Sounds that are produced when the vocal cords do not vibrate.

Sounds that are produced when the vocal cords are vibrating.

A learner-centered, conceptual approach to instruction in phonics, spelling, word recognition, and vocabulary.

The smallest unit of sound that is heard in spoken language.

An awareness of various speech sounds such as syllables, rhyme, and individual phonemes.

Refers to the ability to consciously manipulate individual phonemes in a spoken language. Phonemic awareness is often assessed by the ability to tap, count, or push a penny forward for every sound heard in a word.

The beginning sound(s) that precede(s) the vowel in a syllable.

The rest of the syllable that contains the vowel and all that follows it.

The process of determining the pronunciation and/or meaning of a word by analyzing word parts including syllables, base words, and affixes.

A major approach to reading, located on the holistic side of the instructional continuum, tied closely to interactive or top-down theory.  Often considered a beginning reading approach, connections between reading and writing are becoming more prevalent in classrooms.

An accurate recitation of text accompanied by finger point reading.

Oral reading in which the student echoes or imitates the reading of the teacher or partner. Echo reading is used with very beginning readers as a form of support. Echo reading can also be used to model fluent reading.

Letter clusters that help form word families or rhyming words.

Often called word families.

Words that are spelled alike, but have different pronunciations and different meanings.

Words that sound alike, are spelled differently, and have different meanings.

Two or more successive consonants sounded out in sequence without losing their identity.

Two successive letters articulated as a single phoneme.

Nasals that occur before consonants, as in the words bump or sink.  The vowel is nasalized as part of the air escapes through the nose during pronunciations.

Oral reading, often of poetry, that makes use of various voice combinations and contrasts to create meaning or highlight the tonal qualities of a passage.

In English, r colors the way the preceding vowel is pronounced.

Vowel blends in which the first sound appears to glide into the second sound.

A vowel sound represented by a variety of different spelling patterns, or vowel patterns that represent a wide range of sounds.

Morphemes attached before or after a base or root word to modify its meaning.

The part of the word that establishes the basic meaning of the word. It can stand alone.

A silent letter used to indicate the sound of the vowel.  In English, silent letters are used to form patterns associated with specific vowel sounds.

Units of spoken language that consist of a vowel that may be preceded and/or followed by several consonants. Syllables are units of sound and can often be detected by paying attention to movements of the mouth.

The process in which the pronunciation of consonants changes in the base or root of derivationally related words, while the spelling does not change.

A vowel sound in English that often occurs in an unstressed syllable.

Suffixes that change the verb tense or number of a word.