Glossary

Accuracy: Reading or spelling words correctly without guessing or skipping.

Advanced spelling rules: Spelling patterns or rules that are more difficult and often taught after the basics, like dropping the 'e' before adding -ing.

Alphabet: The set of letters we use to write in English. There are 26 letters, each with a name and a sound.

Blend: Two or more letters put together where each sound is still heard, like "bl" in "black".

Common spelling rules: Helpful rules that guide how to spell words.

Complex long vowel teams: Groups of letters that make long vowel sounds and are trickier to learn, like "eigh" in "eight" or "oe" in "toe".

Digraphs: Two letters that come together to make one new sound, like "sh" in "ship".

Dyslexia: A common learning difference that affects how a person processes language, especially reading, spelling, and writing.

Evidence based: A teaching method or strategy that has been tested by research and proven to work well.

Explicit: Teaching that clearly explains what to do and why, leaving no guesswork for the learner.

Fluency: Reading smoothly with the right speed, expression, and understanding.

Letter formation: How to write each letter correctly, starting and ending in the right place.

Letter teams: Two or more letters that work together to make one sound, such as "ea" in "beach" or "igh" in "light".

Long vowel sounds: The vowel sounds that say their name, like the 'a' in "cake" or the 'i' in "bike".

Multisensory Structured Language Approach: A teaching method that helps children learn by using more than one sense—seeing, hearing, saying, and doing—at the same time.

Scope and Sequence: A plan that shows what will be taught (scope) and the order it will be taught in (sequence).

Sentence structure: How words are put together to make a complete and clear sentence.

Structured Literacy: A step-by-step way of teaching reading and writing. It follows a clear plan and helps children learn sounds, spelling patterns, and word structure.

Systematic: Teaching that follows a logical order, starting from the easiest concepts and building up to harder ones.

Word endings: Letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or tense, like -ed, -ing, or -s.

Word types: Different kinds of words used in sentences, like nouns (names), verbs (actions), and adjectives (describing words).