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Comprehensive Definition Fluency is the ability to read text accurately, at an appropriate rate, and with suitable expression (prosody). It functions as the bridge between decoding and comprehension, allowing a reader to recognise words automatically and direct cognitive resources towards meaning rather than word identification. Fluency is made up of three measurable components. The first […]

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Comprehensive Definition Frequency refers to how often a given word appears in written or spoken language. When words are ranked by how often they occur across large samples of text, the result is a list of High-Frequency Words. A relatively small number of these words make up a disproportionately large share of everything a reader […]

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Comprehensive Definition Fidelity of Implementation is the degree to which an evidence-based program is delivered as it was designed and validated by its developers. It is the difference between a program existing in a school and a program actually being enacted in the way that produced the outcomes claimed in the research. The concept originates […]

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Comprehensive Definition Fluency practice refers to systematic exercises intended to build reading automaticity and rate while maintaining accuracy and developing prosody. It is best understood not as a separate skill to be drilled, but as the practice phase that turns accurate decoding into instant, effortless recognition. Fluency is largely a by-product of automaticity, and automaticity […]

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Comprehensive Definition Sentence and passage level dictation is an instructional and assessment activity in which the teacher orally presents a connected piece of text, a sentence or short paragraph, and the student encodes it in writing. Encoding is the process of converting spoken language into print, and it is the inverse of decoding (reading). Where […]

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Comprehensive Definition A Consonant Blend (also known as a Consonant Cluster or adjacent consonants) is a group of two or more adjacent consonants in a word where each individual consonant maintains its own sound (phoneme) when pronounced. Unlike a consonant digraph, where two letters combine to make a single new sound, in a blend the […]

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Comprehensive Definition Assimilation (or co-articulation) is a common, natural process in spoken language where a speech sound (phoneme) changes to become more similar to a neighbouring sound. This change is typically driven by the principle of 'ease of articulation,' as it requires less movement of the speech organs (tongue, lips, etc.) to produce sounds that […]

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Comprehensive Definition Academic Vocabulary (or Tier 2 Words) refers to the high-frequency words found across various academic disciplines. They are words of sophisticated generality—meaning they are not specific to a single subject like science or math (Tier 3), nor are they basic, everyday conversational words (Tier 1). Instead, Tier 2 words appear frequently in textbooks, […]

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Comprehensive Definition Automaticity is the ability to perform a task or sub-skill accurately and effortlessly, without conscious attention. In the context of literacy, it specifically refers to the ability to recognise words quickly, accurately, and without conscious decoding effort. When a reader achieves automaticity in word recognition, their reading becomes fluent. This frees up their […]

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Comprehensive Definition A Base Word (sometimes called a root word that can stand alone) is the smallest, simplest form of a word that carries the fundamental meaning and cannot be broken down any further into smaller meaningful parts. It is a complete word in its own right and forms the foundation upon which new words […]

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Comprehensive Definition Blending is the process of smoothly combining individual sounds (phonemes) in a sequence to form a whole word. It is a critical skill within Phonemic Awareness and is the inverse of segmenting. When a student learns to read using Synthetic Phonics, blending is the mechanism they use to decode a written word. They […]

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Comprehensive Definition Background Knowledge, often referred to as Schema, is the vast network of prior knowledge, experiences, concepts, facts, vocabulary, and cultural understanding that a person brings to a learning situation or a text. It is essentially the mental framework that organises information in the brain. In the context of literacy and comprehension, schema acts […]

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Comprehensive Definition A Benchmark Assessment (also known as an Interim Assessment) is a standardised, periodic evaluation administered to all students at specific times throughout the school year (typically three times: beginning, middle, and end). It occupies a crucial middle ground between daily, informal formative assessments and high-stakes summative assessments (like end-of-year state tests). The core […]

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Comprehensive Definition A Consonant Digraph is a sequence of two adjacent consonants that represent a single phoneme (sound). Crucially, the sound produced by the digraph is not the combination of the two individual letter sounds. Instead, the two letters function as one written unit (grapheme) to signal a unique sound. In the context of Structured […]

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Comprehensive Definition The CVCe pattern (Consonant–Vowel–Consonant–final e) is an English spelling pattern in which a long vowel sound is represented by two letters separated by a consonant. Within structured literacy, it is analysed in two main ways, and the framing shapes the mental model students build of English orthography. The traditional framing of the "Magic […]

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Comprehensive Definition The Alphabetic Principle is the understanding that written letters (graphemes) represent spoken sounds (phonemes) in a systematic and predictable way. It is the foundation of all alphabetic writing systems, including English. For students to learn to read and write, they must understand that the letters on the page are not random shapes—they stand […]

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Comprehensive Definition Assessment (Screening), particularly in literacy, refers to the administration of brief, standardised tools to all students in a class, grade, or school (universal screening) at regular intervals (typically 3 times a year: beginning, middle, and end). The primary purpose of a screening assessment is to quickly and reliably identify students who are 'at risk' […]