• Reading Terms

    Here is a list of words that are often used in our reading class.

    adjacent vowels-vowels that stand next to each other (ai=paint)
     
    blending- Pronouncing individual sounds in a word without stopping, blending the sounds into a spoken word
     
    blends- two or three consonants standing together; each consonant keeps its own sound (blob, green, cast, splat)
     
    comprehension-The ability to understand and gain meaning from what has been read
     
    decodable books- Books that are predominantly made up of words that contain only the letter-sound relationships that the children are learning

    decode- The ability to recognize and read words by translating the letters into speech sounds to determine the word's pronunciation and meaning
     
    digraph-two consonants that stand together but make only one consonant sound (math, chart) 
     
    encode- the ability to spell words using correct letters for the speech sounds in a word
     
    fluency- The ability to read text accurately and quickly with expression that conveys comprehension 
     
    Five Phonetic Skills- skills that help students determine if the vowel in a word will be long or short
     
    grapheme-letters that represent the phonemes; the picture of the sound
     
    guardian consonant-one or two consonants following a  vowel, causing the vowel to say its short sound
     
    guardian star- a six-pointed star drawn above a guardian consonant to indicate the vowel before it will be short (*)
     
    homophone-a word that has the same sound as anther but a different spelling and meaning 

    invented spelling- often referred to as 'kid spelling'; your child's attempt to spell a word the way it sounds.  Invented spelling attempts allow teachers to monitor your child's spelling development and guides instruction.

    literacy- Includes all the activities involved in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and appreciating both spoken and written language

    long vowel-how a vowel sounds when it "says its name."  

    memory words- Story words that use any letter-sound relationships that your child has not learned yet.  These include words which have irregular phonic elements, often referred to as 'sight words'

     Pattern words- words that have a consistent phonic element that your child is learning how to read and spell.

    phoneme-smallest part of sound-an individual consonant, vowel, or digraph.  A phoneme is the meaning of a letter, the "mouth moving" signaled by the letter.
     
    phonics- putting the phonemes (sound) with the graphemes (letters) that represent them; learning the different letter/sound combinations to decode and encode words; understanding the relationship between written letters and spoken sounds
     
    schwa- an unstressed vowel sound represented by a symbol that resembles an upside-down e ( Ə)
     
    segmenting- the ability to separate the sounds in a spoken word (h-o-p) 
     
    short vowel- how a vowel sounds when it "says its sound"
     
    silent e-an e at the end of a word.  The e is not pronounced, it makes the vowel before it long.
     
    slide- one, two, or three initial consonants followed by a vowel.  The sounds of the letters in a slide are joined together rather than separated.
     
    Special Vowel Combination- a three-letter vowel combination in which the vowel sound is usually altered by the two following consonants (pink, song)
     
    voiced- a voiced sound is produced when the vocal cords are vibrating (all vowels are voiced)
     
    voiceless- a voiceless consonant produces no vibration of the vocal cords