Texas STR Certification Exam
Active Voice - ANS-A sentence in which the subject is doing the action.
Advanced Phonemic Awareness - ANS-The stage where children can delete, substitute, and
reverse individual phonemes in spoken words; typically occurs between ages 7 and 9.
Affixes - ANS-Parts of words that go at the beginning of a word (prefix) or the end of a word
(suffix)
Affricates - ANS-Consonant sounds produced when air is stopped first, then forcefully released
(e.g., /ch/, /j/)
Affrication of /t/ and /d/ before /r/ and /y/ - ANS-changes in the sound of phonemes /t/ and /d/
before /r/ as in "train" and "drive"
Allophonic Variation - ANS-differences in the way a phoneme sounds in the context of the word
vs. in isolation; may change the way a word is pronounced but does not change the meaning of
the word
Alphabetic Principle - ANS-The understanding that phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (written
letters) can be connected and used to represent spoken language
Aspiration of Stop Consonants - ANS-a push of air that occurs with stop consonants when they
are in the initial position of a syllable or consonant blend, or when they precede a vowel
Assets-Based Teaching Approach - ANS-This refers to viewing diversity of thought, culture, and
traits as a positive asset as students are valued for what they bring to the classroom rather than
being characterized by what they are lacking.
Base Words - ANS-Words that can stand alone in English.
Basic Phonemic Awareness - ANS-the stage where children can identify and manipulate (blend
and segment) smaller units of sound (individual phonemes) in words; typically occurs between
ages 5 and 7.
Benchmark Assessments - ANS-A type of outcome assessment used to evaluate students
against grade-level specific standards and learning goals.
BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) - ANS-Development of fluency in
conversations - social language
Bound Morpheme - ANS-Word elements that cannot stand on their own (e.g., roots, affixes, and
Greek-based word parts).
CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) - ANS-Development of content and subject
area language.
Changing Rule - ANS-When adding a suffix that starts with "e" (ed, er, est) to a word that ends
with a consonant and final "y", change the final "y" to "i" before adding the suffix (e.g.,
happy/happier)
Choral Reading - ANS-A strategy used to build reading fluency where a group of children read a
passage together; it can be done with or without a teacher
Chunking Instruction - ANS-planning short, frequent lessons with repeated opportunities to
practice skills
Clause - ANS-A group of words that has a subject ad predicate.
, Closed Word Sort - ANS-An activity in which students group or organize purposefully selected
words into categories selected by the teacher
Cloze Passage - ANS-A comprehension assessment strategy in which students use their
knowledge of the reading process to supply missing words in a short passage.
Coarticulation - ANS-The idea that a speech sound is influenced by the sounds around it (e.g.,
the nasal consonant /m/ influences the vowel "a" in the word "ham")
Code Emphasis Instruction - ANS-Explicit, systematic reading instruction that is more teacher
directed, emphasizes specific skills (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary,
comprehension, and spelling), and uses decodable texts to practice new skills
Cohesive Devices - ANS-Devices that connect ideas between words and sentences so the
reader can interpret the text.
Combined Approach to Spelling - ANS-Using a combination of phonemic, whole-word, and
morpheme approaches so that students are exposed to a variety of spelling strategies
Complementary Antonyms - ANS-A pair of words whose meanings are opposite (e.g., true,
false).
Complex Sentence - ANS-A sentence formed by joining one complete thought (also referred to
as an independent clause) and one incomplete thought (or dependent clause)
Complex Syllables - ANS-Syllables that contain consonant clusters (blends, digraphs, or
trigraphs) as in the words "clue-less", "sharp-en", and "shrimp-ing"
Compound Sentence - ANS-A sentence that has two complete thoughts joined by a
coordinating conjunction.
Comprehensible Input - ANS-The idea that information is presented to English learners at a
language level they can understand.
Comprehensible Input - ANS-The part of a language that is understood by listeners when
learning a second language
Conjunction - ANS-A word that joins words, clauses, or sentences.
Conjunctive Adverbs - ANS-Words that connect two independent clauses or link ideas in
multiple sentences and show relationships.
Consolidated Alphabetic Phase - ANS-The stage of word reading development when students
can connect all letters and sounds, develop an extensive sight vocabulary of regularly and
irregularly spelled words, and reading becomes automatic and fluent.
Consolidated Alphabetic Spelling - ANS-The stage of spelling development when children use
bigger "units" of letter sequences and patterns to spell such as syllables, morphemes, onsets
and rimes, and whole words. Spelling of sight words becomes more automatic.
Consonant Graphemes - ANS-Letters used to represent consonant phonemes
Content Words - ANS-Free morphemes that determine the primary meaning of a sentence (e.g.,
base words, compounds, nouns, verbs, adjectives).
Context Processing System - ANS-Interacts with and supports the meaning processor; provides
a frame of reference to interpret the meanings of words.
Continuant Sound - ANS-A prolonged consonant sound (e.g., /f/, /l/, /s/)
Criterion-Referenced Assessment - ANS-Measures a student's knowledge or skills against a
predetermined standard, learning goal, or performance level; often use a "cut score" to assign
students into basic categories such as "basic", "proficient", and "advanced".
Active Voice - ANS-A sentence in which the subject is doing the action.
Advanced Phonemic Awareness - ANS-The stage where children can delete, substitute, and
reverse individual phonemes in spoken words; typically occurs between ages 7 and 9.
Affixes - ANS-Parts of words that go at the beginning of a word (prefix) or the end of a word
(suffix)
Affricates - ANS-Consonant sounds produced when air is stopped first, then forcefully released
(e.g., /ch/, /j/)
Affrication of /t/ and /d/ before /r/ and /y/ - ANS-changes in the sound of phonemes /t/ and /d/
before /r/ as in "train" and "drive"
Allophonic Variation - ANS-differences in the way a phoneme sounds in the context of the word
vs. in isolation; may change the way a word is pronounced but does not change the meaning of
the word
Alphabetic Principle - ANS-The understanding that phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (written
letters) can be connected and used to represent spoken language
Aspiration of Stop Consonants - ANS-a push of air that occurs with stop consonants when they
are in the initial position of a syllable or consonant blend, or when they precede a vowel
Assets-Based Teaching Approach - ANS-This refers to viewing diversity of thought, culture, and
traits as a positive asset as students are valued for what they bring to the classroom rather than
being characterized by what they are lacking.
Base Words - ANS-Words that can stand alone in English.
Basic Phonemic Awareness - ANS-the stage where children can identify and manipulate (blend
and segment) smaller units of sound (individual phonemes) in words; typically occurs between
ages 5 and 7.
Benchmark Assessments - ANS-A type of outcome assessment used to evaluate students
against grade-level specific standards and learning goals.
BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) - ANS-Development of fluency in
conversations - social language
Bound Morpheme - ANS-Word elements that cannot stand on their own (e.g., roots, affixes, and
Greek-based word parts).
CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) - ANS-Development of content and subject
area language.
Changing Rule - ANS-When adding a suffix that starts with "e" (ed, er, est) to a word that ends
with a consonant and final "y", change the final "y" to "i" before adding the suffix (e.g.,
happy/happier)
Choral Reading - ANS-A strategy used to build reading fluency where a group of children read a
passage together; it can be done with or without a teacher
Chunking Instruction - ANS-planning short, frequent lessons with repeated opportunities to
practice skills
Clause - ANS-A group of words that has a subject ad predicate.
, Closed Word Sort - ANS-An activity in which students group or organize purposefully selected
words into categories selected by the teacher
Cloze Passage - ANS-A comprehension assessment strategy in which students use their
knowledge of the reading process to supply missing words in a short passage.
Coarticulation - ANS-The idea that a speech sound is influenced by the sounds around it (e.g.,
the nasal consonant /m/ influences the vowel "a" in the word "ham")
Code Emphasis Instruction - ANS-Explicit, systematic reading instruction that is more teacher
directed, emphasizes specific skills (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary,
comprehension, and spelling), and uses decodable texts to practice new skills
Cohesive Devices - ANS-Devices that connect ideas between words and sentences so the
reader can interpret the text.
Combined Approach to Spelling - ANS-Using a combination of phonemic, whole-word, and
morpheme approaches so that students are exposed to a variety of spelling strategies
Complementary Antonyms - ANS-A pair of words whose meanings are opposite (e.g., true,
false).
Complex Sentence - ANS-A sentence formed by joining one complete thought (also referred to
as an independent clause) and one incomplete thought (or dependent clause)
Complex Syllables - ANS-Syllables that contain consonant clusters (blends, digraphs, or
trigraphs) as in the words "clue-less", "sharp-en", and "shrimp-ing"
Compound Sentence - ANS-A sentence that has two complete thoughts joined by a
coordinating conjunction.
Comprehensible Input - ANS-The idea that information is presented to English learners at a
language level they can understand.
Comprehensible Input - ANS-The part of a language that is understood by listeners when
learning a second language
Conjunction - ANS-A word that joins words, clauses, or sentences.
Conjunctive Adverbs - ANS-Words that connect two independent clauses or link ideas in
multiple sentences and show relationships.
Consolidated Alphabetic Phase - ANS-The stage of word reading development when students
can connect all letters and sounds, develop an extensive sight vocabulary of regularly and
irregularly spelled words, and reading becomes automatic and fluent.
Consolidated Alphabetic Spelling - ANS-The stage of spelling development when children use
bigger "units" of letter sequences and patterns to spell such as syllables, morphemes, onsets
and rimes, and whole words. Spelling of sight words becomes more automatic.
Consonant Graphemes - ANS-Letters used to represent consonant phonemes
Content Words - ANS-Free morphemes that determine the primary meaning of a sentence (e.g.,
base words, compounds, nouns, verbs, adjectives).
Context Processing System - ANS-Interacts with and supports the meaning processor; provides
a frame of reference to interpret the meanings of words.
Continuant Sound - ANS-A prolonged consonant sound (e.g., /f/, /l/, /s/)
Criterion-Referenced Assessment - ANS-Measures a student's knowledge or skills against a
predetermined standard, learning goal, or performance level; often use a "cut score" to assign
students into basic categories such as "basic", "proficient", and "advanced".
