UFORA- Phonics and Spelling

Phonics

Instruction in how letters and letter patterns represent sounds in written words.

Alphabetic principle

Understanding that written letters and letter combinations represent speech sounds.

Grapheme

Letter or letter combination representing a phoneme; sh represents /sh/.

Grapheme-phoneme correspondence

Connection between a written grapheme and its spoken sound.

Decoding

Using letter-sound knowledge and word patterns to read unfamiliar printed words.

Encoding

Using sound-letter knowledge to spell spoken words(SPELLING)

Orthography

A language's conventional spelling and writing system.

Orthographic mapping

Linking sounds, spellings, and meanings in memory so words become automatically recognizable.

Consonant blend

Two or more adjacent consonants whose sounds are each heard, such as /s/ /t/ in stop.

Consonant digraph

Two consonant letters representing one sound, such as sh or ch.

Vowel digraph

Two vowel letters that represent a vowel sound, such as ea in team.

Vowel team

Two or more letters working together to represent a vowel sound, such as ai in rain.

Dipthong

Vowel sound that glides between positions within one syllable, as in coin or loud.

Short vowel

Common vowel sound in a closed syllable, such as /ă/ in cat.

Long vowel

Vowel sound that usually says its letter name, such as /ā/ in cake.

Silent-e pattern

Vowel-consonant-e spelling in which final e is silent and the first vowel is usually long; ride.

R-controlled vowel

Vowel influenced by a following r, as in car, bird, or turn.

Schwa

Unstressed vowel sound /ə/, often heard in the first syllable of about.

High-frequency word

Word appearing often in print; some are regular and some have unexpected spellings.

Irregularly spelled word

Word containing at least one spelling-sound correspondence that is unexpected or less common; was.

Sight word

Word recognized automatically without conscious sounding out; not necessarily irregular.

Decodable text

Text intentionally using letter-sound patterns students have been taught.

Pseudoword

Pronounceable made-up word used to assess decoding without relying on memorized words.

Word sort

Activity grouping words by shared spelling, sound, or meaning patterns.

Spelling generalization

Common pattern that helps predict spelling, such as adding -es to boxes.

Phonetic spelling

Spelling based mainly on the sounds heard in words, even when conventional spelling differs.

Transitional spelling

Developmental spelling stage showing increasing use of conventional patterns and spelling rules.

Inflectional ending

Ending that changes tense, number, or degree without changing basic word class; -s, -ed, -ing.

Consonant doubling rule

In certain short-vowel words, double the final consonant before a vowel-starting suffix; hop → hopping.