Praxis 5205 Glossary

504 Plan: A formal plan providing accommodations for students with disabilities, ensuring equal access to education under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Academic Vocabulary: Subject-specific words crucial for understanding content and academic discussions (e.g., "analyze" or "interpret").

Accuracy: Reading words correctly, an essential component of fluency and comprehension.

Adjust Instruction: Modifying teaching strategies based on student needs and progress to improve learning outcomes.

Adjusting Reading Rate: Altering reading speed to match text difficulty and purpose, aiding comprehension.

Affixes: Word parts added to a base word (prefixes and suffixes) that alter its meaning (e.g., “un-” in “undo”).

Air Writing: A multisensory technique where students trace letters in the air to improve letter recognition and memory.

Alliteration: The repetition of the same beginning sound in a sequence of words (e.g., "Peter Piper picked").

Alphabet Books: Books organized by letters, often used to teach letter recognition and phonics to young children.

Alphabet Recognition: The ability to identify and name the letters of the alphabet, a foundational literacy skill.

Alphabetic Principle: The understanding that letters represent sounds, forming the basis for decoding words in reading.

Analogies: Comparisons between two pairs of words to show relationships, used to teach vocabulary and critical thinking.

Analytic Phonics: Teaching phonics by starting with whole words and analyzing their parts to understand letter-sound relationships.

Anecdotal Note: Informal notes taken by a teacher during observations, used to record student behaviors or progress.

Anticipation Guides: Pre-reading tools with statements about the text's themes or content to activate prior knowledge and interest.

Antonym: A word with the opposite meaning of another word (e.g., “hot” and “cold”).

Assessment Data: Information gathered from assessments to inform instruction and measure student learning.

Assistive Technologies: Tools or devices that support students with disabilities in accessing learning materials (e.g., text-to-speech).

At-Home Reading Programs: Programs that encourage students to read outside of school to build fluency and comprehension.

Audio-Assisted Reading: Reading while listening to an audio version of the text to model fluency and improve reading skills.

Auditory Learners: Students who learn best through listening, benefiting from oral explanations and discussions.

Author Studies: A reading activity where students explore multiple works by the same author to analyze style and themes.

Automaticity: The ability to recognize words quickly and effortlessly, important for reading fluency.

Base Words: Words that can stand alone and to which prefixes or suffixes can be added to create new words (e.g., “help” in “helpful”).

Benchmarks: Standards or reference points used to measure students' progress toward learning goals.

Blending Sounds: Combining individual sounds to form a word (e.g., /c/ /a/ /t/ = "cat"), essential for phonemic awareness.

Blends: Two or more consonants together where each sound is still heard (e.g., “bl” in “blend”).

Book Club: A group activity where students read and discuss the same book to improve comprehension and critical thinking.

Cause/Effect Charts: Graphic organizers that help students identify causes and effects in a text, enhancing comprehension.

Character Development: The process by which characters in a story are introduced, developed, and changed, essential for understanding narrative texts.

Checklists: Lists used to track specific skills, behaviors, or completed tasks in student progress or assessments.

Choral Reading: An activity where students read aloud together in unison, which helps improve fluency and confidence.

Chronological: A text structure presenting events in the order they occurred, aiding comprehension of sequences.

Clarifying: A reading strategy where students seek to understand unclear parts of a text by re-reading or discussing.

Class Profile: A summary of student performance data that helps teachers plan instruction to meet diverse needs.

Closed Syllable: A syllable ending in a consonant, where the vowel sound is usually short (e.g., "cat").

Cloze Assessments: Fill-in-the-blank reading activities that measure comprehension by having students supply missing words.

Cognates: Words in different languages that look or sound similar and have similar meanings, helping bilingual students.

Collaborative Review: Group discussions or activities where students review content together, reinforcing learning.

Compare and Contrast: Analyzing similarities and differences between concepts, often used to deepen comprehension.

Compound Words: Words formed by combining two words that each have meaning (e.g., “sunflower”).

Comprehension Interventions: Targeted strategies to help struggling readers improve understanding of texts.

Concepts about Print: Basic understanding of how print works, including directionality, word boundaries, and book handling.

Connotation: The implied or emotional meaning of a word beyond its literal definition (e.g., “home” vs. “house”).

Consonant Blends: Two or more consonants together where each sound is heard, such as “fl” in “flag.”

Consonant Digraph: Two consonants that together make one sound, such as “sh” in “ship.”

Consonant-le Syllable: A syllable ending in a consonant followed by “le” (e.g., “ta-ble”).

Consonants: Speech sounds produced by obstructing airflow, represented by letters other than vowels (e.g., B, C, D).

Contextual Analysis: Using surrounding words or phrases to determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word.

Contractions: Shortened forms of two words combined (e.g., “can’t” for “cannot”).

Conversational Vocabulary: Everyday words used in informal speaking, important for building basic language skills.

Cultural Background: The customs, beliefs, and practices of a student's family or community that shape their experiences.

Cultural Context in Texts: The social, historical, and cultural environment that influences a text’s meaning.

Culturally Responsive Teaching: An approach that incorporates students' cultural backgrounds to make learning more relevant and effective.

Decoding: Translating written language into spoken words using letter-sound knowledge.

Deletion of Phonemes: Removing a sound from a word to create a new word (e.g., removing “s” from “stop” to form “top”).

Denotation: The literal or dictionary meaning of a word, without emotional or cultural associations.

Diagnostic Tools: Assessments used to identify students' specific strengths and needs in reading.

Dialogue: Written or spoken conversation between characters in a text.

Dictionary Skills: The ability to locate and understand word meanings, pronunciation, and usage in a dictionary.

Differentiated Instruction: Tailoring teaching methods to address individual student needs, readiness, and learning styles.

Digital Portfolio: A collection of a student’s work stored digitally to track learning and showcase progress.

Digraph: A pair of letters that represent a single sound, such as “ch” in “chop.”

Diphthong: A complex vowel sound that begins with one vowel sound and glides into another within the same syllable (e.g., “oi” in “boil”).

Directionality of Print: Understanding that print is read from left to right and top to bottom.

Drafting: The stage in the writing process where ideas are written in a rough form, allowing for later revision.

Drama: A genre of literature meant to be performed, involving dialogue and action to convey a story.

Early Literacy Development: The stages young children go through as they begin to learn reading and writing skills.

Echo Reading: A reading strategy where the teacher reads a sentence, and students repeat it to build fluency.

Editing: Revising written work to correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.

Embedded Phonics: Teaching phonics within the context of real reading and writing activities.

Emergent Readers: Young children who are beginning to understand print and developing basic reading skills.

Encoding: The process of using sounds to write words; the reverse of decoding.

English Learners: Students who are learning English in addition to their native language.

Entry-Level Assessment: An initial test given before instruction to gauge students’ current knowledge or skills.

Evaluative Comprehension Question: A question that asks students to make judgments based on evidence in the text.

Exit Ticket: A quick assessment at the end of a lesson to check student understanding.

Explicit Phonics: A method of teaching phonics in a direct, structured way, focusing on clear letter-sound relationships.

Explicit Teaching: Instruction that is direct, clear, and specific, with guided practice to ensure understanding.

Expressive Language: The ability to use words, sentences, and gestures to convey meaning.

Figurative Language: Language that goes beyond the literal meaning of words, such as similes, metaphors, and idioms.

Flexible Grouping: Grouping students based on their current learning needs, with groups changing as those needs change.

Fluency: The ability to read with speed, accuracy, and expression, supporting comprehension.

Formative Assessment: Ongoing assessments used to monitor student learning and inform instruction.

Generating Questions: A strategy where students create questions about a text to deepen comprehension.

Genres: Categories of literature or text types, such as fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.

Gradual Release of Responsibility: An instructional model where teachers gradually shift responsibility to students ("I do, we do, you do").

Graphemes: The smallest units of written language representing a sound (e.g., “c” in "cat" or “ch” in "chip").

Graphophonemic Error: A reading error where a student substitutes a word with similar letters but incorrect meaning (e.g., "father" for "feather").

Greek and Latin Roots: Base parts of words derived from Greek or Latin that help with vocabulary understanding (e.g., "bio" means life).

Hard and Soft Consonants: Variations in consonant sounds, like hard “c” in “cat” and soft “c” in “cent.”

Heterogeneous Grouping: Grouping students with diverse abilities or backgrounds.

Homogeneous Grouping: Grouping students with similar abilities or needs.

Hyperbole: An exaggerated statement used for effect (e.g., “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse”).

Idioms: Expressions with meanings different from the literal words (e.g., “raining cats and dogs”).

Imagery: Descriptive language that appeals to the senses, creating mental images.

Individual Profile: A collection of data on a single student’s strengths, needs, and progress.

Individualized Education Program (IEP): A legal document outlining specialized instruction and services for a student with disabilities.

Inferential Comprehension Question: A question that requires students to read between the lines or make inferences based on text clues.

Informal Reading Inventory (IRI): A series of tests to assess a student’s reading level, comprehension, and strengths or needs.

Initial Sound: The first sound in a word, important for phonemic awareness.

Instructional Reading Level: The level of text a student can read with some teacher assistance, promoting growth.

Interest Inventories: Surveys that assess a student's interests to help tailor reading selections.

Intonation: The rise and fall of voice pitch in speaking or reading aloud, impacting fluency.

Irregular Words: Words that do not follow standard phonetic rules and must often be memorized (e.g., “said,” “one”).

Kinesthetic: Relating to physical movement; often used to describe learning styles involving hands-on activities.

Kinesthetic Activities: Activities involving movement, helpful for learners who retain information through physical actions.

Kinesthetic Learners: Students who learn best through hands-on, physical activities.

KWL Charts: Graphic organizers where students note what they Know, Want to know, and have Learned about a topic.

L-Controlled Vowels: Vowel sounds altered by a following “l” (e.g., “a” in “ball”).

Large Print Books: Books with enlarged text to assist readers with visual impairments.

Learning Disabilities: Disorders that affect learning, especially in reading, writing, and math.

Learning Management System (LMS): A digital platform that organizes and delivers educational content, like assignments and assessments.

Letter Tracing: A practice activity where students trace letters to develop letter formation and recognition.

Letter-Sound Correspondence: The relationship between letters and the sounds they represent.

Leveled Texts: Books organized by difficulty to match readers’ skill levels, supporting gradual reading growth.

Literal Comprehension Question: A question that asks about explicit information directly stated in the text.

Literary Criticism: The analysis and interpretation of literature to understand its themes, structure, and meaning.

Literary Devices: Techniques used in writing to create effects, such as metaphor, simile, and personification.

Literary Texts: Written works like stories, novels, poems, and plays that are valued for their artistic qualities.

Literature Circle: A small group activity where students discuss a book they are reading together to enhance comprehension.

Long Vowels: Vowel sounds that say the name of the letter (e.g., “a” in “cake”).

Manipulatives: Physical objects used in teaching to help students understand abstract concepts.

Metacognition: Awareness and control of one’s own thinking and learning processes.

Metaphors: Comparisons that describe something as if it were something else, without using “like” or “as” (e.g., “time is a thief”).

Miscue Analysis: Studying reading errors to understand a student’s reading strategies and challenges.

Mnemonic Devices: Memory aids that help with recall, like acronyms or rhymes.

Mood: The emotional atmosphere of a text that affects how the reader feels.

Morphemic Analysis: Examining word parts (roots, prefixes, suffixes) to understand word meaning.

Morphological Analysis: Studying the structure of words to understand how meaning is formed.

Multi-Sensory Methods: Teaching approaches that use multiple senses (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) to reinforce learning.

Multisyllabic Words: Words with more than one syllable, often requiring more advanced decoding skills.

Muscle Memory: The ability to remember and perform tasks through repeated physical practice.

Narrative Structure: The organized sequence of events in a story, including beginning, middle, and end.

Non-Linear: A text structure that does not follow chronological order, often found in complex narratives.

Nontechnical Academic Language: General academic vocabulary used across subjects, such as “analyze” and “summarize.”

Nuance of Words: Slight differences in meaning or feeling associated with similar words.

Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate sounds, such as “buzz” or “sizzle.”

Onset: The initial consonant sound(s) of a syllable, preceding the vowel (e.g., “c” in “cat”).

Open Syllable: A syllable ending with a vowel that has a long vowel sound (e.g., “go”).

Open-Ended Questions: Questions that allow for varied responses, encouraging critical thinking and expression.

Paired Reading: A reading strategy where two students read together to support each other’s fluency and comprehension.

Paraphrasing: Restating information in one’s own words to improve understanding.

Parental Involvement: Participation of parents in supporting their child’s education, often improving academic success.

Parts of a Book: The structural elements of a book, including the cover, title page, table of contents, and glossary.

Performance-Based Reading: An assessment approach where students demonstrate comprehension through tasks like reading aloud or dramatizing a text.

Personification: A literary device where human qualities are given to non-human things (e.g., “the wind whispered”).

Phoneme: The smallest sound unit in a language that can change word meaning (e.g., /m/ in “mat”).

Phoneme Addition: Adding a sound to a word to create a new word (e.g., adding /s/ to “top” to make “stop”).

Phoneme Blending: Combining individual sounds to make a word (e.g., /c/ /a/ /t/ becomes “cat”).

Phoneme Categorization: Recognizing the odd sound in a set of words (e.g., finding that “bat” does not match “cat” and “sat”).

Phoneme Isolation: Identifying individual sounds in a word (e.g., /b/ is the first sound in “bat”).

Phonemic Awareness: The ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words, crucial for early reading skills.

Phonics: A method of teaching reading by associating sounds with letters or groups of letters.

Phonological Awareness: Recognizing and working with sounds in spoken language, including rhyming and syllable segmentation.

Phonological Awareness Screener: An assessment to determine a student’s awareness of sounds in language, guiding instruction.

Picture Walk: A pre-reading strategy where students look through pictures in a book to predict the story content.

Plot: The sequence of events in a story, including the beginning, middle, and end.

Poetry: A literary form that uses rhythmic and expressive language to convey emotions and ideas.

Possessives: Words or forms that show ownership (e.g., “dog’s” or “teacher’s”).

Predicting: A reading strategy where readers guess what will happen next based on text clues.

Prefixes: Word parts added to the beginning of a root word to modify its meaning (e.g., “un-” in “undo”).

Prewriting: The initial stage in the writing process where ideas are generated and organized.

Print Carries Meaning: The concept that written text represents spoken language and conveys information.

Progress Monitoring Assessments: Ongoing assessments used to track student progress over time.

Prose: Ordinary written or spoken language without a metrical structure, unlike poetry.

Prosody: The expression, intonation, and rhythm used when reading aloud, affecting fluency.

Publishing: The final stage in the writing process, where the work is shared or presented.

Punctuation Marks: Symbols used in writing to clarify meaning and indicate pauses (e.g., periods, commas).

Question Classification/Answer Verification: A strategy that helps students classify and verify comprehension questions, improving understanding.

R-Controlled Syllable: A syllable where a vowel is followed by an “r,” altering the vowel sound (e.g., “car”).

R-Controlled Vowels: Vowel sounds affected by an “r” that follows them, changing their sound (e.g., “a” in “car”).

Rate: The speed at which a student reads, an important component of fluency.

Read-Aloud: When a teacher or student reads text out loud to model fluent reading and comprehension.

Readers’ Workshop: An instructional model where students read independently, share their reading, and receive guidance.

Reader’s Theater: A reading activity where students perform a script to practice fluency and expression.

Reading Comprehension: The ability to understand and interpret meaning from text.

Reading-Writing Connection: The idea that reading and writing skills support and reinforce each other.

Reciprocal Skills: Skills that reinforce each other, such as reading and writing.

Recursive Instruction: Revisiting and reinforcing skills throughout instruction to strengthen learning.

Repeated Reading: A strategy where students read the same text multiple times to build fluency.

Return Sweep: The movement from the end of one line of text to the beginning of the next in reading.

Revising: Making changes to improve the content, clarity, and structure of a draft in writing.

Rhyme Schemes: Patterns of rhyme in poetry, such as ABAB or AABB.

Rime: The part of a syllable that follows the onset, usually the vowel and any following consonants (e.g., “-at” in “cat”).

Role Play: An activity where students act out scenarios to develop understanding and communication skills.

Roots: The base part of a word that carries its main meaning (e.g., “struct” in “construct”).

Rubrics: Scoring guides outlining criteria for evaluating student work.

Running Record: An assessment tool that records a student’s reading accuracy and fluency during oral reading.

Scaffolding: Temporary support given by teachers to help students achieve learning goals independently.

Schwa: The unstressed, neutral vowel sound in words, often represented by /ə/ (e.g., the “a” in “sofa”).

Segmenting Sounds: Breaking a word into individual sounds (e.g., “cat” becomes /c/ /a/ /t/).

Self-Evaluation: The process where students assess their own work and learning progress.

Self-Monitor Comprehension: The practice of checking one’s own understanding while reading.

Self-Questioning: A strategy where students ask themselves questions to improve comprehension.

Self-Selection of Appropriate Texts: Choosing books at the correct reading level, promoting engagement and independence.

Semantic Error: A reading error where a word is substituted with another that has a similar meaning but is incorrect (e.g., “cat” for “kitten”).

Semantic Map: A visual organizer that shows relationships among words and concepts.

Semantic Organizers: Graphic organizers that help students understand word meanings and relationships.

Sentence Strips: Strips of paper with sentences used for sequencing, fluency practice, or sentence structure.

Setting: The time and place in which a story occurs, providing context for the narrative.

Short Vowels: Vowel sounds that do not say the letter’s name (e.g., “a” in “cat”).

Sight Word: A word recognized instantly without decoding, often high-frequency or irregular (e.g., “the”).

Silent-e Syllable: A syllable that ends in a silent "e," making the preceding vowel long (e.g., "cake").

Similes: Comparisons using "like" or "as" to describe something (e.g., "as brave as a lion").

Sound Blending: Combining individual sounds to form a word (e.g., /b/ /a/ /t/ = "bat").

Sound Deletion: Removing a sound from a word to create a new word (e.g., removing /s/ from "stop" to make "top").

Sound Isolation: Identifying individual sounds in a word, such as the first, middle, or last sound.

Sound Segmentation: Breaking a word down into its individual sounds (e.g., “dog” into /d/ /o/ /g/).

Sound Substitution: Replacing one sound in a word with another to make a new word (e.g., replacing /b/ in "bat" with /c/ to make "cat").

Story Elements: The components of a story, including characters, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution.

Story Maps: Visual organizers that outline the main elements of a story to aid comprehension.

Strategic Read-Alouds: Planned read-alouds with specific teaching goals to improve comprehension and vocabulary.

Structural Analysis: Analyzing parts of a word (prefix, suffix, root) to determine its meaning.

Struggling Readers: Students who have difficulty with reading skills relative to grade-level expectations.

Student Response System: Technology that allows students to answer questions electronically for immediate feedback.

Substitution of Phonemes: Replacing one sound in a word with another to make a new word (e.g., "bat" to "cat").

Suffixes: Word parts added to the end of a root word to modify its meaning (e.g., “-ful” in “hopeful”).

Summarizing: Giving a brief statement of the main points of a text.

Summative Assessment: A final evaluation, usually at the end of a unit or course, to measure student learning.

Sustained Silent Reading: A time set aside for students to read independently and silently to build reading stamina.

Syllabication: Dividing words into syllables to aid in decoding and pronunciation.

Syllable Manipulation: Changing syllables in a word by adding, deleting, or substituting them.

Syllables: Units of pronunciation that contain one vowel sound, forming parts of a word.

Symbolism: Using symbols in writing to represent ideas or concepts beyond their literal meaning.

Synonym: A word with a similar meaning to another word (e.g., "happy" and "joyful").

Syntactic Error: A mistake where a word is replaced with another that fits grammatically but is incorrect in meaning.

Synthetic Phonics: Teaching phonics by blending sounds to form words, emphasizing letter-sound relationships.

Tactile Learners: Students who learn best through hands-on activities and touch.

Tactile Learning: Learning through physical touch or hands-on experiences.

Targeted Intervention: Specific instructional support aimed at helping students with particular learning needs.

Theme: The central message or underlying meaning of a text.

Think-Pair-Share: A collaborative activity where students think individually, discuss with a partner, then share with the group.

Tier 1 Vocabulary: Basic, everyday words familiar to most students (e.g., “dog,” “house”).

Tier 2 Vocabulary: High-frequency, general academic words that enhance reading and writing (e.g., “analyze,” “determine”).

Tier 3 Vocabulary: Subject-specific vocabulary that is less common and usually taught within a particular content area (e.g., “photosynthesis”).

Tiered Vocabulary Instruction: Teaching vocabulary at different levels to match words with students’ needs and learning goals.

Tone: The author’s attitude or feeling toward the subject, conveyed through word choice and style.

Tracking Print: Following text with one's eyes or a finger, supporting directionality and print awareness.

Trigraphs: Three letters that together make one sound (e.g., “tch” in “watch”).

Universal Design Principles: Teaching strategies that ensure all students, regardless of ability, have access to learning.

Venn Diagrams: Visual organizers used to compare and contrast information with overlapping circles.

Visual Aid: Any item, such as a chart or diagram, that visually supports learning.

Visual Cues: Elements like pictures or bold text that help students understand or remember information.

Visual Learners: Students who learn best through seeing information, like charts or written text.

Visualizing: Creating mental images based on text, which aids comprehension.

Vowel Digraph: Two vowels together that make one sound (e.g., “oa” in “boat”).

Vowel Teams: Pairs of vowels that make one sound, also called vowel digraphs or vowel pairs.

Vowels: Speech sounds represented by the letters A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y, which form the nucleus of syllables.

Whole Word Learning: Recognizing whole words by sight rather than decoding them sound by sound.

Word Blending: Combining separate sounds or syllables to form a word.

Word Families: Groups of words with common endings or rimes (e.g., “-at” family: cat, bat, hat).

Word Recognition: The ability to automatically identify and understand a word while reading.

Word Sort: An activity where students group words by similarities, such as sound or meaning.

Word Wall: A display of high-frequency or important words for students to reference and learn.

Writing Stages: The developmental steps in writing, from prewriting to drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.