A silent letter used to indicate the sound of the vowel. In English, the silent letters are used to form patterns associated with specific vowel sounds. The "a" in treat.
VOWEL MARKER.
100
Pictures placed at top of each category in a picture sort. They act as headers for each column and can be used for analogy.
KEY PICTURES
200
A type of picture of word sort in which the categories for sorting are left open. Students sort pictures or words into groups according to the students own judgment.
OPEN SORT.
200
Words that do not fit the targeted feature of a sort
ODDBALL
200
Words placed at the top of each category in a word sort.
KEY WORDS
300
A picture or word sort done with a partner in which students who are responsible for sorting cannot see the word. They must instead attend to the sounds and sometimes visualize the spelling pattern to determine the category.
BLIND SORT
300
A vowel sound represented by a variety of different spelling patterns, or vowel patterns, that represent a wide range of sounds.
AMBIGUOUS VOWELS
300
Beginning reading books written with controlled vocabulary that contain recurring phonics elements.
PHONICS READERS
400
An explicit word study lesson in which the teacher models and leads students through the sorting process, offers explanations, and facilitates a discussion about the features and the meaning of words.
TEACHER-DIRECTED SORTS
400
A complex speech sound beginning with one vowel sound and moving to another within the same syllable. the "oy" in boy and the "ou" in cloud.
DIPHTHONG
400
A variant of a blind sort in which student (or teacher) names a word without showing it to another student, who must write it in the correct category under a key word.