Blending: Orally combining the separate sound units of a word into an integrated whole; orally combining the separate sound units of a word to produce the whole word. Example: |ssss| |aaaa| |t|, |ss| |aa| |t|, 'sat'.

CCCVC words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant. Example: strum.

CCVC words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant. Examples: trim, spot, frog, etc.

CV words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, vowel. Examples: no, to, hi, be, etc.

CVC words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, vowel, consonant. Examples: lad, cow, pen, etc.

CVCC words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, vowel, consonant, consonant. Examples: land, bend, sign, etc.

CVCe words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, vowel, consonant, and then followed by a silent E at the end. Examples: take, dive, life, etc.

CVVC words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, vowel, vowel, consonant. Examples: look, beam, bait, meet, etc.

Consonant blend: Two consecutive consonants in a word, each of which retains its own sound. .Example: In 'green' we hear both |g| and |r|.

Consonant cluster: Three consecutive consonants, each of which retains it own sound. Example: in 'spring', we hear |s|, |p|, and |r|.

Consonant combination: The different ways that consonants can be put together to form words. Consonant digraphs, consonant blends, and consonant clusters are all types of consonant combinations.

Consonant digraph: Two consecutive consonants that make one sound. Examples: fish, they, chair, etc.

Content specific words: Words that relate to a given domain of knowledge, such as medical terminology or computer jargon.

Decoding: The ability to relate a sequence of letters in print to their corresponding sounds, allowing the reader to translate the sequence into a word.

Digraph: Two consecutive letters that make only one sound. Examples: beat, train, and bread.

Diphthong: A single phoneme in which there is a glide from one vowel position to another. Examples: |oi|, |ow|, |I|.

Explicit: Completely and clearly expressed without ambiguity or vagueness; fully developed. Example: Explicit instructions would leave no doubt in your mind about how you were to proceed. Every part would be 'spelled out'.

Fluency: In the area of reading, the skill of reading with accuracy, speed, and ease.

Grapheme: The alphabetic letter or letters that correspond to one particular phoneme, or sound. Examples: The grapheme, or letter, 't' corresponds to the phoneme, or sound, |t|.

Minimal pair: Two very similar words often used for discrimination practice. One word of the pair is the example word and contains the new phonetic element; the other word is the contrast word and contains familiar letter(s) which substitute for the new phonetic element. Examples: beat/seat, feet/meet/, stop/mop.

Onset: The initial consonant sound or sounds that come before the vowel in a syllable; part of the onset rime unit. Examples: |gr| is the onset in the word 'green'.

Phoneme: The smallest speech sounds that make a difference in the meaning of a word. (There are 39-45 phonemes in the English language.)

Phonemic awareness: "An explicit understanding that words are composed of segments of sound smaller than a syllable, as well as knowledge, or awareness, of the distinctive features of individual phonemes themselves." (Torgesen, 1999, p. 129)

Phonics: The systematic way that specific letters or graphemes are used to represent the different phonemes in spoken words.

Phonogram: As used in this lesson, usually a vowel followed by a consonant sound; can be an entire syllable or part of a syllable. Examples: ab, ing, ed.

Phonology: The system or science of speech sounds in a language, focusing especially on the history and theory of sound changes.

Predicting: Using the context of one or more sentences to identify an unknown word.

Proficient readers: Individuals who effectively and independently use skills and strategies to construct meaning from print.

Reading comprehension: The process or result of gaining intended and personal meaning from written material.

Rime: The ending portion of the onset-rime unit of a syllable. Whereas the onset of a syllable is the initial consonant, consonant blend or consonant cluster, the rime portion of the syllable consists of the vowel and consonants at the end of the syllable. Example: the onset of the syllable 'feet' is 'f' and the rime portion is 'eet'. When comparing spoken words, the same rime units sound the same (e.g., 'feet' and 'seat' would have the same phonemic rime |E| |t|). In written language, although the rime portion of two different words may sound the same, they are not the same unless they have the exact same spelling pattern. Example: in the written spellings the words 'seat' and 'heat' would have the same rime because they are both spelled 'eat'; however, the words 'feet' and 'seat' would not have the same rime because they are spelled differently, 'eet' and 'eat'. Not to be confused with the word 'rhyme' in which two words that sound the same at the end of the word are considered to 'rhyme' regardless of the spelling patterns.

Semantic: Relating to the meaning of written or spoken words.

Strategy: A method or plan that uses personal resources to complete a task efficiently and effectively; an individual's approach to a task; how a person thinks and acts when planning, executing, and evaluating the performance of a task and its outcomes.

Syntax: The ordering of words within phrases, clauses, and sentences whereby the relations among the words are indicated. For example, in English, verbs usually follow nouns, and adjectives usually precede nouns.

Systematic instruction: A way of organizing learning experiences so that both the teacher and the student follow and continuously review a dynamic plan related to how new content will be learned and how that new content relates to past and future learning.

Tactic: An approach a teacher uses to help a student learn.

VC words: Words with the following sequence of letters: vowel, consonant. Examples: is, it, on, at, am, etc.

Word recognition: The ability to identify and read a word and understand its meaning.