A
"Active Learning" Environment
An environment in which children pursue their own interests and are motivated to master the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve their goals.
Academic Delivery System
One of the four major turnaround components at Kessler Elementary School (the other three were clear classroom behavioral expectations, clear school wide behavioral expectations and a "tough kid" problem solving system)
Alliteration
Producing groups of words that begin with the same initial sound
Alphabetic Principle
The ability to match graphemes (symbols of the alphabet) with phonemes (the smallest building blocks of spoken language).
Alphabetic System
A language system using visual characters or symbols of the alphabet to represent phonemes or sound patterns.
Anti-Violence Program
A program begun at Kessler Elementary School to reinforce the limits of acceptable behavior. A poster was placed in every room and explained to the students, and all violent incidents were greatly reduced.
 
B
Blending
When children combine individual phonemes to form words, they are blending the phonemes. They are also blending when they combine onsets and rimes to make syllables and combine syllables to make words.
Book Box
A box containing a customized selection of books for a student. It contains copies of texts that all are reading in class, but also contains books that are at an appropriate independent-reading level for the student.
 
C
Choral Reading
Two or more children reading in unison.
CIERA
Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement, the organization which has released Put Reading First, a publication which explains the findings of the National Reading Panel.
Classroom Assessment
The ways that teachers informally assess their students' progress in class.
Classroom Behavioral Expectations
One of the four major turnaround components at Kessler Elementary School (the other three were a solid academic delivery system, clear school wide behavioral expectations and a "tough kid" problem solving system)
Comprehension
The ability to read and understand text, the sense-making aspects of reading.inition
Comprehension Assessment Or Checkpoint
An assessment of a student's ability to read and understand text.
Comprehension Monitoring
A student's ability to think about and have control over their reading. The ability to be aware of what they do and don't understand, adjust their reading speed to fit the difficulty of the text and address any comprehension problems that arise. Comprehension monitoring is an important metacognitive skill.
Comprehension Strategy
A conscious plan or set of steps that a good reader uses in order to make sense of text
Context Clues
The hints about the meaning of an unknown word that are provided in the words, phrases, and sentences that surround the word.
Core Reading Program
A comprehensive program that teaches five components of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Curriculum Alignment
The systematic sequencing of curriculum topics and grade-level performance requirements for an academic subject within a grade level and across grade levels. The curriculum at Kessler Elementary School was aligned from kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the turnaround effort.
 
D
Daily Five
The organizer that Joan Moser uses for independent reading activities. The Daily Five activities include reading to self, reading to someone, revisiting a book, working on writing and listening to reading.
Decodable Text
Connected text that consists of previously taught sounds and sight words.
Decoding
To break apart and analyze graphic symbols to ascertain their pronunciation and intended meaning.
 

E
Emergent Reader
The developmental accomplishments of literary acquisition exhibited by young children such as "pretend" reading, attending to pictures, illustrations, titles or print.
Explicit Instruction
Providing students with direct instruction in specific skills and strategies as an integral part of reading instruction and not assuming it will be covered during guided reading of texts.
Explicit Phonics
The direct and explicit teaching of a set of letter-sound relationships in a clearly defined sequence.

F
Fluency
The ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with expression. Fluency is the bridge between word recognition and comprehension.
Fluency Boosting
Interventions that help students improve in their ability to read a text accurately, quickly and with expression. Fluency is the bridge between word recognition and comprehension.
Fluency Check
An assessment of a student's ability to read a text accurately, quickly and with expression.
 
G
Guided Reading
A way of teaching reading individually or in small groups which targets students at similar levels of mastery. The teacher provides a structure and purpose for reading and responding to the material.
 
H
High/Scope
An educational approach for infants through third graders that features reading and writing as key experiences for young children so they can enjoy these skills throughout their lifetime. It provides an active learning environment with supportive adults, and builds on the children's natural desire to communicate.
 
I
Incidental Phonics
Phonics instruction in which the teacher does not follow a sequence, but highlights various sounds as they appear in the text.
Interactive Read-Aloud
A teaching session in which a teacher reads a book aloud to her students, pausing when appropriate to ask questions, clarify word meanings, and have students predict what might occur in the text or summarize what just occurred.
 
K
Kessler Keys To Success
The four school guidelines at Kessler Elementary School. These are:

o Follow Directions
o Do Quality Work
o Be Respectful
o Be Responsible
Key Experiences
The High/Scope preschool program incorporates four key experiences in language and literacy: speaking, listening, reading and writing.
 
L
Letter-Sound Correspondence
The way letters (graphemes) are linked to sounds (phonemes).
Literacy
The ability to read and spell words and to construct meaning from them
 
M
Monthly Home Reading Campaign
A parent involvement program at Kessler Elementary School in which children would receive prizes for reading twenty minutes a night at least twenty times each month.
Multiple-Strategy Instruction
Instruction that teaches students to use various comprehension strategies flexibly as they are needed to assist their comprehension. One well-known example of multiple-strategy instruction is reciprocal teaching.
Multisyllabic Decoding
Sounding out longer words one part at a time, then putting all the parts together.
 
N
NAEP
The nation's report card or the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which periodically assess the achievements of a national representative sample of American children and youth in the various areas of the school curriculum (reading, writing, math, science, etc.)
NAEYC
The National Association for the Education Children. This organization has established accreditation standards for quality early childhood education programs.
National Adult Literacy Survey
A national survey of a representative sample of American adults to determine their literacy abilities.
National Institute For Literacy
An independent federal organization that supports the development of high-quality state, regional and national literacy services
National Reading Panel
A panel of reading researchers who were charged by the U.S. Congress to review the evidence of scientific research on reading and identify the implications for reading instruction. Their report Teaching Children to Read outlines effective practices and strategies in teaching children to read.
 
O
Onset-Rime Blending
Blending the initial consonant or consonant/cluster (onset) and the vowel and consonant sounds spoken after it (rime).
Onset-Rime Segmentation
Segmenting the initial consonant or consonant/cluster (onset) from the vowel and consonant sounds spoken after it (rime).
Onsets And Rimes
Onsets and rimes are parts of the spoken language that are smaller than syllables but larger than phonemes. An onset is the initial consonant sound of a syllable that contains a vowel (the onset of bug is b). A rime is all that follows it (the rime of bug is ug).
Oral Language Development
The development of oral language communication skills which result from experiences and interactions with people.
Oral Reading
The experience of reading out loud.
Oral Reading Fluency Check
A timed reading assessment that was conducted with Kessler Elementary students three times a year.
 
P
Para-Educator
A non-certified instructional assistant who would co-teach the reading groups at Kessler Elementary School.
Partner Reading
A reading fluency strategy in which two students read alternating pages or sections of a book aloud to each other.
Phoneme
The smallest part of the spoken language that make a difference in the meaning of words. English has about 41 phonemes.
Phoneme Blending
The ability to blend a sequence of spoken phonemes into a word
Phoneme Identity
The ability to identify the same sounds within different words
Phoneme Isolation
The ability to recognize and produce the sounds within a word
Phoneme Segmentation
The ability to "sound out" a word or break it into its separate sounds
Phoneme Selection
The ability to identify the different sounds in a series of words
Phonemes
The smallest parts of the spoken language that make a difference in the meaning of words. English has about 41 phonemes.
Phonemic Awareness
The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Phonemic awareness can be taught and learned.
Phonics
The understanding that there is a predictable relationship between phonemes (spoken sounds) and graphemes (letters and spellings that represent those sounds in written language).
Phonics Instruction
Helping children learn the relationship of written language and the sounds of spoken language.
Phonological Awareness
A broad term that includes phonemic awareness. In addition to phonemes, phonological awareness activities can involve work with rhymes, words, syllables, and onsets and rimes.
Plan-Do-Review
The High/Scope process in which children make plans based on their own interests, follow through on the activity and finally, reflect on their experiences with peers and adults. In this process, children actively communicate with others, causing their language abilities to grow.
Prefix
Affixed units at the beginning of the base word that change the meaning (for example, pre, un, dis, or re).
Pre-Reading
Having students review the spelling/pronunciation of new or difficult words prior to reading the text.
Proximity
Physical closeness of the teacher to the students.
Pseudoword
A series of letters which can be sounded out using standard decoding strategies: however, these letters do not constitute a real English word
Put Reading First
A publication developed by the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA), which summarizes the findings of the National Reading Panel (2000).
 
R
Read And Feed Night
Giant book trading events at Kessler Elementary School in which families could swap children's books.
Reading Fluency
The ability to read a text accurately, quickly and with expression.
Reading Fluency Medal
A medal awarded every June at Kessler Elementary School to children who at achieved at-level reading fluency.
Reciprocal Teaching
Multiple-strategy instruction in which students learn to apply the following four comprehension strategies: question generation, summarization, clarification of difficult words and sentences, and prediction of what will occur next in the text. Both the teacher and the students share responsibility for the conduct of the discussion.
Research-Based Curriculum
Curriculum and instruction based on scientific research findings. This formed the basis of Kessler Elementary School's solid academic delivery system. Curriculum materials emphasized phonemic awareness strategies, systematic phonics, strategies to boost fluency and comprehension, and appropriate literature for children.
Rhyme
Matching the ending sounds of words
 
S
Schema
The way a person has organized and structured their prior knowledge about a subject
Schoolwide Behavioral Expectations
One of the four major turnaround components at Kessler Elementary School (the other three were a solid academic delivery system, clear classroom behavioral expectations and a "tough kid" problem solving system)
Segmenting
Breaking words into their individual phonemes, breaking words into syllables, or breaking syllables into onsets and rimes.
Shared Reading
Whole-class reading instruction in which the teacher teaches strategies needed by all students.
Sight Words
Words that cannot be decoded using the rules of phonics, so they must be memorized as sight words. Examples: was, said, your, from.
Sound Partners For Second Graders
The one-on-one tutoring program which was used at Kessler Elementary School to help increase reading fluency at all grade levels.
Sound-Spelling Associations
The letter-sound relationships that are explicitly taught in systematic phonics instruction.
Story Structure
The way the content and events of a story are organized into a plot. Students learn to identify the categories of content (setting, initiating events, internal reactions, goals, attempts and outcomes). Students may study story structure by using a story map (a type of graphic organizer).
Structured Classroom
A classroom with a daily schedule of activities which attempts to maximize learning experiences for all students. For instance, the daily schedule at Kessler Elementary allocates 90 minutes for reading, 60 minutes for math and 45 minutes for writing.
Student Assistance Team
A cross-functional staff team that would meet regularly to problem-solve a "tough kid" situation and discuss various approaches to meet special needs.
Syllable
A word part that contains a vowel or, in spoken language, a vowel sound (news-pa-per; ba-lloon; bi-cy-cle).
Systematic And Explicit Phonics Instruction
Provides students with practice of letter-sound relationships in a predetermined sequence. Children learn to use these relationships to decode words that contain them.
Systematic Phonics
The direct and explicit teaching of a set of letter-sound relationships in a clearly defined sequence.
 
T
Teacher Modeling
A teaching situation in which the teacher demonstrates or acts out the target behavior
Teaching Children To Read
A report that sets forth the findings of the National Reading Panel
Text-To-Self Connection
According to Zimmerman and Keane's Mosaic of Thought, a student's ability to connect what they are reading to their life experience.
Text-To-Text Connection
According to Zimmerman and Keane's Mosaic of Thought, a student's ability to connect what they are currently reading to what they have read in a previous text.
Text-To-World View Connection
According to Zimmerman and Keane's Mosaic of Thought, a student's ability to connect what they are currently reading to their perspectives and beliefs about the world.
Timed Oral Reading Assessment
An assessment which measures children's reading fluency, which is expressed as the number of words read aloud per minute.
Tough Kid Problem Solving System
One of the four major turnaround components at Kessler Elementary School (the other three were a solid academic delivery system, clear school wide behavioral expectations and clear classroom behavioral expectations)
 
V
Vocabulary
The words we must know to communicate effectively
Vocabulary Instruction
Instruction that helps children learn the words they need in order to communicate effectively. Vocabulary should be taught both directly and indirectly.
 
W
Walk To Reading
A method of grouping for reading instruction. Children "walk to" their reading teacher for daily instruction.
WASL
Washington Assessment of Student Learning - a statewide assessment that measures what Washington state students are expected to know and be able to do
Word Segmentation
Segmenting spoken words into syllables or individual phonemes