LETRS UNIT 7: TEACHING READING, SPELLING, AND
WRITING STUDY GUIDE 2026
Complete Concept Review & Practice Materials
(Conceptual Edition)
Part 1: Foundations of Advanced Phonics & Word Study
1. Q: What is the primary focus of instruction in advanced word study?
A: Moving students from phoneme-grapheme mapping to morpheme (meaning unit) analysis,
focusing on patterns, origins, and meanings.
2. Q: Define "morphophonemic" as it relates to English orthography.
A: It means the spelling system represents both sound (phonemes) and meaning (morphemes),
which is why we spell related words similarly despite sound changes (e.g., sign / signature).
3. Q: What are the six syllable types in English?
A: Closed, open, vowel-consonant-e, vowel team, r-controlled, and consonant-le.
4. Q: Which syllable type is usually the first taught and most common?
A: Closed syllables (e.g., cat, sit, nap-kin).
5. Q: What is a "schwa," and why is it important for spelling?
A: It's the unstressed, neutral vowel sound /ə/ (like the 'a' in about). It's the most common
vowel sound but the hardest to spell because it can be represented by any vowel letter.
6. Q: What is the difference between a derivational and an inflectional suffix?
A: Inflectional suffixes change number, tense, or comparison without changing the word's core
meaning or part of speech (e.g., jump, jumped). Derivational suffixes often change the part of
speech and meaning (e.g., teach, teacher).
7. Q: What is the "double, drop, or change" rule about?
A: It's a spelling convention for adding suffixes to base words
(e.g., hop → hopped (double), hope → hoping (drop), carry → carried (change y to i)).
, 8. Q: What is orthographic mapping?
A: The mental process of forming permanent, automatic connections between a word's
pronunciation, meaning, and letter sequence, enabling instant word recognition.
9. Q: Why is fluency a "bridge" between phonics and comprehension?
A: Fluent, automatic word recognition frees cognitive resources so the reader can focus on
understanding the meaning of the text.
10. Q: Name the three key components of reading fluency.
A: Accuracy, Rate (speed), and Prosody (appropriate expression/phrasing).
Part 2: Teaching Reading Comprehension & Vocabulary
11. Q: According to the Simple View of Reading, what is the formula for reading
comprehension?
A: Decoding (Word Recognition) x Language Comprehension = Reading Comprehension.
12. Q: What are the two broad categories of vocabulary?
A: Oral vocabulary (words we understand when heard/speak) and reading vocabulary (words we
recognize and understand in print).
13. Q: What are Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 vocabulary words?
A: Tier 1: Basic, common words. Tier 2: High-utility academic words found across domains. Tier
3: Domain-specific, technical words.
14. Q: Which Tier of vocabulary should be a primary focus of explicit instruction?
A: Tier 2 words (e.g., analyze, consistent, verify), as they have the greatest impact on general
academic success.
15. Q: What is the role of background knowledge in comprehension?
A: It is essential. Readers use their prior knowledge to make inferences, fill gaps, and construct a
coherent mental model of the text's meaning.
16. Q: Define "text structure."
A: The organizational patterns within a text (e.g., cause/effect, compare/contrast, sequence,
problem/solution). Teaching these improves comprehension.
17. Q: What are comprehension strategies?
A: Deliberate mental actions readers use to understand text (e.g., predicting, questioning,
clarifying, summarizing).
, 18. Q: Should comprehension strategies be the goal or a means to the goal?
A: A means to the goal. The ultimate goal is constructing meaning from text; strategies are tools
to get there.
19. Q: What is "close reading"?
A: A careful, purposeful, and critical rereading of a complex text to analyze deep meanings,
structures, and language.
20. Q: What is the difference between "systematic" and "incidental" vocabulary
instruction?
A: Systematic is planned, explicit teaching of specific words. Incidental involves learning words
from context during wide reading.
Part 3: Assessing Reading & Spelling Development
21. Q: What is the purpose of a diagnostic assessment?
A: To identify specific student strengths and weaknesses in component skills to inform targeted
instruction.
22. Q: What does a nonsense word (pseudoword) decoding test measure?
A: It isolates and measures a student's phonics and decoding skills without relying on sight word
memory.
23. Q: Why is it important to assess both word reading accuracy and fluency?
A: Accuracy shows if a student can decode correctly; fluency (speed/prosody) indicates
automaticity, which is crucial for comprehension.
24. Q: What does the Spelling Error Analysis (Screening) diagnostic tool reveal?
A: It reveals a student's understanding of phoneme-grapheme correspondences and
orthographic patterns (e.g., phonetic spelling vs. memorized spelling).
25. Q: What is a "running record" used for?
A: To assess a student's oral reading accuracy, fluency, and use of cueing systems (MSV:
Meaning, Structure, Visual) in real time.
26. Q: What is a curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for reading?
A: A brief, timed assessment of core skills (e.g., oral reading fluency) used to monitor progress
and responsiveness to instruction.
, 27. Q: What is the purpose of a "gated" screening process?
A: To administer quick, efficient screenings to all students, then only give more in-depth
diagnostics to those who need it.
28. Q: What might it indicate if a student reads accurately but very slowly?
A: Lack of automaticity, weak orthographic mapping, or underlying phonological processing
weaknesses.
29. Q: What does the "Four-Part Processing Model for Word Recognition" describe?
A: The brain's systems for processing phonological, orthographic, meaning, and context
information during reading.
30. Q: What is "dynamic indicators of basic early literacy skills" (DIBELS)?
A: A set of short, fluency-based measures used as screening and progress monitoring tools for
early literacy skills.
Part 4: Writing Instruction & The Reading-Writing Connection
31. Q: What is the "writing rope" analogy?
A: It identifies the essential, intertwined strands of skilled writing: transcription, text generation
(ideas), and executive functions (planning, reviewing).
32. Q: What are the two critical transcription skills?
A: Handwriting (or keyboarding) and spelling.
33. Q: Why is explicit sentence-level instruction important?
A: It builds the syntactic (sentence structure) foundation necessary for composing clear
paragraphs and longer texts.
34. Q: What is "summarization" in writing, and why is it hard?
A: Condensing main ideas into one's own words. It requires deep comprehension, identification
of key ideas, and synthesis.
35. Q: How does writing support reading development?
A: Writing reinforces letter-sound knowledge, word analysis, and text structure awareness,
solidifying reading skills.
36. Q: How does reading support writing development?
A: Reading exposes students to rich vocabulary, complex sentence structures, and genre models
they can use in their own writing.
WRITING STUDY GUIDE 2026
Complete Concept Review & Practice Materials
(Conceptual Edition)
Part 1: Foundations of Advanced Phonics & Word Study
1. Q: What is the primary focus of instruction in advanced word study?
A: Moving students from phoneme-grapheme mapping to morpheme (meaning unit) analysis,
focusing on patterns, origins, and meanings.
2. Q: Define "morphophonemic" as it relates to English orthography.
A: It means the spelling system represents both sound (phonemes) and meaning (morphemes),
which is why we spell related words similarly despite sound changes (e.g., sign / signature).
3. Q: What are the six syllable types in English?
A: Closed, open, vowel-consonant-e, vowel team, r-controlled, and consonant-le.
4. Q: Which syllable type is usually the first taught and most common?
A: Closed syllables (e.g., cat, sit, nap-kin).
5. Q: What is a "schwa," and why is it important for spelling?
A: It's the unstressed, neutral vowel sound /ə/ (like the 'a' in about). It's the most common
vowel sound but the hardest to spell because it can be represented by any vowel letter.
6. Q: What is the difference between a derivational and an inflectional suffix?
A: Inflectional suffixes change number, tense, or comparison without changing the word's core
meaning or part of speech (e.g., jump, jumped). Derivational suffixes often change the part of
speech and meaning (e.g., teach, teacher).
7. Q: What is the "double, drop, or change" rule about?
A: It's a spelling convention for adding suffixes to base words
(e.g., hop → hopped (double), hope → hoping (drop), carry → carried (change y to i)).
, 8. Q: What is orthographic mapping?
A: The mental process of forming permanent, automatic connections between a word's
pronunciation, meaning, and letter sequence, enabling instant word recognition.
9. Q: Why is fluency a "bridge" between phonics and comprehension?
A: Fluent, automatic word recognition frees cognitive resources so the reader can focus on
understanding the meaning of the text.
10. Q: Name the three key components of reading fluency.
A: Accuracy, Rate (speed), and Prosody (appropriate expression/phrasing).
Part 2: Teaching Reading Comprehension & Vocabulary
11. Q: According to the Simple View of Reading, what is the formula for reading
comprehension?
A: Decoding (Word Recognition) x Language Comprehension = Reading Comprehension.
12. Q: What are the two broad categories of vocabulary?
A: Oral vocabulary (words we understand when heard/speak) and reading vocabulary (words we
recognize and understand in print).
13. Q: What are Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 vocabulary words?
A: Tier 1: Basic, common words. Tier 2: High-utility academic words found across domains. Tier
3: Domain-specific, technical words.
14. Q: Which Tier of vocabulary should be a primary focus of explicit instruction?
A: Tier 2 words (e.g., analyze, consistent, verify), as they have the greatest impact on general
academic success.
15. Q: What is the role of background knowledge in comprehension?
A: It is essential. Readers use their prior knowledge to make inferences, fill gaps, and construct a
coherent mental model of the text's meaning.
16. Q: Define "text structure."
A: The organizational patterns within a text (e.g., cause/effect, compare/contrast, sequence,
problem/solution). Teaching these improves comprehension.
17. Q: What are comprehension strategies?
A: Deliberate mental actions readers use to understand text (e.g., predicting, questioning,
clarifying, summarizing).
, 18. Q: Should comprehension strategies be the goal or a means to the goal?
A: A means to the goal. The ultimate goal is constructing meaning from text; strategies are tools
to get there.
19. Q: What is "close reading"?
A: A careful, purposeful, and critical rereading of a complex text to analyze deep meanings,
structures, and language.
20. Q: What is the difference between "systematic" and "incidental" vocabulary
instruction?
A: Systematic is planned, explicit teaching of specific words. Incidental involves learning words
from context during wide reading.
Part 3: Assessing Reading & Spelling Development
21. Q: What is the purpose of a diagnostic assessment?
A: To identify specific student strengths and weaknesses in component skills to inform targeted
instruction.
22. Q: What does a nonsense word (pseudoword) decoding test measure?
A: It isolates and measures a student's phonics and decoding skills without relying on sight word
memory.
23. Q: Why is it important to assess both word reading accuracy and fluency?
A: Accuracy shows if a student can decode correctly; fluency (speed/prosody) indicates
automaticity, which is crucial for comprehension.
24. Q: What does the Spelling Error Analysis (Screening) diagnostic tool reveal?
A: It reveals a student's understanding of phoneme-grapheme correspondences and
orthographic patterns (e.g., phonetic spelling vs. memorized spelling).
25. Q: What is a "running record" used for?
A: To assess a student's oral reading accuracy, fluency, and use of cueing systems (MSV:
Meaning, Structure, Visual) in real time.
26. Q: What is a curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for reading?
A: A brief, timed assessment of core skills (e.g., oral reading fluency) used to monitor progress
and responsiveness to instruction.
, 27. Q: What is the purpose of a "gated" screening process?
A: To administer quick, efficient screenings to all students, then only give more in-depth
diagnostics to those who need it.
28. Q: What might it indicate if a student reads accurately but very slowly?
A: Lack of automaticity, weak orthographic mapping, or underlying phonological processing
weaknesses.
29. Q: What does the "Four-Part Processing Model for Word Recognition" describe?
A: The brain's systems for processing phonological, orthographic, meaning, and context
information during reading.
30. Q: What is "dynamic indicators of basic early literacy skills" (DIBELS)?
A: A set of short, fluency-based measures used as screening and progress monitoring tools for
early literacy skills.
Part 4: Writing Instruction & The Reading-Writing Connection
31. Q: What is the "writing rope" analogy?
A: It identifies the essential, intertwined strands of skilled writing: transcription, text generation
(ideas), and executive functions (planning, reviewing).
32. Q: What are the two critical transcription skills?
A: Handwriting (or keyboarding) and spelling.
33. Q: Why is explicit sentence-level instruction important?
A: It builds the syntactic (sentence structure) foundation necessary for composing clear
paragraphs and longer texts.
34. Q: What is "summarization" in writing, and why is it hard?
A: Condensing main ideas into one's own words. It requires deep comprehension, identification
of key ideas, and synthesis.
35. Q: How does writing support reading development?
A: Writing reinforces letter-sound knowledge, word analysis, and text structure awareness,
solidifying reading skills.
36. Q: How does reading support writing development?
A: Reading exposes students to rich vocabulary, complex sentence structures, and genre models
they can use in their own writing.
