open Syllable

Answer 48

Syllable that ends in a vowel; the vowel has its long sound

Example:
vacant, brutal, agent

Question 49

R-Controlled Syllable

Answer 49

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, and manor

Question 50

Consonant blend

Answer 50

two or more consonants that blend together when decoded, but each retains its own sound

Example:
In the word “blue,” the letters b and l form the consonant blend, bl.

Question 51

Morphology

Answer 51

The study of forms of words, including affixes, roots, stems, and parts of speech.

Example:
The word “bicycles” is made up of three individual morphemes. The prefix bi-, the stem cycle, and the suffix -s.