Glossary of Reading Development Terms

B

Background Knowledge

Background knowledge is the foundation for additional learning and essential for reading comprehension and understanding vocabulary.

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C

Chapter Books

As children grow in their reading ability and can follow longer and more complicated stories, chapter books are the next step. Chapter books still feature illustrations, but fewer than the books for early readers. A chapter book tells the story primarily through the text.

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Clusters

A cluster is a group of three or four words that you can read at a glance. Reading in clusters can increase reading speed and improve comprehension.

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D

Decodable Words

Decoding is the process of matching a letter, or a combination of letters, to their sounds (phonemes) and recognizing syllable patterns to correctly pronounce written words. Decoding is a common word attack strategy for beginning readers.

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Developmental Reading Assessment® (DRA)

The Developmental Reading Assessment® (DRA) is a standardized, individually administered reading test used to determine a student’s instructional level in reading.

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Digraphs

A digraph is a combination of two letters representing one sound, as in ph and ey. 

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E

Early Emergent Readers

Early Emergent Readers are aspiring readers who are learning basic concepts about books. Readers at this level are developing letter knowledge, learning about one-to-one matching of spoken words to printed words, and becoming aware of punctuation.

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Early Fluent Readers

Early Fluent Readers have developed a strategic processing system that allows them to read for understanding and self-correct when they reach a point of difficulty. Early Fluent Readers are able to take on new texts with more independence. Readers at this level can read longer, more complex texts fluently and, for the most part, with good comprehension and phrasing.

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Emergent Readers

Emergent readers have a good understanding of the alphabet and early phonics that help them decode unknown words. They are developing comprehension skills and word-attack strategies, and are comfortable with a significant number of high-frequency words. Emergent readers are more flexible in their ability to handle varied placement of text on a page and understand most punctuation.

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F

Fluency

Fluency is the ability to read text accurately, at a conversational rate, and with appropriate expression. Fluency provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension. Fluent readers recognize words automatically and are able to group them quickly to gain meaning. Fluent readers sound natural when reading text, like everyday speech.

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Fluent Readers

Fluent Readers read for meaning. They are able to extend their general knowledge by reading a wide range of longer, more complex texts, across a variety of genre.

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G

Graphic Organizers

A graphic organizer is a visual display that demonstrates relationships between facts, concepts, or ideas. When used in education, they help students organize thoughts and ideas, function as a pre-writing tool, and provide a visual display of information. Different types of graphic organizers include: KWL Chart, Main Idea Web, T-Chart, Timeline Wheel, Venn Diagram, and Web Diagram.

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Guided Reading

Guided Reading is the framework in which a teacher supports each reader’s individual development of effective strategies for processing new texts at increasingly challenging levels of difficulty.

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Guided Reading Levels

Guided reading levels range alphabetically from A to Z, with level A representing the lowest level and level Z the highest. Leveling is based on the complexity of ten common book characteristics: genre, text structure, content, themes, language, sentence complexity, new vocabulary, difficulty of words, illustrations, and physical print features.

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H

High-Frequency Words

High-frequency words are common words, encountered regularly in reading, that make up the majority of any English text. e.g., like he, she, you, I, ask, is, but, the and have.

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I

Illustrations

Illustrations include any kind of drawing, graph, or photo that accompanies the text of a book and adds information or increases meaning and enjoyment for the reader. Early readers need support as they develop reading strategies. Pictures that illustrate the text help provide that support. Pictures also add to a young reader's enjoyment and can help stimulate a child's interest in reading.

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Independent Reading

Independent reading is where students choose their own reading material (fiction books, non-fiction, magazine, other media) for their independent consumption and enjoyment.

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Inflectional Ending

An inflectional ending is a letter, or group of letters, added to the end of a base word to create a new word with a different meaning. Understanding inflectional endings is a major step in developing reading and writing skills. 

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Informational Texts

An Informational Text is a piece of non-fiction writing that aims to educate or inform the reader about a topic. Unlike fiction or some other types of nonfiction texts, an informational text doesn't use characters. It presents information in a way that helps the reader learn more about something that they are interested in. Some examples of informational texts are: biographies, newspapers, magazines, textbooks, or instructional manuals.

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Intonation

Intonation makes it possible to understand the expressions and thoughts that go with the words. It is how we say things, rather than what we say.

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L

Letter-Sound Information

Letter-Sound Information is the recognition of the relationship between letters and their corresponding sounds. Early readers use this to be able to solve the pronunciation of an unknown word. Understanding that words are composed of letters that represent sounds is one of the most basic skills for young readers to develop.

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Level A

Level A readers are just beginning to understand books and the idea that written text conveys meaning. These young readers should be able to identify the upper and lower letters of the alphabet and recognize their corresponding sounds. Level A readers make predictions about what is happening in the story based on information in the pictures. They also self-monitor and self-correct using personal background knowledge. Level A titles can also support and encourage students who are struggling or reluctant to read.

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Level B

Level B titles typically feature simple characters and colorful pictures that support the printed text. The vocabulary is already familiar to the reader and most pages have just two to five lines of text, with phrases that are repetitive, to help children build confidence as they read. Level B titles can also be helpful tools in supporting and encouraging students who are struggling or reluctant to read.

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Level C

Level C titles typically feature simple characters and colorful pictures that support the printed text. The vocabulary is already familiar to the reader and most pages have just two to five lines of text, with phrases that are repetitive, to help children build confidence as they read. Students reading at Level C are able to match spoken words to the printed words with their eyes. Level C readers notice punctuation and begin to use expression and phrasing in their reading as their comprehension skills continue to improve. They understand and can identify a simple sequence of events in the story. Reading at Level C, they now have a wider range of high-frequency words and are able to self-correct while reading. Illustrations are still important keys to readers at this level, helping them in the decoding of new words. The vocabulary in a Level C story is already familiar to the reader and most pages have just two to five lines of text, with phrases that are repetitive, to help children build confidence as they read.

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Level D

Level D fiction titles typically feature stories about simple one-dimensional characters that have human experiences, exhibit emotions, talk, and have the ability to reason. The printed text in Level D readers continues to be strongly supported by illustrations. While the vocabulary and themes are familiar to the reader, at this level they can be examined in more depth. Additionally, Emergent readers no longer rely as heavily on repetitive language patterns.

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Level E

Level E fiction titles typically feature stories about simple one-dimensional human characters or animal fantasy where the animal characters have human experiences, exhibit emotions, talk, and have the ability to reason. The printed text in Level E readers continues to be strongly supported by illustrations. While the vocabulary and themes are familiar to the reader, at this level they can be examined in more depth. Additionally, Emergent readers no longer rely as heavily on repetitive language patterns.

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Level F

Readers at Level F notice and use readers’ tools and simple organizational features, like the table of contents, subtitles, and page headings. They read without pointing at individual words and with the appropriate rate, phrasing, intonation, and word stress. Level F readers can read stretches of simple and split dialogue, and process syntax. They are becoming comfortable with inflectional endings, plurals, contractions, and possessives. Level F titles are appropriate for Upper Emergent readers (Levels F-H).

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Level G

Level G readers use clusters, blends and digraphs, as well as consonant and vowel letter-sound relationships to solve words. They connect words that mean the same or almost the same, and use context and pictures to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary. Level G readers can quickly and automatically recognize seventy-five or more high-frequency words within continuous text. When reading out loud, they are able to demonstrate (without using a finger to point at words) appropriate rate, phrasing, intonation, and word stress.

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Level H

Level H readers use clusters, blends and digraphs, as well as consonant and vowel letter-sound relationships to solve words. They connect words that mean the same or almost the same, and use context and pictures to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary. Level H readers can quickly and automatically recognize seventy-five or more high-frequency words within continuous text. When reading out loud, they are able to demonstrate (without using a finger to point at words) appropriate rate, phrasing, intonation, and word stress.

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Level I

Level I readers use clusters, blends and digraphs, as well as consonant and vowel letter-sound relationships to solve words. They connect words that mean the same or almost the same, and use context and pictures to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary. Level I readers can quickly and automatically recognize a large number of high-frequency words, and use word-solving strategies for complex spelling patterns, multisyllable words, compound words, and many words with inflectional endings, plurals, contractions, and possessives. When reading out loud, they are able to demonstrate (without using a finger to point at words) appropriate rate, phrasing, intonation, and word stress.

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Level J

Level J readers are able to process a wide variety of texts, including short informational texts, short fictional stories, and longer illustrated chapter books. Level J readers automatically recognize a large number of high-frequency words, and quickly use word-solving strategies for complex spelling patterns, multisyllable words, compound words, and many words with inflectional endings, plurals, contractions, and possessives. When reading out loud, they are able to demonstrate appropriate rate, phrasing, intonation, and word stress.

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Level K

Level K readers are able to process a wide variety of texts and genres. Level K readers automatically recognize a large number of high-frequency words, and quickly use word-solving strategies for complex spelling patterns, multisyllable words, compound words, and many words with inflectional endings, plurals, contractions, possessives, prefixes, and suffixes. They read silently during independent reading, but when reading out loud, they are able to demonstrate appropriate rate, phrasing, intonation, and word stress.

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Level M

Level M readers most often read silently and use meaning, structure, and visual cues to understand the story and figure out new words. Level M readers can quickly and automatically recognize a large number of high-frequency words, and use word-solving strategies for complex spelling patterns, multisyllable words, compound words, and many words with inflectional endings, plurals, contractions, and possessives. After silent reading, Level M readers are able to demonstrate an understanding of the text.

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Leveled Readers

Leveled Readers are books that have been evaluated against a series of established criteria by early literacy specialists. The books are organized into 29 developmentally appropriate levels from easy books for aspiring readers to longer, complex books that a fluent reader would choose. Leveled books develop reading comprehension, fluency, phonics, and vocabulary. They are available in both fiction and nonfiction, and on a variety of topics appealing to children of every age.

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N

Nonfiction Texts

A nonfiction text is based on facts. Nonfiction texts can include one or more of the following features: table of contents, index, glossary, headings, bold words, sidebars, pictures and their captions, and labeled diagrams.

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O

Onsets

An onset is the initial phonological unit of any word. The letter C is the onset in the word cat. Teaching children about onsets helps them recognize common sounding chunks when they’re decoding new words. Understanding onsets also improves spelling when a child is learning to write.

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Onsets and Rimes

A syllable can normally be divided into two parts: the onset, which consists of the initial consonant or consonant blend, and the rime, consisting of the vowel and any final consonants.

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P

Phrasing

Phrasing is the ability to group words together as in normal speech, pausing appropriately between phrases, clauses, and sentences. Helping students learn to read in phrases improves fluency and comprehension.

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R

Reading Recovery®

Reading Recovery® is a short-term intervention for first graders having difficulty with early reading and writing. Specially trained teachers work individually with students in daily 30-minute lessons lasting 12 to 20 weeks.

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Response to Intervention (RTI)

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a comprehensive assessment and intervention process that identifies students at risk and monitors the academic progress of students in the general education curriculum.

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Running Records

A running record is a tool designed by literacy expert Marie M. Clay and used primarily by Reading Recovery® educators to assess a child's reading level. Running records allow teachers to evaluate how well a student is using the reading strategies they’re being taught in class and then determine when that student is ready to advance to the next reading level.

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S

Self-Correcting

Self-correcting follows self-monitoring. The reader has used cues from the text to decode an unknown word. Immediately after reading on in the text, the reader notices a conflict among the cues. What they are reading doesn’t make sense. In self-correction, the reader goes back and coordinates additional cues to resolve the conflict and replace the incorrect first attempt with a word that does make sense. Encouraging and developing self-monitoring and self-correcting techniques is more important that stressing a highly accurate first reading.

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Self-Monitoring

Self-monitoring is an important metacognitive tool for improving reading comprehension. While reading, students monitor themselves to make sure they understand what they’re reading. If they don’t understand the material, these students engage in strategies like rereading portions of the text, or reading more slowly in order to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words that are important to understanding the text.

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Sentence Complexity

Texts with simple, more natural sentences are easy for young readers to process. Sentences with embedded or conjoined clauses make a text more difficult to read and understand.

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Sequencing

Sequencing is the ability to identify the components of a story: beginning, middle, and end. Understanding the sequence of events in a text is an important comprehension strategy, especially for narrative texts. Sequencing is also a key part of problem-solving across subjects. Understanding how to build a sequence also helps students develop basic scientific inquiry skills. Our sequencing cards are a fun way to teach sequencing.

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Syntax

Syntax in literature is the way in which words and sentences are placed together in the writing. In the English language, the syntax usually follows a pattern of subject-verb-object agreement. Texts with sentences that follow this pattern are easier for beginning readers because when decoding words they often ask the “does it sound right” question. It takes a more experienced reader to easily understand syntax that is deliberately changed by an author to achieve a different effect (lyrical, rhythmic, rhetoric or questioning).

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T

Text Structure

Text structure is the way in which words are organized on the page and presented to the reader. Most fiction is narrative and arranged primarily in chronological order. Informational texts use different structures to convey their information, most commonly; description, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, and problem and solution. Some text structures, especially when used in combination, can increase the difficulty of a text for a beginning reader.

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U

Upper Emergent Readers

Upper Emergent Readers are beginning to build knowledge of the characteristics of different genres of texts. They can read stretches of both simple and split dialogue. They quickly and automatically recognize a large number of high-frequency words and use letter-sound information to take apart simple, regular words, as well as some multisyllable words while reading. They recognize and use inflectional endings, plurals, contractions, and possessives. They can also process and understand syntax. In fiction, Upper Emergent Readers are beginning to meet characters who are more developed. In informational texts, they are reading to learn new facts

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V

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is the words used and their meanings. A book that has vocabulary words a reader already knows and understands is easier for that reader to read.  

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Voice-Print Match

Voice-Print matching is a milestone in learning to read. When a child is just beginning to read, they point to each individual word with their finger as they read it. It helps early readers establish a one-to-one correspondence. Finger-voice-print matching is motor movement and slower than the fast, automatic visual processing that is required for fluent reading. As students get older, finger pointing is replaced with students being able to visually track the words without using their fingers.

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W

Word Attack Strategies

Word attack strategies help students pronounce and understand unknown words. Decoding is the most common strategy that students use, but many words in the English language are difficult to decode. Students who are learning to read need to have multiple strategies to help them read unknown words, e.g., using picture clues; asking what makes sense; sounding out the word starting with the first letter; looking for chunks of the word they already know; reading past the unknown word and looking for more clues.

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