I spent the majority of my childhood misspelling the word receive. Each time I wrote the word, I gave into the temptation to write the I before the E. That rule wedged itself deep into my mind, and continually pulled me towards it. So confusing!
Recently, when reading my son a story, the text used the phrase, “And he could bear it no longer…” This 6 word phase led to an in-depth discussion about the difference between the action of bearing something and the noun bear.
In short, the English language can feel confusing. We break our own rules by having spelling and pronunciation inconsistencies, and we use words that mean more than one thing. However, a child’s ability to read is much too important for there to be a language barrier between parents and teachers. We have to get on the same page, and that is the intent behind this post.
Reading Vocabulary Terms
Phonemic Awareness: The ability to identify and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in words.
Decode – The process of translating printed words into sound.
Comprehension – The ability to understand what you read.
Fluency – The ability to read with a combination of speed, accuracy, and expression.
Prosody– Reading with timing, phrasing and expression.
Mentor Text: A published piece of literature that both teachers and students use to imitate and learn from. This is also refereed to as an anchor text, because you anchor the learning to a text.
Metacognition: The process of thinking about your own thoughts. Language arts teachers train students to be aware of their own thinking, by providing stems like: I didn’t understand… , I wonder why…, I feel that… etc
Key Writing Terms
Revise – Changing your writing to make it better.
Edit – Changing your writing to make it correct.
A Focused Piece of Writing – Writing that stays on track and centers around a main idea. Teachers very often use this phrase on rubrics to convey the idea that the writing should have a main point.
Rubric – A guide listing criteria for grading or scoring an essay.
- Holistic Rubric – Consists of a single scale that is used to grade the entire paper. (Example: Above average, average, developing, needs improvement)
- Analytic Rubric – Consists of a grid that considers several different criteria categories in which students receive a total score. (Example: Clarity, Organization, Mechanics, Grammar, Spelling, etc…)