CSET Multiple Subjects (101/214/225) key terms

The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words, such as blending or segmenting /k/ /a/ /t/. It is auditory and does not involve printed letters.

An approach to reading instruction that teaches the predictable relationships between letters or letter patterns and the sounds they represent, used to decode unfamiliar printed words.

The broader awareness of the sound structure of language, including syllables, rhymes, and onset-rime units as well as individual phonemes. It develops along a continuum from larger to smaller sound units.

The process of translating printed letters and letter patterns into spoken sounds to recognize or pronounce a written word, especially one not yet learned by sight.

Reading with accuracy, appropriate rate, and meaningful expression. Fluent reading frees attention for comprehension rather than word-by-word decoding.

The construction of meaning from text by integrating prior knowledge with information stated and implied in the passage. It is the goal of reading instruction rather than a single skill.

An organized mental framework of prior knowledge and experience that a reader brings to a text and uses to interpret and remember new information.

A diagnostic procedure in which a teacher records and analyzes a reader's oral deviations from the printed text to infer the strategies the reader is using and where instruction is needed.

An observational assessment in which a teacher records a child's oral reading behaviors, including accuracy, self-corrections, and use of cues, to document reading development over time.

Nonfiction writing organized to inform or explain, using structures such as cause and effect, compare and contrast, or problem and solution. Its organizational patterns differ from narrative text.

Writing that tells a story, typically built around characters, setting, plot, and conflict, and often following a sequence of events toward a resolution.

A single sentence that states the central claim or argument of an essay and previews how the writing will support it. It usually appears near the end of the introduction.

A sentence, usually first in a paragraph, that states the paragraph's main idea and controls the details that follow. It supports the larger thesis of the piece.

A document, artifact, recording, or account created by someone who participated in or directly witnessed an event, such as a diary, letter, photograph, or treaty.

An account that interprets or analyzes primary evidence after the fact, such as a textbook, biography, or scholarly article. It depends on primary sources for its information.

The practice of understanding people and events within the beliefs, values, and conditions of their own time rather than judging them by present-day standards.

The division of government authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches so that no single branch holds all power. It is paired with checks and balances in the U.S. Constitution.

Constitutional arrangements that let each branch of government limit the actions of the others, such as a presidential veto or judicial review of legislation.

A system in which power is divided and shared between a national government and state governments, with each level holding authority granted by a constitution.

The nineteenth-century belief that U.S. expansion across the North American continent was both inevitable and justified, used to support westward settlement and territorial acquisition.

The economic relationship in which the quantity of a good that buyers want and the quantity sellers offer interact to set price and quantity in a market.

The value of the next-best alternative given up when a person or society chooses one use of scarce resources over another.

The principle that a digit's value depends on its position in a number, so that in 4,302 the 3 means three hundreds and the 2 means two ones.

A step-by-step procedure that, when followed correctly, produces a correct result for a class of problems, such as the standard procedure for multi-digit multiplication.

The rule that multiplying a number by a sum equals the sum of that number multiplied by each addend, as in a(b + c) = ab + ac. It underlies many computation strategies.

Fractions that name the same amount even though their numerators and denominators differ, such as 1/2 and 3/6. Multiplying or dividing numerator and denominator by the same nonzero number produces them.

A comparison of two quantities by division, often written as a fraction or with a colon. It can express a part-to-part or part-to-whole relationship.

An organized approach to investigation in which a question is posed, a hypothesis is formed, data are collected through controlled observation or experiment, and conclusions are drawn and revised.

A testable, tentative explanation or prediction about a relationship that can be supported or refuted by evidence gathered during an investigation.

A factor in an experiment that is deliberately kept the same across all trials so that observed changes can be attributed to the variable being tested.

The process by which green plants and other organisms use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars, releasing oxygen as a byproduct.

A sequence showing how energy moves from producers to consumers as one organism eats another, usually beginning with a plant or other photosynthetic organism.

The theory that Earth's outer shell is broken into large plates that move slowly over the mantle, causing earthquakes, volcanic activity, and the formation of mountains.

Assessment conducted during instruction to reveal what students currently understand so the teacher can adjust teaching, typically low-stakes and not used for a final grade.

Assessment administered at the end of a unit or course to measure how much learning has occurred against a standard, such as a final project or unit test.

Temporary instructional support that lets a learner accomplish a task beyond current independent ability, gradually withdrawn as competence grows.

The range between what a learner can do alone and what the learner can do with guidance from a more capable person, where instruction is most effective.

Coordinated movements of the small muscles of the hands and fingers, such as grasping a pencil, cutting with scissors, or buttoning clothing.

Coordinated movements involving the large muscles of the body, such as running, jumping, throwing, and balancing, which develop in a predictable sequence in children.

The basic visual components used to build any artwork: line, shape, form, value, color, texture, and space. They are the vocabulary of visual composition.

The ways artists organize the elements of art, including balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, and unity, to create a unified composition.

The quality of a sound that distinguishes one voice or instrument from another even when they play the same pitch and loudness, often called tone color.

The pattern of durations and stresses in music that gives it movement and pulse. In the visual arts the term describes repeated elements that guide the eye.