AEPA Elementary Education (NT102/NT103) key terms

The ability to notice and work with the individual speech sounds, called phonemes, inside spoken words. It is hearing and manipulating sounds, not matching them to letters, and it develops before phonics instruction.

The broader ability to recognize and manipulate the sound structure of language, including syllables, rhymes, and word boundaries as well as individual sounds. It is the umbrella category that includes phonemic awareness.

Instruction in the predictable relationships between letters and the speech sounds they represent. Readers use these letter-sound correspondences to decode unfamiliar printed words rather than guessing from pictures or context.

The process of converting printed letters and letter patterns into spoken words by applying knowledge of letter-sound relationships. Accurate decoding is a foundation for comprehension, though comprehension also depends on vocabulary and background knowledge.

Reading text accurately, at a reasonable pace, and with appropriate expression. Fluent reading frees attention for meaning making, so fluency is usually described as a bridge between word recognition and comprehension.

The construction of meaning from text by integrating the words on the page with prior knowledge, vocabulary, and reasoning about the author's purpose. It is the goal of reading instruction rather than a single skill.

A reader's organized background knowledge about a topic, stored as mental frameworks. Readers interpret new text by fitting it into existing schemas, which is why activating prior knowledge before reading supports understanding.

Awareness and regulation of one's own thinking, such as noticing that a passage is not making sense and choosing a fix-up strategy. In reading it includes monitoring comprehension and adjusting how one reads.

The most important point an author makes about a topic in a passage. It is usually stated in a topic sentence or must be inferred from details, and it is broader than any single supporting fact.

Restating the essential ideas of a text briefly and in one's own words, leaving out minor details. A good summary preserves the main idea and the key supporting points without copying the original wording.

The way an author organizes information in a text, such as comparison, cause and effect, sequence, or problem and solution. Recognizing structure helps readers predict what comes next and remember content.

Nonfiction writing whose purpose is to explain, inform, or describe factual information. It often uses headings, diagrams, and signal words, and it differs from narrative text, which tells a story.

A category of literature or writing sharing common features of form, content, or purpose, such as fantasy, biography, poetry, or informational text. Knowing a genre's conventions helps readers set expectations.

Writing that tells a story, typically built around characters, setting, plot, and conflict. It may be fictional or true and is usually organized chronologically rather than by topic.

Hints about a word's meaning supplied by the surrounding words, sentences, or illustrations. Readers use them to figure out unfamiliar vocabulary, though clues are not always present or reliable.

The grammatical categories words fall into, such as noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, and conjunction. A word's part of speech depends on how it functions in a particular sentence.

The rule that a verb must match its subject in number and person, as in 'the dog runs' versus 'the dogs run.' Intervening phrases do not change the subject that controls the verb form.

The arrangement of words and phrases into sentences according to the grammar of a language. Syntax determines word order and sentence structure and affects clarity and meaning.

The recursive stages writers move through, commonly prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. The stages overlap and repeat rather than occurring in a single fixed order.

Reworking a draft to improve content, organization, clarity, and voice, as distinct from editing, which fixes surface errors. Revision may involve adding, cutting, reordering, or rewriting whole sections.

Writing intended to convince a reader to adopt a position or take an action. It relies on a clear claim, supporting reasons and evidence, and awareness of the audience and opposing views.

An original record or artifact created during the period being studied, such as a letter, photograph, diary, or law. It offers firsthand evidence, in contrast to a later interpretation or summary.

A work that interprets, analyzes, or summarizes primary evidence, such as a textbook or history article. It is one step removed from the original event and reflects an author's analysis.

The principle that each branch of government can limit the powers of the others, such as a presidential veto or judicial review. It is designed to prevent any one branch from dominating.

The division of government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches, each with distinct responsibilities. The arrangement is intended to prevent concentration of authority in one body.

A system in which power is shared between a national government and state or regional governments. Each level has its own defined authority, and the division is set out in a constitution.

The economic relationship in which the quantity of a good that buyers want and the quantity sellers offer interact to shape price. Generally, higher prices reduce demand and encourage supply.

The value a digit has because of its position in a numeral, so that in 4,082 the 4 means four thousands. Understanding place value underlies reading, comparing, and computing with multi-digit numbers.

Exchanging a group of ten in one place-value column for one unit in the next column, or the reverse. It is the mechanism behind carrying in addition and borrowing in subtraction.

Manipulatives representing ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands as small cubes, rods, flats, and large cubes. They give students a concrete model for place value and regrouping.

Fractions that name the same amount even though they have different numerators and denominators, such as 1/2 and 2/4. Multiplying or dividing numerator and denominator by the same nonzero number produces an equivalent fraction.

A shared denominator that allows two or more fractions to be added, subtracted, or compared. A common way to find one is to use the least common multiple of the original denominators.

A step-by-step procedure that, when followed correctly, produces a result for a class of problems. In elementary mathematics it usually refers to standard written methods for operations.

A systematic approach to investigating questions that includes forming a testable hypothesis, gathering data through observation or experiment, and drawing conclusions. Findings are revised when new evidence appears.

A testable prediction or proposed explanation for an observed phenomenon. It must be stated so that evidence could support or contradict it, and it is often written as an if-then statement.

Any factor in an investigation that can change or take different values. In a fair test the independent variable is deliberately changed, the dependent variable is measured, and other factors are held constant.

The process by which green plants use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar, releasing oxygen. Chlorophyll in chloroplasts captures the light that drives the reaction.

A sequence showing how energy passes from one organism to another as each is eaten, usually beginning with a producer. Arrows point in the direction the energy flows.

The basic visual components artists use to build images: line, shape, form, color, value, texture, and space. They are the building blocks that principles of design organize.

Guidelines describing how artists arrange the elements of art, including balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, and unity. They describe relationships among visual components rather than the components themselves.

A movement that travels the body from one place to another, such as walking, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, or galloping. It is contrasted with movement performed in place.

Movement performed in place without traveling, such as bending, twisting, stretching, swaying, or turning. These actions are also called axial movements and are often combined with locomotor skills.

Abilities that use the large muscles of the body for whole-body actions like running, throwing, catching, and balancing. They develop through practice and generally precede fine motor refinement.

Abilities involving precise control of the small muscles, especially in the hands and fingers, such as cutting with scissors, buttoning, or holding a pencil. They support handwriting and self-care tasks.

The measurable capacities that make up fitness: cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. Health-related fitness is distinct from skill-related abilities such as agility and speed.