Academy Modules: Modules developed for students in the three content areas are referred to as Academy modules. The instructor's modules are created for orientation purposes and are not intended for professional development. Rather, they are designed to convey information about Academy modules and how they can be integrated into teacher education programs.

Add-on blending: A method for sounding out short, regular words that involves the student starting with the vowel and then blending it together with the initial consonant. The remaining letters are added on individually until the student blends the whole word together.

Auditory: Related to hearing.

Automaticity: The ability to read words with no noticeable effort. When people are able to read words automatically, they can then devote their attention to understanding what they are reading.

Blending: Orally combining the separate sound units of a word into an integrated whole; orally combining the separate sound units of a word to produce the whole word. Example: |ssss| |aaaa| |t|, |ss| |aa| |t|, 'sat'.

CCCVC words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant. Example: strum.

CCVC words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant. Examples: trim, spot, frog, etc.

CV words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, vowel. Examples: no, to, hi, be, etc.

CVC words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, vowel, consonant. Examples: lad, cow, pen, etc.

CVCC words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, vowel, consonant, consonant. Examples: land, bend, sign, etc.

CVCe words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, vowel, consonant, and then followed by a silent E at the end. Examples: take, dive, life, etc.

CVVC words: Words with the following sequence of letters: consonant, vowel, vowel, consonant. Examples: look, beam, bait, meet, etc.

Clause: An arrangement of words containing a subject and verb that creates part, but not all, of a sentence. Clauses can be dependent or independent.

Consonant blend: Two consecutive consonants in a word, each of which retains its own sound. .Example: In 'green' we hear both |g| and |r|.

Consonant cluster: Three consecutive consonants, each of which retains it own sound. Example: in 'spring', we hear |s|, |p|, and |r|.

Consonant combination: The different ways that consonants can be put together to form words. Consonant digraphs, consonant blends, and consonant clusters are all types of consonant combinations.

Consonant digraph: Two consecutive consonants that make one sound. Examples: fish, they, chair, etc.

Content Areas: OSEP has specified three content areas within the teacher education curriculum for the Academy to focus on. The content areas include reading, positive behavioral supports and technology in education. These are the content areas from which research-based interventions will be selected and transformed into instructional modules.

Content specific words: Words that relate to a given domain of knowledge, such as medical terminology or computer jargon.

Covert: Not readily apparent.

Decoding: The ability to relate a sequence of letters in print to their corresponding sounds, allowing the reader to translate the sequence into a word.

Digraph: Two consecutive letters that make only one sound. Examples: beat, train, and bread.

Diphthong: A single phoneme in which there is a glide from one vowel position to another. Examples: |oi|, |ow|, |I|.

Direct instruction: Instruction characterized by high rates of teacher involvement and control during the initial stages of information acquisition and careful performance monitoring as the learner gradually assumes control over application; structured, modular, and sequential instruction that emphasizes practice and mastery and provides a high level of successful experiences and positive feedback to the student.

Directed Questions: A series of questions about lesson content has been included as a feature in each module. A question is presented. Once students enter their response they are able to access exemplary answers. This allows them to compare their response to responses prepared by the Academy staff.

Echo reading: A procedure used to help build reading fluency. During this activity, the teacher or coach reads a section and, while reading, models the appropriate phrasing, pace, and expression. Students then "echo read" the same phrase or sentence trying to use the coach's phrasing, pace and expression. The teacher or coach gives corrective feedback when needed and tries to increase the number of sentences read each time. If the student makes errors, it may be necessary for the coach to read fewer sentences or to repeat what was read.

Explicit: Completely and clearly expressed without ambiguity or vagueness; fully developed. Example: Explicit instructions would leave no doubt in your mind about how you were to proceed. Every part would be 'spelled out'.

Fluency: In the area of reading, the skill of reading with accuracy, speed, and ease.

Grapheme: The alphabetic letter or letters that correspond to one particular phoneme, or sound. Examples: The grapheme, or letter, 't' corresponds to the phoneme, or sound, |t|.

Intensive instruction: A way of directing student attention in which sufficient time is spent in teacher-guided interactive learning activities and a high degree of goal-directed student engagement leads to student mastery and generalization.

Menu: There are menus for each level and lesson in an Academy module. Links to the level menus appear in the center of the menubar. Access any level menu by clicking the level titles in the center of the menubar. Click the up arrow (top right) to access the menu for the current level or to go to the next higher menu level. For example, if you are viewing a page in a lesson the up arrow takes you to the current Lesson menu then to the menu for all Lessons then to the Table of Contents (ToC) for the entire module.

Minimal pair: Two very similar words often used for discrimination practice. One word of the pair is the example word and contains the new phonetic element; the other word is the contrast word and contains familiar letter(s) which substitute for the new phonetic element. Examples: beat/seat, feet/meet/, stop/mop.

Navigation: Navigation refers to the technical process of moving from one feature to another in an online module. The navigation system for Academy modules allows students to follow a critical path, but also to exercise flexibility when they wish to vary from the normal path of progressing through a module.

Onset: The initial consonant sound or sounds that come before the vowel in a syllable; part of the onset rime unit. Examples: |gr| is the onset in the word 'green'.

Overt: Open; apparent.

Peer assisted learning strategies (PALS): A program that provides a comprehensive reading package designed to enhance comprehension by directing student partners to engage in reading activities that require them to become active learners.

Perceptual enhancers: Tools that help students make multiple and stronger associations among new things they are learning. Examples include alphabet posters, pictures to represent sounds, stories, songs, and hand movements.

Phoneme: The smallest speech sounds that make a difference in the meaning of a word. (There are 39-45 phonemes in the English language.)

Phonemic awareness: "An explicit understanding that words are composed of segments of sound smaller than a syllable, as well as knowledge, or awareness, of the distinctive features of individual phonemes themselves." (Torgesen, 1999, p. 129)

Phonetic analysis: The process of identifying specific letters, or graphemes, that are used to represent different phonemes in spoken words.

Phonics: The systematic way that specific letters or graphemes are used to represent the different phonemes in spoken words.

Phonogram: As used in this lesson, usually a vowel followed by a consonant sound; can be an entire syllable or part of a syllable. Examples: ab, ing, ed.

Phonological awareness: The broadest term used to refer to one's acute sensitivity to the sound structures of words. The ability to recognize and manipulate different sizes of sound units, including syllables, rhyming units, onset rime units and phonemes.

Phonology: The system or science of speech sounds in a language, focusing especially on the history and theory of sound changes.

Predicting: Using the context of one or more sentences to identify an unknown word.

Proficient readers: Individuals who effectively and independently use skills and strategies to construct meaning from print.

Prosody: The pitch, loudness, tempo, and rhythm patterns of spoken language that result in phrasing and expression.

Reading comprehension: The process or result of gaining intended and personal meaning from written material.

Responsive instruction: A way of making teaching decisions in which a student's reaction to instruction directly shapes how future instruction is provided.

Rime: The ending portion of the onset-rime unit of a syllable. Whereas the onset of a syllable is the initial consonant, consonant blend or consonant cluster, the rime portion of the syllable consists of the vowel and consonants at the end of the syllable. Example: the onset of the syllable 'feet' is 'f' and the rime portion is 'eet'. When comparing spoken words, the same rime units sound the same (e.g., 'feet' and 'seat' would have the same phonemic rime |E| |t|). In written language, although the rime portion of two different words may sound the same, they are not the same unless they have the exact same spelling pattern. Example: in the written spellings the words 'seat' and 'heat' would have the same rime because they are both spelled 'eat'; however, the words 'feet' and 'seat' would not have the same rime because they are spelled differently, 'eet' and 'eat'. Not to be confused with the word 'rhyme' in which two words that sound the same at the end of the word are considered to 'rhyme' regardless of the spelling patterns.

Semantic: Relating to the meaning of written or spoken words.

Sight word: A word that is instantly recognized as a whole when seen and requires no analysis for identification.

Speech language pathologist: A trained professional who helps students who have language and speech deficiencies.

Strategy: A method or plan that uses personal resources to complete a task efficiently and effectively; an individual's approach to a task; how a person thinks and acts when planning, executing, and evaluating the performance of a task and its outcomes.

Syntax: The ordering of words within phrases, clauses, and sentences whereby the relations among the words are indicated. For example, in English, verbs usually follow nouns, and adjectives usually precede nouns.

Systematic instruction: A way of organizing learning experiences so that both the teacher and the student follow and continuously review a dynamic plan related to how new content will be learned and how that new content relates to past and future learning.

Table of Contents: Each module includes a general Table of Contents (ToC) covering the entire module. Click "ToC" in the top right of the menubar to access the Table of Contents

Tactic: An approach a teacher uses to help a student learn.

VC words: Words with the following sequence of letters: vowel, consonant. Examples: is, it, on, at, am, etc.

Word recognition: The ability to identify and read a word and understand its meaning.