Question 1

Phonemic Awareness

Accepted Answer

The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds, phonemes, in oral language.

Question 2

Phonological Awareness

Accepted Answer

A broader term than phonemic awareness. It includes recognizing and using rhyme, syllables, and onset and rime.

Question 3

Onset and Rime

Accepted Answer

Onset is the initial phonological unit of any word (e.g. c in cat) and rime is the string of letters that follow (e.g. at in cat).

Question 4

Alphabetic Principle

Accepted Answer

The understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds.

Question 5

Decoding

Accepted Answer

The process of translating print into speech by rapidly matching a letter or combination of letters (graphemes) to their sounds (phonemes).

Question 6

Grapheme

Accepted Answer

The smallest part of written language that represents a phoneme in the spelling of a word.

Question 7

Morpheme

Accepted Answer

The smallest meaningful unit of language. A morpheme can be a word (like "cat") or a part of a word (like the "s" at the end of "cats").

Question 8

Semantic Cuing System

Accepted Answer

Uses background knowledge, previous learning, or context clues to predict the meaning of unknown words.

Question 9

Syntactic Cuing System

Accepted Answer

Uses grammar and sentence structure to assist in word identification.

Question 10

Pragmatic Cuing System

Accepted Answer

Involves understanding the social and cultural context in which reading and writing occur.

Question 11

Sight Words

Accepted Answer

Words that are recognized instantly, without needing to decode.

Question 12

High-Frequency Words

Accepted Answer

Words that appear often in printed material, often taught as sight words.

Question 13

Fluency

Accepted Answer

The ability to read text accurately, quickly, and with proper expression.

Question 14

Comprehension

Accepted Answer

The process of understanding what is being read.

Question 15

Schema

Accepted Answer

Prior knowledge and experiences that a reader brings to a text.

Question 16

Context Clues

Accepted Answer

Hints that an author gives to help define a difficult or unusual word within a book.

Question 17

Literal Comprehension

Accepted Answer

Understanding the explicit or straightforward information within a text.

Question 18

Inferential Comprehension

Accepted Answer

Understanding the underlying meaning of a text, reading between the lines.

Question 19

Evaluative Comprehension

Accepted Answer

Forming an opinion or making a judgment about what is read.

Question 20

Cloze Procedure

Accepted Answer

An assessment method used to determine a student's reading level by having them fill in the blanks within a passage with missing words.

Question 21

Running Record

Accepted Answer

An assessment tool which provides a graphic representation of a student's oral reading, identifying patterns of effective and ineffective strategy use.

Question 22

Guided Reading

Accepted Answer

A method where a teacher guides a small group of students through a text.

Question 23

Shared Reading

Accepted Answer

An interactive reading process where students join in or share the reading of a big book or other enlarged text while guided and supported by a teacher.

Question 24

Emergent Literacy

Accepted Answer

The skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are developmental precursors to conventional forms of reading and writing.

Question 25

Balanced Literacy

Accepted Answer

An approach that includes a variety of methods such as read aloud, guided reading, shared reading, independent reading, and word study.

Question 26

Basal Reading Program

Accepted Answer

A comprehensive reading program that contains a series of textbooks, workbooks, and manuals for teachers and students.

Question 27

Direct Instruction

Accepted Answer

A teacher-centered method of instruction which focuses on systematic curriculum design delivered through a prescribed instructional delivery method.

Question 28

Independent Reading Level

Accepted Answer

The level at which a reader can read text with 95% accuracy (i.e., no more than one error per 20 words read).

Question 29

Instructional Reading Level

Accepted Answer

The level at which a reader can read text with 90% accuracy (i.e., no more than one error per 10 words read).

Question 30

Frustration Reading Level

Accepted Answer

The level at which a reader reads at less than 90% accuracy.

Question 31

Metacognition

Accepted Answer

Awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes, especially regarding reading strategies and self-monitoring of comprehension.

Question 32

Literal Questions

Accepted Answer

Questions that can be answered by referring directly to the text.

Question 33

Inferential Questions

Accepted Answer

Questions that require the reader to use clues in the text along with their own experiences and knowledge to find the answers.

Question 34

Evaluative Questions

Accepted Answer

Questions that require the reader to form an opinion or make a judgement.

Question 35

Print Concepts

Accepted Answer

Basic understandings about the way print works, including the direction of print, concept of word, letters, and spaces.

Question 36

Leveled Books

Accepted Answer

Books that have been categorized by their difficulty levels for the purpose of guiding instruction.

Question 37

Tier 1 Vocabulary

Accepted Answer

Words that occur frequently in everyday speech, usually learned in the early grades.

Question 38

Tier 2 Vocabulary

Accepted Answer

High-frequency words used by mature language users across several content areas.

Question 39

Tier 3 Vocabulary

Accepted Answer

Low-frequency, context-specific words, often related to specific domains or fields of study.

Question 40

Figurative Language

Accepted Answer

Language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation.

Question 41

Phonics

Accepted Answer

The method of teaching reading and spelling that stresses symbol-sound relationships.

Question 42

Blending

Accepted Answer

The process of saying the individual sounds in a word, then combining them to pronounce the word as a whole.

Question 43

Segmenting

Accepted Answer

The process of separating the individual phonemes, or sounds, of a word.

Question 44

Digraph

Accepted Answer

A combination of two letters representing one sound, such as "ch" or "sh".

Question 45

Diphthong

Accepted Answer

A complex speech sound that begins with one vowel sound and changes to another vowel sound in the same syllable, like "oi" in "boil".

Question 46

Affix

Accepted Answer

A morpheme added at the end (suffix) or beginning (prefix) of a base word to create a new word or to change the function or meaning of the original word.

Question 47

Root Word

Accepted Answer

The most basic part of a word, from which other words are formed.

Question 48

Homophones

Accepted Answer

Words that sound alike but have different meanings and may or may not have the same spelling (e.g., "pair" and "pear").

Question 49

Homographs

Accepted Answer

Words that are spelled the same but may or may not be pronounced the same and have different meanings (e.g., "lead" a metal and "lead" to guide).

Question 50

Synonyms

Accepted Answer

Words that have similar meanings.

Question 51

Antonyms

Accepted Answer

Words that have opposite meanings.

Question 52

Contextual Analysis

Accepted Answer

A strategy readers use to infer or predict a word from the context in which it appears.

Question 53

Prosody

Accepted Answer

The rhythmic and tonal aspects of speech, important for reading fluency and expression.

Question 54

Literature Circles

Accepted Answer

Small, temporary discussion groups of students who have chosen to read the same story, poem, article, or book.

Question 55

Reader Response Theory

Accepted Answer

A view of reading as a process of making meaning that involves the reader's thoughts and feelings as much as the text itself.

Question 56

Constructivist Theory

Accepted Answer

A theory that posits learning as an active, constructive process where learners build new ideas or concepts based on their current/past knowledge.

Question 57

Zone of Proximal Development

Accepted Answer

The range of abilities that an individual can perform with assistance, but cannot yet perform independently.

Question 58

Phonics Instruction

Accepted Answer

Teaching the relationship between phonemes and graphemes.

Question 59

Explicit Instruction

Accepted Answer

Direct, systematic, and structured teaching that provides clear explanations and step-by-step guidance to help students acquire specific skills or knowledge.

Question 60

Authentic Assessment

Accepted Answer

Assessment tasks that reflect real-world contexts and require students to apply their knowledge and skills in meaningful ways.

Question 61

Differentiated Instruction

Accepted Answer

Adjusting instructional strategies, materials, and assessments to meet the diverse needs of students in the classroom.

Wisconsin Foundations of Reading Test