Phonics Exam Study Guide

These flashcards cover key concepts, definitions, and elements related to phonics, phonemic awareness, and reading instruction.

What is phonics?

A method of teaching reading that focuses on sound-letter relationships.

What is decoding?

Using sound-spelling knowledge to pronounce words.

Define phonemic awareness.

Recognizing individual sounds in words.

What are syntactic cues?

Grammar clues that help predict word types.

What is explicit phonics instruction?

Direct teaching of sound-spelling relationships.

What is print awareness?

Understanding that print represents speech and follows a set order.

What is the initial reading/decoding stage?

The early reading phase focusing on basic phonics.

What is sound isolation?

Identifying individual sounds in words.

What are consonant blends?

Two or more consonants together, each sound heard (e.g., 'bl,' 'st').

What are CVC words?

Short vowel words (e.g., 'cat,' 'sun').

What is an Open Syllable?

Ends with a vowel sound (e.g., 'ba-by').

What is a closed syllable?

Ends with a consonant sound (e.g., 'cat').

What is a phoneme?

The smallest unit of sound in speech.

What is a grapheme?

A letter or letters representing a sound.

What is articulation?

How speech sounds are physically made.

alphabet knowledge versus alphabet principle

alphabet knowledge is about recognizing letters, while the alphabetic principle is about understanding how letters relate to sounds in words.

student" phonetically spelled

STOO-duhnt