Early Literacy II Final Exam Study Guide

Reading Fluency

The ability to read accurately, quickly, automatically, and with proper expression.

Three Key Elements of Reading Fluency

Accuracy, Rate, and Prosody.

Accuracy

Reading words correctly.

Rate

The speed at which a student reads.

Prosody

Reading with appropriate expression, phrasing, rhythm, and intonation.

Automaticity

The ability to recognize words quickly with little conscious effort.

Variables That Influence Fluency

Text difficulty, background knowledge, vocabulary, decoding skills, and amount of practice.

Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)

A curriculum-based measurement of how accurately and quickly students read aloud.

ORF Norms

Benchmarks used to compare a student's oral reading performance with expected grade-level performance.

Fluency Scoring Guidelines

Measure words read correctly per minute (WCPM), accuracy, and expression.

Assisted Reading

Reading with support from a teacher, peer, or audio model to improve fluency.

Levels of Text Difficulty

Independent, Instructional, and Frustration levels.

Independent Level

Text a student can read with about 95–100% accuracy without help.

Instructional Level

Text a student reads with about 90–94% accuracy and teacher support.

Frustration Level

Text that is too difficult for effective learning (below 90% accuracy).

Phrased-Cued Reading

A fluency strategy where text is marked into meaningful phrases.

Readers Theatre

A fluency activity where students repeatedly practice and perform scripts.

Dale's Four Levels of Word Knowledge

1. Never seen the word. 2. Heard it but don't know meaning. 3. Know it in context. 4. Know it well and can use it.

Incidental Vocabulary Learning

Learning new words naturally through reading and conversation.

Intentional Vocabulary Instruction

Directly teaching word meanings and how to use them.

Word Family

A group of words sharing a common root or pattern.

Root Word

The base form of a word before prefixes or suffixes are added.

Selecting Vocabulary for Instruction

Choose words that are useful, important, and likely to appear in many contexts.

Dictionary Use

Using a dictionary to determine pronunciation, meaning, and usage of words.

Teacher Read-Aloud Vocabulary Instruction

Explicitly introducing and discussing important words while reading aloud.

Three-Tier Vocabulary System

Tier 1: Everyday words; Tier 2: High-frequency academic words; Tier 3: Domain-specific words.

Tier 1 Words

Basic everyday vocabulary.

Tier 2 Words

High-utility academic vocabulary useful across subjects.

Tier 3 Words

Content-specific vocabulary.

Semantic Map

A visual organizer showing relationships among words and concepts.

Semantic Feature Analysis

A chart comparing characteristics of related words or concepts.

Word Relationships

Connections between words such as synonyms, antonyms, categories, and analogies.

Three Areas of Word-Learning Strategies

Context clues, Morphemic analysis, and Dictionary use.

Bound Morpheme

A meaningful word part that cannot stand alone (prefixes and suffixes).

Compound Word

A word made by combining two or more smaller words.

Context Clues

Hints in surrounding text that help determine a word's meaning.

Contextual Analysis

Using context and sentence clues to infer meaning.

Greek and Latin Roots

Common root words that help determine meanings of unfamiliar words.

Morpheme

The smallest unit of meaning in a language.

Morphemic Analysis

Using prefixes, suffixes, and roots to determine word meaning.

Prefix

A word part added to the beginning of a base word.

Suffix

A word part added to the end of a base word.

Word-Part Clues

Using prefixes, suffixes, and roots to determine meaning.

Word Consciousness

An awareness, interest, and curiosity about words and language.

Importance of Word Consciousness

Helps students expand vocabulary and become more engaged readers and writers.

Figurative Language

Language that expresses ideas beyond the literal meaning of words.

Homograph

Words spelled the same but with different meanings (and sometimes different pronunciations).

Idiom

A phrase whose meaning cannot be understood literally.

Metaphor

A comparison stating one thing is another without using "like" or "as."

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as."

Synonym

Words with similar meanings.

Antonym

Words with opposite meanings.

Word Web

A graphic organizer used to explore relationships among words.

Literary Text

Fictional writing that tells stories using characters, setting, and plot.

Informational Text

Nonfiction writing that provides facts or explains information.

Metacognition

Thinking about and monitoring one's own thinking while reading.

Schema

A reader's background knowledge used to understand new information.

Text Structure

The organizational pattern of a text.

Summarizing

Restating the main ideas of a text in a shorter form.

Scaffolding

Temporary instructional support provided to help students learn.

Reader Response

A reader's personal reaction, interpretation, or connection to a text.

Story Structure Elements

Setting, Characters, Plot, Conflict, Climax, Resolution, and Theme.

Story Map

A graphic organizer showing the elements of a story.

Theme

The central message or lesson of a story.

Comprehension Strategies for Literary Text

Predicting, questioning, visualizing, summarizing, inferring, and making connections.

Five Informational Text Structures

Description, Sequence, Compare/Contrast, Cause/Effect, Problem/Solution.

Description Text Structure

Provides characteristics or features of a topic.

Sequence Text Structure

Presents information in chronological or step-by-step order.

Compare and Contrast Text Structure

Shows similarities and differences.

Cause and Effect Text Structure

Explains why something happened and its results.

Problem and Solution Text Structure

Identifies a problem and explains possible solutions.

Comprehension Strategies for Informational Text

Use text features, identify text structure, summarize, ask questions, and make connections.

Considerate Text

A text that is well organized and easy for readers to understand.

K-W-L Procedure

A strategy where students identify what they Know, Want to know, and Learned.

Schema in Informational Text

Background knowledge that helps readers understand informational texts.

MTSS for Reading Success

Multi-Tiered System of Supports that provides increasing levels of reading instruction and intervention based on student needs.

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)

A prevention-oriented framework that uses evidence-based instruction, ongoing assessment, and data-based decision making to provide increasingly intensive support so all students can succeed.

Two Systems of Support Within MTSS

Academic instruction and behavioral instruction.

Academic Instruction

System of support that helps students achieve academic success through high-quality instruction and targeted interventions.

Behavioral Instruction

System of support that teaches positive behavior and social-emotional skills to create an environment that promotes learning.

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

A framework for teaching, reinforcing, and supporting positive student behavior across the school.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

Instruction that develops students' self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, responsible decision making, and social awareness.

Four Basic Components of MTSS

Multi-tiered instruction, evidence-based programs, ongoing assessment, and data-based decision making.

Evidence-Based Program

Instructional practices or interventions that have strong research evidence demonstrating effectiveness.