Tag Archives: term of art

“sight word approach: A method of teaching reading and spelling in which small numbers of instantly recognizable sight words are presented while the child masters them.

While many early readers naturally learn to read words through frequent exposure to them in stories, sight words often should be explicitly taught to individuals with a learning disability. Sight words can be hard to learn for these children because they frequently have trouble following common spelling and pronunciation patterns, such as are, were, been, and some, and require a strong visual memory for words.

To avoid such confusions when using the sight-word approach to teach reading and spelling, words should be carefully selected initially to follow consistent spelling patterns.”

Excerpted from: Turkington, Carol, and Joseph R. Harris, PhD. The Encyclopedia of Learning Disabilities. New York: Facts on File, 2006.

“sound/symbol association: The idea that certain sounds are paired with specific symbols.”

Excerpted from: Turkington, Carol, and Joseph R. Harris, PhD. The Encyclopedia of Learning Disabilities. New York: Facts on File, 2006.

“summarization: The process of determining important information in a text and explaining it briefly in one’s own words.”

Excerpted from: Ravitch, Diane. EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007.