MTEL Foundations of Reading Q&A

Explicit Phonics - In this type of Phonics instruction the sounds associated with the letters are identified in isolation and then blended together to form words. The teacher directly tells students the sound represented by an individual letter. For example, students who have learned the sound-letter correspondence /l/ /a/ /m/ /p/ can utilize a blending strategy to read "lamp." Implicit Phonics - In this type of Phonics instruction teachers help students identify the sounds associated with individual letters in the context of whole words, rather than in isolation. Typically students are asked to infer the sound of a letter from a word or set of words that contain that letter. For example, in teaching the sound for "m", the teacher would write "man" on the board and underline the letter "m." Have the students say "man" and listen for the beginning sound. Elicit from students that the letter "m" makes the sound /m/. Children are often encouraged to utilize context and picture cues to identify any unfamiliar words they encounter in text selection. Guided Reading Books - Texts used for direct instruction of reading skills and strategies. Cross-checking - The strategy of checking one or more cue sources with another while reading to verify accuracy. Remedial Readers - Readers who have severe problems and perform considerably below their potential level. Readability Formula - A method of estimating the difficult level of informational text. Directed Listening Activity (DLA) - An instructional assessment strategy using: listening, predicting, confirming. Segmentation - The oral division of words into individual sounds, for example elongating sounds in words without stopping between sounds. E.g. "l-o-o-k" Word-identification strategies - These strategies will permit children to figure out the pronunciations of words they have never seen before in print. Irregular words - Words that are difficult to read using a sounding out