Definitions of Commonly Used Terms
English Language Arts
Concepts of Print. Print Concepts of print or print awareness is the understanding that print carries meaning, that books contain letters and words. Print awareness also includes an understanding of what books are used for and how a book "works" — how to turn pages, how to find the top and bottom of a page, and how to identify the title and the front and back covers.
Conventions of standard English, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.
CVC words. C-V-C words are one syllable, three letter words that follow a consonant - vowel - consonant sound pattern. Examples of CVC words are cat, zip, bat, etc. CVC words are used to help pre-readers recognize that individual letter sounds (phoneme sounds) combine to make words.
Digraphs. A combination of two consonants that combine to form one single sound. For example, /sh/, shoot; /ch/, cheek; /th/, that; /wh/, where.
Decoding (reading). (1) Using one or more strategies to identify a printed word and its meaning; (2) Using knowledge of the logic of the written symbol system (especially letter–sound relationships and patterns in alphabetic orthographies) to translate print into speech; encoding involves translating speech into print using this knowledge.
Dialogue. A conversation between two or more people.
Encoding (writing). Involves translating speech into print using the knowledge of the logic of the written symbol system (especially letter–sound relationships and patterns in alphabetic orthographies).
Emergent reader. A student on the path to fluent literacy, before conventional reading and writing skills are developed. One who begins to recognize letter sounds, learned sight words, or symbolic representations of words.
Fluency. The ability to read a text accurately and quickly. When fluent readers read silently, they recognize words automatically. They group words quickly to help them gain meaning from what they read. Fluent readers read aloud effortlessly and with expression. Their reading sounds natural, as if they are speaking.
Figurative language. Non-literal (sensory or symbolic) language that helps a reader understand meaning in a text; for example, simile, metaphor, personification.
Genres. A book or story category such as fiction, non-fiction, narrative, mystery, etc.
High frequency words. High-frequency words are the most commonly used words in printed text.
Independent reading level. The level of texts at which a child is able to read successfully on his or her own with little or no assistance. Typically referred to as the type of reading a child is able to do with no teacher assistance or only a small amount of teacher assistance.
Inference. A conclusion or understanding, generally not directly stated by the author or writer, reached on the basis of evidence, logic, and/or reasoning.
Informational text. Texts used to teach or convey knowledge about a topic in math, science, and social studies.
Informative/explanatory writing. Writing that serves one or more closely related purposes: to increase readers’ knowledge of a subject, to help readers better understand a procedure or process, or to provide readers with an enhanced comprehension of a concept.
Instructional reading level. Considered the level of text difficulty at which a reader benefits from instructional scaffolds that support the development of reading competencies such as comprehension, decoding, or fluency.
Main topic or central idea. A concept or idea that is central to a text or section of a text. Please note that central idea and main idea are often used in the same way
Narrative writing. Writing that conveys experience (either real or imaginary) following a sequence of events.
Opinion writing. A type of writing that uses reason or logic to show that the writer’s position or conclusion is valid.
Phonemic awareness. The ability to detect and manipulate the smallest units (i.e., phonemes) of spoken language. For example, recognition that the word cat includes three distinct sounds or phonemes represents phonemic awareness. Individuals with phonemic awareness can blend phonemes to form spoken words, segment spoken words into their constituent phonemes, delete phonemes from spoken words, add phonemes, and substitute phonemes.
Phonics. The understanding that there is a pattern and relationship between the sounds (phonemes) of spoken language and the letters and spellings (graphemes) that represent those sounds in written text.
Phoneme. The smallest unit of sound in spoken language that makes a difference in communication. The spoken word nose consists of three phonemes: /n/-/o/-/z/.
Reading Comprehension. Comprehension is understanding a text that is read, or the process of "constructing meaning" from a text. Comprehension is a "construction process" because it involves all of the elements of the reading process working together as a text is read to create a representation of the text in the reader's mind.
Rubrics. A set of scoring guidelines for evaluating student work.
Story Retell. A classroom based strategy to check and monitor student comprehension of materials read. Story retells consist of a series of open ended questions that the student responds to. Ex: What happened at the beginning of the story?
Text complexity. The inherent difficulty of reading and comprehending a text; quantitative elements, qualitative elements, and reader and task considerations are used to determine the difficulty of the text.
Text features. Elements of a text that are not included in the main text but add to the reader’s understanding. For example, the title, index, headings and subheadings, illustrations, pictures, charts, captions, etc.
Text structure. Text structure refers to the semantic and syntactic organizational arrangements used to present written information
Theme. A message or moral of a text. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly.
Word analysis or Word study. In "word analysis" or "word study," students break words down into morphemes, their smallest units of meaning. Each morpheme has a meaning that contributes to the whole word (root word, prefix, suffix),
Math
Base Ten. A place value number system in which ten digits, 0 through 9, are used to represent a number and the value of each place is 10 times the value of the place to its right; the value represented by of any digit in the number is the product of that digit and its place value.
Cardinality. Denotes how many objects are in a set. For example, the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} has cardinality five which is more than the cardinality of {1, 2, 3} which is three.
Compose. Students form or make something (numbers, functions, sets, etc.) by combining parts.
Decompose. Students decompose by separating into parts in terms of simpler components that allows for students to see groupings, relationships and patterns.
Fluency (math). Computational fluency refers to having efficient and accurate methods for computing. Students exhibit computational fluency when they demonstrate flexibility in the computational methods they choose, understand and can explain these methods, and produce accurate answers efficiently.
Non-standard unit of measurement. Any unit not part of a measurement system (customary or metric) that can be used to measure something. Examples: paperclips, crayons
Operations. Procedures used to combine numbers, expressions, or polynomials into a single result. Examples: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponents
Standard unit of measurement. A standard unit used to express the size, amount, or degree of something using an instrument or device marked in standard units or by comparing it with an object of known size. Examples: ruler, scale, etc.
Sources
https://www.literacyworldwide.org/get-resources/literacy-glossary
https://www.p12.nysed.gov/specialed/techassist/literacyQI-411.htm