Glossary

Alphabetic Principle - the ability to recognize and name individual letters, both upper and lowercase. 

Attributes - the way we see or understand a person, place, or thing

Children may explain that animals are alike because they eat certain foods, make specific noises, or have a similar pattern. Considering attributes of any object can help children develop creative thought and understand the importance of thinking something through for themselves.  

Concept of Print (Concepts About Print) - Children should develop the ability to recognize letters, words, punctuation, the front and back covers of a book, the understanding that print is read from top to bottom and from left to right. They can move from the end of one line to the beginning of a new line (return sweep). 

Continuum of Writing -Writing generally progresses as shown below:

Environmental Print - signs and familiar labels children see daily. They easily recognize the words and/or letters such as they M for McDonald's.

Expressive Language - the way a child communicates (says or shows) information 
A child may use words to tell about something, like how a turtle moves. The child may also show you these thoughts by moving like a turtle. 

Fine Motor - using the small muscles of the body for writing, cutting ,etc.  

Fluency - According to Marcie Penner-Wilger (2008) Reading fluency should be reading that is “accurate, quick, and uses proper expression.” 
You can read with fun voices, use dramatic pauses, and change the speed at which you read. Children will love this!  
 
Gross Motor - developing the large muscles of the body that control our movement and balance

Informational Text - books or materials that are true
Many children love reading stories but other children prefer books that are true. They may like to read how dump trucks work or why the moon looks different on different nights. All children should listen to both make-believe and true (informational text) material.

Inquiry - using information to ask questions.
For preschoolers, we like to model how adults can ask questions. For example, if observing a cloud in the sky, ask, "I wonder why that cloud looks fluffy and other clouds look different." This is an age-appropriate question. Praise children when they begin to ask their own questions. You may not know the answers but you can show them how you use books or the Internet to discover answers to questions. Some questions can't be answered. This is wonderful to show, too. It is what creates scientists - people need to find out answers!

Number - We know that the written form (representation) of the amount is a numeral, but to be child-friendly, we are using the word number for preschoolers.  

Onset - the initial consonant or phoneme in a word family word. Examples include s in sand and t in Ted. See the rime entry.

Phonemic Awareness -  the ability to hear and manipulate (work with) sounds in words. Research shows this is a necessary step to reading. Rhyming is a key part of phonemic awareness. 

Rime - the letters that follow the initial consonant in a word family word. Examples include and in sand and ed in Ted. See the onset entry.

Subitizing - the ability to immediately recognize how many objects are in a group. Note: "Subitizing is a fundamental skill in the development of students' understanding of number" (Baroody 1987, 115).