| Term |
Meaning |
| analogies |
linking how an unknown word resembles a known word to help figure out what the unknown word is
(e.g., if you know some, you can read or write come) |
| clause |
a group of related words with a subject and a verb
(e.g., because he came to school) |
| compound sentences |
a sentence with at least two independent clauses
(e.g., I went to school and I came home.) |
| comprehension strategies |
ways readers think while they read in order to understand
(e.g., monitoring, asking questions, inferring, visualizing, determining importance, summarizing) |
| concepts about print |
understandings about how written language is set up that are necessary for reading
(e.g., English is read left to right and top to bottom of the page, what is a letter, a word) |
| cross-checking |
using multiple sources of information to solve problems in reading
(e.g., checking how a word looks with what would make sense) |
| directionality |
the orientation of how we read and write print
(in English, from left to right) |
| flexibility, flexible |
in beginning reading, the ability to use a variety of strategies to solve words, choosing what works best in the particular situation
(e.g., using word parts or analogies or trying different sounds for a letter or group of letters) |
| fluency |
reading continuous text with good phrasing, intonation, appropriate pauses, and at a rate that carries the reader through the text with understanding and momentum |
| genres |
categories of written text based on style, form, or content
(e.g., poetry, folktales, literary nonfiction, biography, historical fiction, science fiction, etc.) |
| high-frequency words |
words that appear often in written text
(e.g., a, the, can, where) |
| inferential (story line) |
the story needs to be interpreted to be understood, rather than being only a literal statement of fact or events. |
| inflectional endings |
a suffix added to a based word that shows tense, plurality, or comparison
(e.g., -ed in wanted, -s in farms, -er in stronger) |
| initial reading |
the first time reading a particular text |
| intonation |
how the voice rises and falls while speaking (or reading) to convey meaning |
| language structures |
ways words are put together that are grammatically correct. They may or may not be similar to oral language
(e.g., ”I can run,” “Away we go!”) |
| letter-sound relationships |
the connection between a letter and the sound that the letter makes when read |
| literary language |
words and phrases used in literature that are not part of every-day oral language
(e.g., “Once upon a time”) |
meaning, structure,
and visual information |
the three sources of information that children are taught to use together to read independently
(“Does it make sense? Does it sound right? Does it look right?) |
| multi-syllabic words |
words with more than one syllable
(e.g., com-part-ment) |
| on the run |
with reference to reading, being able to solve problems quickly without stopping to work them out. |
| one-to-one matching |
reader’s ability to match one spoken word with one printed word while reading or writing |
patterned text,
language patterns,
repetitive language patterns |
text with the same or similar phrase or sentence repeated multiple times
(e.g., “I can jump, I can swim, I can eat” or “Then ___ little bears were left at home”) |
| phrasing |
grouping of words while reading to express meaning, rather than reading “word by word” with the same pause between every word |
| point of error |
the place in the text where a reader makes an error |
| possessives |
grammatical indication of ownership
(e.g., the child’s toy) |
| prepositional phrases |
phrases that begin with a preposition
(e.g., after the game, above the couch) |
| return sweep |
going back to the left on the next line after finishing the first line of text. |
| self-correct |
monitoring what doesn’t look right, sound right, or make sense in reading, and then solving the problem |
| self-monitoring |
checking whether reading or writing makes sense, looks right, and sounds right |
| sight vocabulary |
words known instantly by looking at them, without having to problem solve |
| text features |
additions to the continuous text that support meaning
(e.g., headings, captions, diagrams, illustrations, glossary, table of contents) |
| visual analysis |
solving words using knowledge of how works look, including the groups and patterns of the letters in the word |
