ABE: Adult basic education (ABE) services provide instruction in reading, writing, and math at grade-level equivalents through eighth grade. ABE also includes English Language instruction to individuals with limited English proficiency (PA Department of Education).

Adult literacy: academic skills and training in math, writing, reading, and language that support individual goals and capacity beyond secondary school.

Affix: a group of letters added to the beginning (prefix) or end (suffix) of a word to change its meaning.

Alliteration: the repetition of the same initial sound or sounds in two or more words that are close together, i.e., Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Alphabet knowledge (AK):knowledge of the names and sounds arrociated with printed letters

Alphabetic principle: understanding that letters and combinations of letters represent the sounds of spoken language. This knowledge enables individuals to begin to recognize and use words in print.

ASE: Adult secondary education (ASE) services provide instruction in reading, writing and math at the 9-12 grade-level equivalents. ASE also includes activities to support individuals in transitioning to postsecondary education or training (PA Department of Education).

Authentic text: any written material that is created for real-life communication purposes (e.g., magazines, newspapers, novels, children's literature).

Author: someone who has written a book, article, or other written work.

Background knowledge: broader knowledge and experiences that contribute to a reader's understanding of a text.

Bilingual: a person who is fluent in two languages.

Biliteracy: the ability to read and write proficiently in two languages.

Blend: combining phonemes (the smallest units of sound in a language) to pronounce a word. For example, blending the sounds /b/ /a/ /t/ together would create the word "bat." Blending allows children to sound out words and decode them accurately.

Book talk: sharing information about a book or books with others. It can be used to generate interest in reading, to promote a book, or to provide a summary and review of a book.

CCR: Career and College Readiness (CCR) refers to the content knowledge, skills, and literacy needed to be prepared to enter college or workforce training.

Cause and effect: a relationship between two events in which one event is caused by another.

Central Idea: the main message that the writer conveys to the audience in a text.

Chain or circular story: a story where the ending leads back to the story's beginning.

Character: a figure within a story, which may be a person, animal, or being.

Choral reading: reading together in unison. Choral reading helps to improve fluency, pronunciation, and comprehension. It can be helpful for individuals who may feel self-conscious about reading aloud.

Cognitive development: the development of memory, attention, perception and problem-solving skills.

Conjunction: a word that links two or more words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence. Examples of conjunctions include "and," "but," and "or."

Compare: to examine the similarities between two or more things.

Consonant: a speech sound made by obstructing the flow of air through the mouth. Examples of consonants include "b," "c," "d," "f," and "t."

Consonant blend: a group of two or more consonant sounds that are blended but still retain their individual sounds. Examples of consonant blends include "bl" in "blue" and "st" in "stop."

Context clues: words or phrases in a text that help the reader understand the meaning of an unfamiliar word. Context clues can include synonyms, antonyms, definitions, and examples.

Contrast: to examine the differences between two or more things.

Critical literacy: examining texts ito uncover and explore power dynamics and different perspectives.

Cumulative story: a story that builds in a pattern. Previous events are repeated each time that a new event occurs.

Cultural and linguistic competency: the ability to identify, understand, and interpret text with an awareness of and respect for cultural identities.

Diagraph: a combination of two letters that represent a single speech sound. Examples of diagraphs include "th" in "this" and "ch" in "chip."

Dialect: language spoken by a particular group of people or region, which can include differences in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.

Direct instruction: the explicit teaching of skills through a sequence of tasks

Echo reading: involves a more proficient reader reading a passage aloud, and then a less proficient reader repeating the passage aloud, "echoing" the words and phrasing. By repeating the words and phrasing, the early reader can hear and imitate the correct pronunciation, inflection, and pacing of the text.

ELL: English Language Learner

Emergent literacy: early reading and writing behaviors that develop in the years before learning to read. Early literacy behaviors include scribble writing, pretend reading, noticing environmental print, and seeing a book as a source of a story.

End papers: the blank or decorated pages found at the beginning or end of a book.

Environmental print: print seen in everyday life. It is often the first print to which children attach meaning: signs, packaging, and logos within their environment. Environmental print supports early readers in understanding that words and symbols convey meaning.

ESL: English as a Second Language (ESL) is the learning and use of the English language by non-native speakers.

Expression: the use of voice to convey the meaning of text through tone, pitch, pace, and volume.

Familiar sequence story: stories organized around a recognizable theme or concept, such as days of the week, numbers, the alphabet, seasons, opposites, etc.

Family literacy: literacy education programs that focus on four components: adult education, parent education, early childhood education, and interactive literacy activities (ILA) to develop literacy skills of children and guardians at the same time.

Fiction: literature that involves imaginative or invented stories, characters, and events.

Figurative language: the use of words or phrases in a way that is different from their literal meaning to create a vivid image, convey complex ideas or emotion. Some examples include metaphors, similes, personification, and hyperbole.

Genre: categories or types of books that share common themes, styles, or characteristics (e.g., picture books, fairy tales, folktales, poetry, fantasy, biography, nonfiction).

Grammar: the rules that govern a language's structure, including how words are formed and how sentences are constructed.

Grapheme: a written symbol that represents a single sound or a combination of sounds in a language.

Graphic organizer: a visual tool used to organize and represent information effectively.

High-frequency words: words that are commonly used and are therefore important for literacy development. Examples of high-frequency words include "the," "like," "and," and "is."

Home language: the language that a person speaks most fluently and often the language that they learned as a child.

Homonym: Homonyms are words that are spelled and pronounced the same way but have different meanings, such as "bat" (an animal with wings) and "bat" (a piece of sports equipment used to hit a ball).

Homophone: words that have the same pronunciation but differ in spelling and meaning, such as "for," and "four," or "son" and "sun."

Independent reading: a literacy practice where children read books or other materials on their own, without adult guidance or instruction.

Inference: using prior knowledge and context clues to draw conclusions or make predictions about information that is not explicitly stated in a text or situation.

Inflection: changing tone, pitch, and volume to convey meaning when reading aloud. Inflection can help to convey meaning, create suspense, and bring characters to life.

Informational literacy: gaining knowledge, skills, and understanding by exploring, investigating, and asking questions. It involves providing children with opportunities and resources to help them to learn about the world around them, such as books, videos, hands-on activities, and interactions with people and objects in their environment.

Informational text: A type of text that conveys knowledge about a particular topic (e.g., textbooks, news articles, and other non-fiction materials).

Interactive literacy activities (ILA): activities that involve active participation from both children and adults and promote the development of literacy skills in a fun and engaging way. The goal of interactive literacy activities is to provide opportunities for family members to bond, learn, and practice literacy skills together. They can also help foster a love of reading and learning and build strong relationships between family members.

Invented or temporary spelling: the use of partially correct spelling by beginning writers as they learn to read and write. Invented spelling uses phonetic knowledge.

Letter recognition: the ability to identify and name individual letters of the alphabet, typically a foundational skill in learning to read.

Literacy: the ability to read, write, and understand written language, and use it effectively to communicate and engage with the world around us.

Metacognition: the awareness and understanding of one's own thought process. It helps children to understand how they think, what they know and what they need to know.

Morpheme: the smallest unit of meaning in a language. It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts. A morpheme can be a word on its own, such as "dog" or "happy," or it can be a part of a word, such as the prefix "un-" in "unhappy" or the suffix "-s" in "dogs."

Multimodal: refers to different ways to approach reading such as visual, audio, and kinesthetic ways. It helps individuals to understand the text better and to develop different literacy skills.

Multisyllabic: words that have more than one syllable, such as ba/na/na or el/e/phant".

MyPlate: a visual guide created by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides recommendations for a healthy and balanced diet. It features a plate divided into four sections, each representing different food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein.

Narrative structure: the way a story or text is organized, including elements like plot, setting, character development, and conflict.

Narrative text: a type of text that tells a story or recounts a series of events.

Nonfiction: refers to subject information books, biographies, and other texts that present factual information about real people, events, or topics.

Noun: a word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea.

Objective: a statement that describes what students should be able to know, understand, or do as a result of a particular lesson or unit of instruction.

Pacing: the rate or speed at which something is read or spoken.

Parent education: classes or workshops that cover topics like early literacy, child development, parenting strategies, and adult education. The goal is to empower parents to take an active role in their child's education and to improve their own literacy and parenting skills.

Partner reading: a collaborative reading strategy in which two readers take turns reading aloud to each other. This can help build fluency, comprehension, and social skills.

Parts of speech: categories used to describe how words function in sentences. There are eight parts of speech in the English language: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

Pattern stories: scenes in the story are repeated with some variation.

Phoneme: the smallest unit of sound in a language that can change the meaning of a word. For example, the words "cat" and "bat" differ by only one phoneme, the initial sound /c/ versus /b/.

Phoneme focus: an instructional strategy that emphasizes the sounds or phonemes in words.

Phonemic awareness: the ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in words, which includes skills such as segmenting words into their spoken phonemes, blending phonemes to form words, and manipulating phonemes to create new words.

Phonics: The relationship between the sounds of a language and the letters or letter combinations that represent those sounds. Understanding phonics helps individuals to decode words by sounding them out.

Phonological awareness (PA): the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds in words. Phonological awareness helps early readers understand that words are made up of smaller units of sound.

Plot: the sequence of events that make up a story.

Poetry: a genre of literature that uses language to evoke emotions and convey ideas through the use of rhythm, meter, and figurative language.

Print awareness: an understanding of how print works, such as how letters and words are arranged on a page, how to hold a book, and how to turn pages.

Prior knowledge: the existing information or understanding about a specific topic or concept that serves as the foundation for integrating and comprehending new information.

Predicting: using textual evidence or prior knowledge to anticipate what might happen next in a story. In nonfiction texts, titles, headings, or the table of contents offer opportunities to predict what may be learned from the text.

Predictable book: a type of children's book that provides a repetitive and consistent structure, which helps young children anticipate and predict what will happen next in the story. Different story types include: chain or circular, cumulative, familiar sequence, pattern, question and answer, repetition of phrase, rhyme, or songbooks.

Prefix: an affix added to the beginning of a base word to create a new word with a different meaning (e.g., the prefix "un-" added to the base word "happy" creates the word "unhappy").

Pretend or scribble writing: the early writing attempts of young children, usually before they can form letters or words. It involves making marks on paper that resemble writing and using them to convey meaning. This type of writing is an important developmental milestone as it demonstrates a child's understanding of the symbolic nature of writing and the purpose of written language.

Pretend reading: a pre-literacy activity imitating the behaviors associated with reading, such as holding a book, turning pages, and remembering some of the words from the story. It helps children develop print awareness and encourages a positive attitude towards reading.

Prior knowledge: the information, skills, and experiences that a reader brings to a text. Prior knowledge can influence how a reader interprets and understands new information.

Print concepts: a child's understanding of how printed language works, including the ability to recognize letters, words, and sentences, understanding that print carries meaning, and knowing how to follow print from left to right and from top to bottom of the page.

Prosody: patterns of stress, sound, and rhythm in language (e.g., rising intonation at the end of a statement to signal a question, in English).

Question and answer stories: stories in which the same or similar questions are repeated throughout the story.

Questioning: asking questions about a text that encourages young readers to think deeply, make connections, and improve their understanding of text, vocabulary, and language skills.

Rapid Automized Naming (RAN): involves quickly naming a series of familiar objects, colors, or letters.

Read-aloud: reading a book or text aloud to an audience to enhance listening comprehension, promote conversation, and foster a love of reading.

Reading motivation: the level of interest, enjoyment, and persistence in reading, which are important factors in reading progress and proficiency.

Reading strategies: specific techniques and approaches that individuals can use to help them understand and engage with text, such as previewing a text, making predictions, asking questions, and summarizing.

Repeated reading: reading a text multiple times. Repeated reading supports individuals in becoming more familiar with the words so that they can increase fluency. This allows them to focus on understanding the meaning of the text, which leads to improved comprehension skills.

Repetition of phrase: the repetition of the word order in a phrase or sentence. This technique is often used in literature to create emphasis, rhythm, or a poetic effect.

Retelling: summarizing or recounting the events of a story or text in one's own words. Retelling can help build comprehension and recall.

Rhyme: the repetition of similar sounds at the end of words. It can be used to create rhythm or patterns in langiage (e.g., "cat" and "bat").

Rhythm: the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in language, often used in poetry and other forms of literature to create a sense of musicality, cadence, or flow.

Root word: also known as a base word, is a word that can stand alone and carry meaning. 

Scaffolding: a teaching technique that involves breaking down complex skills or tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. Gradually, the guidance and support from a more skilled individual, such as a teacher or parent, helps a learner to develop independence and mastery in the given skill or task.

Sentence: A grammatical unit of language that contains a subject and a predicate and conveys a complete thought.

Sequencing: the organization of information or events in a logical order. Sequencing is important for early readers because it helps them understand the organization of a story or text, improving their comprehension and overall reading proficiency. It also helps develop their memory, attention, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Setting: the time and place in which a story or text takes place.

Silent reading: reading to oneself without vocalizing the words. It is a key skill in literacy development and is often associated with increased reading speed, comprehension, and focus.

Sight words: words that are frequently used and are often difficult to sound out phonetically. They are typically learned by recognizing them by sight rather than relying solely on phonics. Examples include "the," "make," and "is." (See Dolch and Fry sight words lists.)

Sorting: categorizing items or concepts based on shared characteristics or attributes. It helps develop classification skills, logical thinking, and the ability to identify similarities and differences.

Sound-symbol correspondence: the relationship between the sounds (phonemes) of a language and the symbols used to represent those sounds in writing.

Standards: a set of learning goals or expectations that outline what students are expected to know and be able to do at each grade level or in each subject area.

Story elements: basic components of a narrative or story, including characters, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution.

Suffix: an affix added to the end of a base word to modify its meaning (e.g. "-ly" changes the adjective "happy" into an adverb).

Summarize: condensing information to provide a concise overview or brief account of the main points, events, or ideas.

Supporting details: additional information or illustrations that help to clarify or enhance the central idea or theme.

Syllable: a unit of sound in a word that consists of one or more vowel sounds and may be preceded or followed by one or more consonants. Syllables are important for developing phonological awareness and decoding skills.

Text: any written or spoken communication that conveys information or tells a story. Texts may include books, articles, poems, speeches, or other forms of written or oral communication.

Theme: the main idea of a story, often a moral or lesson (friendship, courage, the importance of telling the truth).

21st century skills: a set of abilities and competencies that are considered essential for individuals to thrive in the modern world.

Venn Diagram: a graphic organizer used to compare two or more sets of concepts. Venn diagrams consist of overlapping circles that represent the shared and distinct features of each set, helping to visualize relationships and similarities between them.

Verb: A part of speech that expresses action or a state of being.

Vocabulary: words that a person knows and understands.

Vowel: a speech sound that is made without stopping airflow, without our lips, teeth, or tongue blocking it. In English, the vowels are a, e, i, o, and u.

Whole language: an approach to teaching early literacy that integrates reading, writing, listening, and speaking through authentic experiences, while phonics focuses on decoding and word recognition. Both approaches are necessary for children to become proficient readers who can comprehend and enjoy a variety of texts.

Word families: groups of words that have a common pattern of letters, such as "at" in the words "cat," "rat," and "bat." Understanding word families can help children learn to read and spell new words.

Wordless book: a picture book without words that uses illustrations to tell a story or convey a message. Wordless books are often used to teach children how to read and develop their narrative skills, vocabulary, and understanding of story structure.