Essential Standards Definitions

COMPREHENSION: the complex cognitive process involving the intentional interaction between the reader and text to extract meaning. It is the essence of reading, the active and intentional thinking in which the meaning is constructed through interactions between the text and the reader. (Durkin, 1973) The content of meaning is influenced by the text and by the contribution of the reader's prior knowledge. (Anderson & Pearson, 1984)

FLUENCY: reading words with no noticeable cognitive or mental effort. It is having mastered word recognition skills to the point of overlearning. It is the ability to translate letters to sounds- to words fluently, effortlessly.

PHONEMIC AWARENESS: the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words.

PHONICS/WORD STUDY: using systematic relationships between letters and words (letter sound association) to retrieve the pronunciation of an unknown printed string or to spell words.

VOCABULARY: the ability to understand (receptive) and use (expressive) words to acquire and convey meaning.