CSET Multiple Subjects flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Phonemic awareness

The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual spoken sounds (phonemes) in words, such as blending /c/ /a/ /t/ into cat. It is auditory, not print-based.

Alphabetic principle

The understanding that letters and letter patterns systematically represent the sounds of spoken language, enabling readers to decode unfamiliar printed words.

Reading fluency

The ability to read text accurately, at an appropriate rate, and with expression (prosody). Fluency frees cognitive resources for comprehension rather than word decoding.

Reciprocal teaching

An instructional strategy in which students take turns leading dialogue using four comprehension strategies: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing.

Formative assessment

Ongoing checks of student understanding during instruction, used to adjust teaching; examples include exit tickets, questioning, and quick quizzes, unlike summative end-of-unit tests.

Separation of powers

The division of government authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches so that no single branch holds all power; each branch can check the others.

Federalism

A system dividing power between a national government and state governments; the U.S. Constitution grants some powers nationally and reserves others to the states.

Manifest Destiny

The 19th-century belief that U.S. expansion across North America was inevitable and justified, influencing westward settlement, the Mexican-American War, and displacement of Native peoples.

California Gold Rush

The 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill drew thousands of migrants to California, accelerating its 1850 admission as a free state and reshaping its economy and demographics.

Photosynthesis

The process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria use sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water to produce glucose and oxygen, converting light energy into chemical energy.

Plate tectonics

The theory that Earth's rigid lithospheric plates move over the asthenosphere, causing earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building at convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries.

Newton's second law

The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass, expressed as F = ma.

Cell theory

The principle that all living things are made of cells, cells are the basic unit of life, and new cells arise from existing cells.

Water cycle

The continuous movement of water through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection or runoff, driven mainly by solar energy and gravity.

Pythagorean theorem

In a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides: a² + b² = c².

Mean vs median

The mean is the sum divided by the count and is affected by outliers; the median is the middle value of ordered data and resists outliers.

Prime number

A whole number greater than 1 whose only positive divisors are 1 and itself, such as 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11.

Independent events

Events whose outcomes do not affect each other; the probability both occur equals the product of their individual probabilities, P(A) × P(B).

Area of a circle

The space enclosed by a circle, calculated as π times the radius squared (A = πr²), where π is approximately 3.14.

FITT principle

A framework for exercise prescription: Frequency (how often), Intensity (how hard), Time (how long), and Type (what activity).

Aerobic exercise

Sustained, moderate-intensity activity that uses oxygen to produce energy, improving cardiovascular endurance; examples include jogging, swimming, and cycling.

Locomotor skills

Fundamental movements that transport the body from one place to another, such as walking, running, hopping, skipping, jumping, and galloping.

Gross motor skills

Large-muscle movements involving the whole body or major limbs, such as running, throwing, and jumping, developing before fine motor skills.

Zone of proximal development

Vygotsky's term for the gap between what a learner can do alone and what they can do with guidance from a more capable person.

Object permanence

Piaget's term for the understanding, developing in infancy, that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight.

Erikson's psychosocial stages

Eight stages across the lifespan, each centered on a crisis such as trust vs mistrust in infancy and identity vs role confusion in adolescence.

Kohlberg's moral development

A three-level theory of moral reasoning: preconventional (rewards and punishment), conventional (social approval and law), and postconventional (universal ethical principles).

Secure attachment

A bond in which an infant uses a caregiver as a safe base, seeks comfort when distressed, and explores confidently; it is fostered by responsive caregiving.

Elements of art

The basic visual building blocks: line, shape, form, color, value, texture, and space, used to describe and create artworks.

Principles of design

Guidelines for organizing art elements, including balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, unity, and variety.

Timbre

The tone color or distinctive quality of a sound that lets listeners distinguish a violin from a flute playing the same pitch.

Tableau

A frozen, silent scene created by actors using poses and facial expressions to convey a moment, often used in drama and classroom activities.