UFORA- Additional Helpful Terms

Behaviorist learning theory

Learning perspective emphasizing observable behavior and reinforcement.

Phoneme-grapheme mapping

Connecting each sound in a spoken word to the letter or letters spelling it.

Phonological working memory

Temporarily holding and using speech-sound information.

Rapid automatized naming (RAN)

Speed of naming familiar visual items such as letters, numbers, or colors.

Orthographic processing

Recognizing and remembering written letter patterns.

Phonotactics

Language-specific rules about which sound combinations can occur.

Voiced consonant

Consonant produced with vocal-fold vibration, such as /v/.

Unvoiced consonant

Consonant produced without vocal-fold vibration, such as /f/.

Place of articulation

Location in the vocal tract where a speech sound is made.

Manner of articulation

How airflow is shaped or blocked when producing a speech sound.

Consonant cluster

Sequence of adjacent consonant sounds, such as /str/ in street.

VC/CV division

Common syllable division pattern between two consonants, as in rab/bit.

V/CV division

Common syllable division pattern before a consonant, as in ti/ger.

VC/V division

Common syllable division pattern after a consonant, as in cab/in.

Text complexity

Difficulty of a text based on quantitative, qualitative, and reader/task factors.

Lexile measure

One quantitative measure estimating text difficulty or reader ability.

Question-answer relationship (QAR)

Approach teaching whether answers are in text or require inference and background knowledge.

Literal question

Question answerable directly from explicitly stated text information.

Inferential question

Question requiring conclusions based on text clues and prior knowledge.

Evaluative question

Question requiring judgment or critique supported by evidence.

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM)

Brief standardized measures repeated to monitor academic progress.

Retell quality

How accurately and meaningfully a student recounts important text information.

Prosodic reading rubric

Scale used to rate oral reading expression, phrasing, smoothness, and pace.

Instructional reading level

Text difficulty at which a student can read successfully with some teacher support.

Independent reading level

Text difficulty at which a student can read successfully with little assistance.

Frustration reading level

Text difficulty at which errors or comprehension difficulties substantially interfere.

Response to Intervention (RTI)

Data-driven process of providing escalating instructional support; often part of MTSS.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Planning multiple ways for students to engage, access content, and show learning.

Language objective

Statement of the language students will use or develop during a lesson.

Content objective

Statement of the subject knowledge or skill students should learn.

Semantic feature analysis

Vocabulary activity comparing words by meaningful attributes in a grid.