Literacy Buzz Words

Here is a list of the most commonly used words when talking about literacy. I am still trying to keep them all straight:

Morpheme- the smallest unit of meaning in language (free morphemes and bound morphemes).

Example: un-happi-ness has three morphemes.

Syntax- the grammar of a language; set of relationships among words that generate sentences and text and contribute to meaning making.

Semantics- the meaning potential of language.

Pragmatics- the relationship of language to its use in particular contexts.

Orthography- the whole system of written language, including spelling, puncuation, and special features like italics, boldface, capitalization. (Think of how you learned to spell: spelling patterns.)

Phonology- the system of sounds an oral language uses.

Phoneme- the smallest unit of sound in a language. English has 44 recognizable phonemes.

Phonemic Awareness- the ability to hear separate sounds and manipulate them. (This includes deletion, isolation, blending, and reversing sounds.)

Phonological Awareness- awareness of larger spoken units (i.e. words, rhymes, syllables). (This includes Phonemic Awareness and considered the umbrella term for phonics.)

Phonics- the complex set of relationships between phonology (the sound system of an oral language) and the orthography (the system of spelling and punctuation of a written language). A many-to-many rather than a one-to-one relationship; consonants are more consistent than vowels.

Graphophonics- a combination of cues that readers and writers use: the sound system (phonology), the graphic system (orthography), and the system that relates the two (phonics).

Grapheme- a unit (a letter or letters) of a writing system that represents one phoneme (sound).

Phonetics- the physical characteristics of speech sounds (i.e. acoustical characteristics) and their production (i.e. articulatory characteristics) and perception. Considered the "science of sound". The difference between this and phonemic awareness is this only distinguishes between sounds, not meaning.

Onset- the part of the syllable that proceeds the vowel of the syllable. Example: "p" in pill.

Rime- the part of the syllable (not the word) which consists of its vowel and any consonant sounds that come after it. Example: "ill" in pill.

Open syllable- short vowel sound followed by consonant. Example: cod. (VC)

Closed syllable- long vowel at the end of a syllable. Example: hotel. (VCV)

Blend- two consonants together but you can still hear each sound.

Diagraph- two consonants together to make a new sound. Example: "th".

Diphthong- two vowel sounds connected in a continuous gliding motion. Example: "oi".

Balanced Literacy- a teaching framework combining phonics and whole language approaches. It consists of several elements including Read Alouds, Shared Reading, Independent Reading, Guided Reading, Interactive Writing, Shared Writing, Independent Writing. All of these elements are taught in whole group, small group, and one on one settings. It is based on the National Reading Panel's Five Pillars of Effective Reading Instruction: Vocabulary, Phonics, Phonological Awareness, Comprehension, and Fluency.