WGU-C909: Elementary Reading Methods and Interventions (Revised) with solutions + rationales 2025-2026

1. Constructivism (Learning Philosophies):

-Constructivism emphasizes the idea that comprehending a text is very much an active process. -Constructivism holds that the meaning one constructs from a text is subjective—the result of one particular person's processing of the text.

2. Cognitive-Constructivist View of Reading-Teaching Methods (Learning Philosophies):

-Aim to assist students in assimilating new information to existing knowledge, as well as enabling them to make the appropriate modifications to their existing intellectual framework to accommodate that information.

-Jean Piaget and William Perry

3. Cognitive-Constructivist View of Reading (Learning Philosophies):

-Emphasizes that reading is a process in which the reader actively searches for meaning in what she reads.

-The reader makes connections between ideas and then integrates these understandings with prior knowledge

-Ex: Because of Winn-Dixie,-the inference comes from her knowledge that people who have things in common often become friends and from her active processing of the text.

4. Sociocultural Theory (Learning Philosophies):

-Extends the influence on the cognitive-constructivist view out from the reader and the text into the larger social realm.

-Learning is viewed as primarily a social rather than an individual matter.

-Lev Vygotsky

5. Steps of Sociocultural Theory (Learning Philosophies):

-First, the social and cultural backgrounds of students have a huge and undeniable effect on their learning.

-Second, because learning is quintessentially social, much learning—particularly the best and most lasting learning—will take place as groups of learners work together.

-Third, the classroom, the school, and the various communities of students in a classroom are social contexts that have strong influences on what is or is not learned in the classroom, and each of them must be carefully considered in planning and carrying out instruction.

6. Schema (Learning Philosophies):

-Theory that is concerned with knowledge, particularly with the way knowledge is represented in our minds, how we use that knowledge, and how it expands.

7. Reader Response Theory (Learning Philosophies):

-Puts a good deal of emphasis on the reader, stressing that the meaning one gains from text is the result of a transaction between the reader and the text and that readers will have a range of responses to literary works.

-Many literary texts simply do not have a single correct interpretation, and readers should be allowed and encouraged to construct a variety of interpretations—if they can support them.

-Louise Rosenblatt

8. The three phases of the construction-integration process (Learning Philosophies):

(1.) Construction

(2.) Integration

(3.) Metacognition

9. Construction (Construction-Integration Process-Learning Philosophies): Phase 1:

-In the construction phase, a reader uses knowledge of vocabulary and syntax to make meaning.

10. Integration (Construction-Integration Process-Learning Philosophies): Phase 2:

-Integrates words and sentences by linking previous information using cohesive ties to create a textbase.

11. Metacognition (Construction-Integration Process-Learning Philosophies): Phase 3:

-A reader employs metacognition to monitor his processes to ensure the meaning makes sense. If it doesn't, the reader employs strategies to fix comprehension.

12. Define Metacognition as it Applies to Reading (Learning Philosophies):

-Metacognition is the process of reflecting on one's reading strategies while reading to monitor comprehension.

-A metacognitive reader is able to articulate the strategies he uses to comprehend. He is also able to recognize when meaning breaks down and employ strategies to fix comprehension.

13. Oral Language Development (Stages of Development):

-The complex system that relates sounds to meanings, is made up of three components: the phonological, semantic, and syntactic.

14. How Oral Language Supports Vocabulary Development (Stages of Development):

-Reading and talking with children plays an important role in developing their vocabulary.

-The more you read to children, the larger vocabulary they will develop.

15. Phonological Component (Oral Language Dev.-Stages of Development):

-Involves the rules for combining sounds.

-We are not aware of our knowledge of these rules, but our ability to understand and pronounce English words demonstrates that we do know a vast number of rules.

16. Semantic Component (Oral Language Dev.-Stages of Development):

-Is made up of morphemes, the smallest units of meaning that may be combined with each other to make up words (for example, paper + s are the two morphemes that make up papers), and sentences.

-A dictionary contains the semantic component of a language, but also what words (and meanings) are important to the speakers of the language.

17. Syntactic Component (Oral Language Dev.-Stages of Development):

-Consists of the rules that enable us to combine morphemes into sentences.

-Ex. As soon as a child uses two morphemes together, as in "more cracker," she is using a syntactic rule about how morphemes are combined to convey meaning.

18. Pragmatics (Oral Language Dev.-Stages of Development):

-Some language experts would add a fourth component: which deals with rules of language use.

-Pragmatic rules are part of our communicative competence, our ability to speak appropriately in different situations.

-Ex. in a conversational way at home and in a more formal way at a job interview.

19. Stages of Reading Development (Stages of Development):

-Early Emergent Readers (Levels aa-C)

-Emergent Readers (D-J)

-Early Fluent Readers (K-P)

-Fluent Readers (Q-Z2)

20. Emergent Readers (D-J) (Stages of Development):

-Readers at this stage have developed an understanding of the alphabet, phonological awareness, and early phonics.

-They have command of a significant number of high-frequency words.

-Emergent readers are developing a much better grasp of comprehension strategies and word-attack skills.

-They can recognize different types of text, particularly fiction and nonfiction, and recognize that reading has a variety of purposes.

21. Stages of Writing Development (Stages of Development):

Scribbling/Drawing

-Letter-Like Forms & Shapes

-Letters

-Letters & Spaces

-Conventional Writing & Spelling

22. Conventional Writing & Spelling (Stages of Development):

-Children spell most words correctly, with a reliance on phonics knowledge to spell longer words.

-Writers use punctuation marks correctly and use capital and lower case letters in the correct places.

-Writing for different purposes becomes more important.

-Handwriting becomes easier, as does the spelling of a majority of words.

23. Gradual Release of Responsibility (Strategies for Literacy Development):

-A teaching approach which incorporates scaffolding so that responsibility for the content is gradually shifted from teacher to student.

24. Various Strategies for Vocabulary Development (Strategies for Literacy Development):

(1.) Integration—connecting new vocabulary to prior knowledge

(2.) Repetition—encountering/using the word/concept many times

(3.) Meaningful use—multiple opportunities to use new words in reading, writing and soon discussion.

25. Balanced Literacy Models are Composed of Three Major Components (Balanced Literacy Framework):

1.) reading workshop

(2.) writing workshop

(3.) word work

26. Reading Workshop Components (Balanced Literacy Framework):

1.) shared reading

(2.) guided reading

(3.) independent reading

27. Shared Reading (Balanced Literacy Framework):

-During shared reading, teachers provide explicit comprehension and instruction.

-Reading A-Z's collection of projectable Big Books supports developmentally appropriate skills, such as concepts of print, as well as reinforces specific reading skills and strategies.

-Using an enlarged text that all children can see, the tea-chers involve children in reading together following a pointer.

28. Guided Reading (Balanced Literacy Framework):

-Provides a scaffolded approach to instruction.

-Reading A-Z's collection of leveled readers spanning levels of difficulty represents a variety of text types and genres and includes a balance of fiction and nonfiction.

-Use Benchmark Books or Benchmark Passages to determine where to start students within the levels and to monitor their progress as their reading improves.

-The teacher works with a small group of students who read at all similar levels

29. Independent Reading (Balanced Literacy Framework):

-Provides students the opportunity to apply reading strategies and skills in a text of personal interest.

-Print Reading A-Z's leveled books for students to select for daily independent reading.

-A membership to Raz-Plus provides students with the opportunity to select eBook versions of the Leveled Books to read online.

-Students read from classroom library or leveled books.

-Students read from a wide variety of materials.

30. Writing Workshop Components (Balanced Literacy Framework):

1.) shared writing

(2.) guided writing

(3.) independent writing

31. Interactive Writing (Writing Workshops-Balanced Literacy Framework):

-As in shared writing, teacher and children compose message and stories that are written using a "shared pen" technique that involves children in the writing.

32. Process (Guided) Writing (Writing Workshops-Balanced Literacy Framework):

-Begin with teacher-directed lessons followed by time for students to write.

-Teachers confer with students and guide their writing development.

-Children engage in writing a variety of texts. Teacher guides the process and provides instruction through mini-lessons and conferences.

-Members of Writing A-Z gain access to complete process writing lessons for a variety of text types or genres.

33. Shared & Independent Writing (Balanced Literacy Framework):

-Day 4 in each Shared Reading Book's 5-Day Lesson Plan contains a shared writing activity, allowing students structured practice with specific skills. Find the 5-Day Shared Reading Lesson on each book's homepage.

-Selected Leveled Books provide a Writer's Response activity for independent practice. Simply click on "With Writer's Response" in the filter options.

-Poetry Writing Lessons provide a lesson plan, examples, and scaffolded writing worksheets for 11 types of poetry.

-Shared: Teacher and children work together to compose messages and stories; teacher supports process as scribe.

-Independent: Children write their own pieces, including narrative and informational texts

34. Word Work (Balanced Literacy Framework):

-Has a goal of working with words to guide students to become more fluent readers and writers.

-Components: (1.) Phonemic Awareness & Phonics, (2.) High-Frequency Words & Vocabulary

35. Phonemic Awareness & Phonics (Balanced Literacy Framework):

-Help the youngest students learn letter-sound relationships.

-Reading A-Z's Phonological Awareness Lessons and Decodable Books & Phonics Lessons along with flash cards, activity sheets, Sound/Symbol Books and Read-Aloud Books provide practice with words, phrases, sentences, and continuous text to build vocabulary and fluency.

-Young children need to be taught that the words they say can be broken into parts, based on individual speech sounds, known as phonemes, and this phonemic awareness plays an essential role in sounding out and spelling words.

-Teach students to notice, differentiate, think about, and manipulate sounds - from sounds of word to sounds of individual phonemes - during effective phonological awareness instruction.

36. High Frequency Words & Vocabulary (Balanced Literacy Framework):

Students build on a foundation of word knowledge by emphasizing word structure and vocabulary.

-Students extend their vocabulary in order to apply it in the context of reading.

-Reading A-Z's High-Frequency Words and Vocabulary resources provide practice with the most common sight words and familiar content vocabulary to quickly build students' reading vocabulary.

-Additional 5-Day lesson plans for the vocabulary for each leveled book and access to customizable lessons for Academic Vocabulary are available on Vocabulary A-Z.

37. High Frequency Words (Balanced Literacy Framework):

-Are the most commonly used words in printed text and over 50 percent of all text is composed of them.

-Provide students with books or flashcards to practice memorizing high-frequency words.

-Because many are phonetically irregular, tend to be abstract, have limited visual correspondence, or even easily understood definitions, students must memorize them to read quickly and fluently.

38. Vocabulary (Balanced Literacy Framework):

-An understanding of word meanings is essential to high levels of reading comprehension and written expression, so students need to have many opportunities in the classroom to hear and use words in ways that promote vocabulary growth.

-Visual tools and printable manipulatives help different kinds of learners enrich their vocabularies.

-A large vocabulary opens students up to a wider range of reading materials. A rich vocabulary also improves students' ability to communicate through speaking, listening, and writing.

39. Read Aloud/Modeled Reading (Balanced Literacy Framework):

-Teacher reads aloud to the whole class or small groups.

40. What reading skills are taught within the Balanced Literacy Framework? (Reading Skills):

Concepts of Print

-Phonological/Phonemic Awareness

-Phonics

-Fluency

-Vocabulary

-Comprehension

41. Concept of Print (Reading Skills):

-Explicitly showing students the features of written language, including how books "work", how letters and words are used, and how text is organized serves as an important introduction to literacy.

42 Phonological Awareness (Reading Skills):

-Phonological awareness involves the understanding that spoken language can be broken into smaller units: sentences into words, words into syllables, syllables into phonemes.

-Phonological awareness is a broad term that encompasses oral language skills in rhyming, alliteration, sentence segmentation, syllable blending and segmenting, onset-rime blending and segmenting, and phoneme blending and segmenting. Instruction in phonological awareness provides the foundational skills for understanding the relationship between letters and phonemes

43. Phonics (Reading Skills):

-Phonics is the study of the relationships between letters and the sounds they represent.

-Phonics instruction teaches students how to use the relationships between sounds (phonemes) and letters to decode unfamiliar words in text.

-It involves teaching students the basic correspondences between letters and sounds, how to blend sounds together to produce words, and how to use these phonemic decoding skills while reading text.

44. Fluency (Reading Skills):

-Fluency is the ability to read text quickly, accurately, and with proper expression.

-Fluency develops over time through supported and repeated reading practice.

-Fluency develops as students are able to recognize words "by sight", decode unfamiliar words, and construct meaning more actively and rapidly.

45. Oral Reading Fluency Activities that Foster Fluency (Reading Skills):

-Echo Reading

-Choral Reading

-Audio-Assisted Reading

-Partner Reading

-Decodable Text Reading

-Time Repeated Reading

46. Vocabulary (Reading Skills):

-Vocabulary refers to the pronunciation and meanings of words necessary for communication.

-Vocabulary knowledge is often divided into two categories: oral vocabulary (listening and speaking) and print vocabulary (reading and writing).

-Vocabulary instruction should provide students with an understanding of the meaning and use of words.

47. Vocabulary Components (Reading Skills):

-Listening (Receptive) Vocabulary

-Speaking (Expressive) Vocabulary

-Reading Vocabulary

-Writing Vocabulary

48. Comprehension (Reading Skills):

-Comprehension is the ability to understand and gain meaning from text.

-Comprehension occurs as a result of the interaction between the reader and the text.

-Before reading even begins, reader characteristics, such as word reading ability and vocabulary, impact the level of a student's comprehension.

49. Phonological Awareness & Phonemic Awareness (Reading Skills):

-Are concepts related only to hearing the sounds in spoken language.

-Foundational Skills/Pre-Reading Skills

50. The Concept of Phonics (Reading Skills):

-Related to sounds & letters.

51. Phonological Awareness Elements (Reading Skills):

(1.) The least complex of the phonological awareness skills is called word awareness or sentence segmentation.

(2.) A little more complex and the ability to hear the parts within a spoken word- is called syllable awareness and the teacher helps students hear the syllables.

(3.) Even more complex is the ability to focus on the end of spoken words and hear how the end of words sometimes sound the same or different-this is called rhyming.

(4.) Finally, the most complex skill of phonological awareness is the ability to hear the smallest units of sound words-referred to as a phoneme.

52. What are developmentally appropriate reading strategies for kindergarten? (Balanced Literacy):

-Print Concepts: Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.

-Phonological Awareness: Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).

-Phonics & Word Recognition: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

-Fluency: Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.

53. Why is a morning message helpful for emergent readers? (Balanced Literacy):

-The morning meeting can develop and nurture a sense of belonging and purpose, engaging students in a variety of literacy experiences.

54. Why is it important to include a variety of levels and student-created print materials in a balanced literacy environment? (Balanced Literacy):

-Teachers are giving students the opportunities and skills necessary for growth in literacy development.

-Through exposure to written language (e.g., storybook reading and daily living routines) many children develop an awareness of print, letter naming, and phonemic awareness.

55. Phonemic Awareness (Phonemic Awareness Definition):

-The ability to hear, segment blend, and manipulate phonemes to spoken words.

56. Alphabetic Phase (Phonic/Word Recognition):

-The written forms of spoken, alphabetic languages use letters (graphemes) in a code to represent the sounds of speech (phonemes); specific sequences of written letters form words. This is the alphabetic principle.

If only English obeyed this principle more simply, we would not have such spellings as to, too, and two.

57. Phonics (Definition) (Phonics/Word Recognition):

-The relationship between sounds and letters.

58. Decoding (Phonics/Word Recognition):

-Skill in phonics

-A code is a systematic use of symbols; In reading, the symbols are letters (and such ancillary elements as punctuation) and the system is the spelling and syntax of the language; therefore, decoding is turning written symbols into language.

-One can develop decoding skills through phonics instruction.

-Decoding skills tend to develop in phases.

59. Phases of Decoding (Phonics/Word Recognition):

(1.) Pre-alphabetic

(2.) Partial alphabetic

(3.) Full alphabetic

(4.) Consolidated alphabetic

(5.) Automatic

60. Decoding for below-level readers (Phonics/Word Recognition):

-Significantly improves children's word recognition, spelling, and reading comprehension.

61. How can implementing decoding strategies help students who struggle with fluency? (Fluency):

-Being able to decode words effortlessly (convert spelling into speech sounds) means children are able to focus their attention on comprehending what they read.

62. Phoneme (Phonics Term) (Fluency):

-The smallest unit of sounds in our spoken language.

-Pronouncing the word cat involves blending three phonemes: /k/ /ae/ /t/.

63. Grapheme (Phonics Term) (Fluency):

-A written letter or a group of letters representing one speech sound.

-Examples: b, sh, ch, igh, eigh.

64. Onset (Phonics Term) (Fluency):

-An initial consonant or consonant cluster.

-In the word name, n is the onset; in the word blue, bl is the onset.

65. Rime (Phonics Term) (Fluency):

-The vowel or vowel and consonant(s) that follow the onset.

-In the word name, ame is the rime.

66. Digraph (Phonics Term) (Fluency):

-Two letters that represent one speech sound.

-Examples: sh, ch, th, ph.

67. Vowel Digraph (Phonics Term) (Fluency):

-Two letters that together make one vowel sound.

-Examples: ai, oo, ow.

68. Schwa (Phonics Term) (Fluency):

-The vowel sound sometimes heard in an unstressed syllable and that most often sounds like /uh/ or the short /u/ sound as in cup.

69. Morpheme (Phonics Term) (Fluency):

-The smallest meaningful units of language.

-The word cat is a morpheme.

70. Prosody (Fluency):

-intonation, stress, and phrasing in fluency.

71. How can you increase vocabulary through oral reading, rereading, and vocabulary discussion activities? (Vocabulary):

-The more oral language experiences children have, the more word meanings they learn.

-Reading aloud to children is important, it increases children's exposure to new vocabulary.

-Teaching important vocabulary before reading can help students both learn new words and comprehend the text.

72. How do verbal discussions and word walls support vocabulary development? (Vocabulary):

-Word walls: helping students learn to read & spell words.

-Verbal discussions: by fostering word consciousness.

73. Why is it important for students to locate information in a text a good way to set a purpose for reading? (Comprehension):

-Comprehension occurs as a result of the interaction between the reader and the text.

-Teaching selected vocabulary and concepts before students read a selection can help them better understand and appreciate a text

74. Why are teaching various comprehension strategies appropriate for fluent readers? (Comprehension):

-The strategies help students reach the goal of understanding and learning from what they read.

-These strategies will also promote deeper understanding of the stories and books that students read.

75. Why is it important to provide sufficient background knowledge to improve reading comprehension skills? (Comprehension):

-The more you know about a topic, the easier it is to read a text, understand it, and retain the information.

76. Instructional Frameworks and Procedures (Comprehension):

-Designed to scaffold students' efforts in their reading and understanding of various texts, thus helping them develop literacy skills, boosting higher order thinking, while nurturing positive attitudes about reading.

77. Four Frameworks (Comprehension):

-Three of the frameworks—the directed reading activity (DRA), the directed reading-thinking activity (DR-TA), and the scaffolded reading experience (SRE)—can be implemented with students at all grade levels.

-The fourth, guided reading, is designed primarily for beginning readers in grades 1 through 3.

78. Individual Procedures (Comprehension):

-Help students better comprehend and learn from the texts they read: story grammars or story maps, K-W-L, reading guides, discussion webs, and semantic webbing and weaving. All these techniques promote higher-order thinking.

79. How could comprehension strategies help above level readers? (Comprehension):

-Students should read texts at their instructional level rather than their grade level.

-Students who are good at monitoring their comprehension know when they understand what they read and when they do not.

-Use strategies as needed when comprehension breaks down.

80. How can metacognition help readers who are struggling with reading comprehension? (Comprehension):

-Metacognitive practices help students become aware of their strengths and weaknesses.

-Good readers use metacognitive strategies to think about and have control over their reading.

81. Explain how reciprocal teaching can help metacognition. (Comprehension):

-It encourages students to think about their own thought process during reading.

-It helps students learn to be actively involved and monitor their comprehension as they read.

-It teaches students to ask questions during reading and helps make the text more comprehensible.

82. Reciprocal Teaching (Comprehension):

-Refers to an instructional activity in which students become the teacher in small group reading sessions.

-Teachers model, then help students learn to guide group discussions using four strategies: summarizing, question generating, clarifying, and predicting.

-Once students have learned the strategies, they take turns assuming the role of teacher in leading a dialogue about what has been read.

83. Why is a test a good summative assessment? (Literacy Assessments):

-They are given periodically to determine at a particular point in time what students know and do not know.

84. How does a summative assessment help to determine mastery of a skill? (Literacty Assessments):

-They are spread out and occur after instruction every few weeks, months, or once a year, summative assessments are tools to help evaluate the effectiveness of programs, school improvement goals, alignment of curriculum, or student placement in specific programs.

85. What is a teacher doing during formative assessment? (Literacy Assessments):

-Criteria & goal setting

-Observations

-Questioning strategies

-Self & peer assessments

-Student record keeping

86. How can portfolios be a good summative assessment? (Literacy Assessments):

-Portfolios provide a revealing picture of a student's strengths and weaknesses.

-This type of instruction engages the student to reflect on his or her own work.

-Portfolios encourage students to take an active role in learning information they feel they have not yet mastered.

-Portfolios can help guide instruction.

-Through looking at samples of a child's work, a teacher can often see what additional instruction is still needed.

87. How can running records be a good formative assessment? (Literacy Assessments):

-Running records are a formative assessment and should guide small group instruction and help you plan for whole group instruction.

-. They allow you to assess a student's reading fluency and comprehension, and are objective and reliable.

88. How do running records help you to determine a student's reading level? (Literacy Assessments):

-Giving you information about a student's reading level so you can choose texts at an appropriate level.

-Showing you where the student is having difficulty through an analysis of their errors and other observations (for example, are they reading extremely slowly? Are they having difficulty recognizing common high frequency words? Are they having trouble sounding out words? Are they guessing at words? Do they keep reading even when sentences dont make sense?) This can allow you to target instruction.

89. How can a formative assessment help you to differentiate instruction? (Literacy Assessments):

-Can help teachers determine:

*Whether instruction is being delivered at the right level and at the right pace.

*How to plan future instruction that will meet students' needs.

*How students should be grouped for instruction so that each student receives instruction at the right level of difficulty.

*Which students need individual support.

90. How can a formative assessment guide reading instruction? (Literacy Assessments):

-The information gained from assessment allows teachers to know if all students are mastering the content covered.

-To provide teachers with information on how instruction can be improved.

-By using students' assessment data, teachers can alter instruction to maximize all students' learning,

91. How can a book walk and asking questions be an appropriate formative assessment? (Literacy Assessments):

-Asking questions allows an opportunity for deeper thinking and provides teachers with significant insight into the degree and depth of understanding.

92. What are DIBELS?

-The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills

-A set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of early literacy skills.

-They are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of early literacy and early reading skills.

93. IQ Achievement Discrepancy Model (Response to Intervention):

-The traditional method used to determine whether a student has a learning disability and needs special education services.

-The discrepancy model is based on the concept of the normal curve.

94. What is RTI? (Response to Intervention):

-In the RTI approach, struggling students’ skills are monitored to determine whether they show adequate growth (referred to as responsiveness) following the implementation of high-quality instruction.

-RTI is also offered as an alternative to the IQ-achievement discrepancy model for identifying students with learning disabilities.

95. Why is RTI needed? (Response to Intervention):

-Students who do not respond adequately to research-validated instruction in the general education classroom are provided with increasingly intensive and validated interventions.

96. RTI is a multi-level approach that is made of the following components: (Response to Intervention):

-Universal screening

-Tier 1

-Tier 2

-Tier 3

97. Universal Screening (Response to Intervention):

-All students are given a screening measure. Students at risk for academic failure are identified.

98. Tier 1: (Response to Intervention):

-Students receive effective, research-validated instruction in the general education setting. Student progress is monitored on a weekly basis. (In some approaches, universal screening is considered part of Tier 1.)

-80-90% of enrollment

99. Tier 2: (Response to Intervention):

-Students whose progress is less than desired receive different or additional support from the classroom teacher or another educational professional. Student progress continues to be monitored.

-5-10% of enrollment

100. Tier 3: (Response to Intervention):

-Students whose progress is still insufficient in response to Tier 2 instruction may receive even more intensive instruction, which can be provided in a variety of ways. Then, depending on a state's or district's policies, students may qualify for special education services based on the progress monitoring data, or they may receive either an abbreviated or comprehensive evaluation for the identification of a learning disability.

-1-5% of enrollment.