FTCE Elementary Education K-6 key terms

The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words, such as blending or segmenting the sounds in "cat." It is an oral skill and does not involve printed letters.

The relationship between letters and the sounds they represent, together with the instruction that teaches students to use those relationships to decode and spell words.

The understanding that spoken words are made up of sounds and that letters represent those sounds in a predictable system, allowing readers to decode unfamiliar printed words.

Applying knowledge of letter-sound relationships to turn printed words into spoken words, especially unfamiliar ones. It is a foundational word-recognition skill that supports reading comprehension.

Reading text accurately, at an appropriate rate, and with suitable expression. Fluent reading frees attention for meaning-making, connecting word recognition to comprehension.

The process of constructing meaning from text by combining prior knowledge, vocabulary, text structure, and strategies such as predicting, questioning, and summarizing.

An informal assessment in which a teacher records a student reading aloud, marking correct words, errors, and self-corrections to analyze accuracy, fluency, and reading strategies.

The onset is the consonant sound or sounds before the vowel in a syllable; the rime is the vowel and everything after it, as in /c/ and /at/ in "cat."

The study of the smallest meaningful units of words, including roots, prefixes, and suffixes, and how they combine, which supports vocabulary development and spelling.

The organizational pattern an author uses, such as compare-contrast, cause-effect, sequence, description, or problem-solution, which readers use to organize and remember ideas.

A firsthand record made by someone who participated in or witnessed an event, such as a letter, diary, photograph, or artifact. It must be interpreted rather than simply accepted as fact.

A record created after an event by someone who did not participate in it, such as a textbook or encyclopedia, which interprets and summarizes primary sources.

The arrangement of events in the order they happened. Chronological thinking involves sequencing, measuring time, and explaining causes and effects across periods.

An area defined by shared physical or human characteristics, such as climate, landforms, language, or economy, used by geographers to compare and organize places.

The condition in which human wants exceed the resources available, forcing individuals and societies to make choices about what to produce, consume, and save.

The value of the next-best alternative given up when a choice is made; a core economic concept for explaining individual and societal decision-making.

The constitutional arrangement that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the others, such as a presidential veto or judicial review, so no branch dominates.

Conditions that drive people away from a place, such as war or famine, and conditions that attract them to a new place, such as jobs or freedom; they explain migration.

The spread of ideas, customs, technology, or goods from one culture to another through trade, migration, or communication, producing change in both cultures.

The process of asking questions, forming hypotheses, gathering evidence through observation and controlled tests, and revising explanations based on the data collected.

A testable, tentative prediction or explanation about how variables are related, which can be supported or refuted by evidence from an investigation.

In an experiment, the group that does not receive the treatment. It serves as a baseline for comparison so the effect of the tested variable can be isolated.

A conclusion drawn from evidence and reasoning rather than direct observation. Scientific inferences must be revised when new data become available.

The process by which green plants use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen, forming the base of most food chains.

A model showing how energy moves among organisms through multiple interconnected feeding relationships, giving a more realistic picture than a single food chain.

An inherited trait or behavior that improves an organism's chance of surviving and reproducing in its environment, arising over generations through natural selection.

The continuous movement of water through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection, driven by energy from the sun and by gravity.

A change in a substance's size, shape, or state that does not produce a new substance, such as ice melting or paper tearing.

A push or pull that can change an object's speed, direction, or shape. Balanced forces cause no change in motion, while unbalanced forces do.

The value of a digit determined by its position in a number, such as the 3 in 352 meaning three hundreds; the foundation of the base-ten number system.

A flexible understanding of numbers, their sizes, and their relationships, enabling students to estimate, compare, and choose sensible strategies when computing.

A set of related addition and subtraction sentences, or multiplication and division sentences, that use the same three numbers, such as 3 + 5 = 8 and 8 - 5 = 3.

Multiplying a number by a sum or difference by multiplying it by each part and combining the results, as in a(b + c) = ab + ac; it supports mental math and algebra.

Fractions that name the same amount even though their numerals differ, such as 1/2 and 2/4. They are formed by multiplying or dividing numerator and denominator by the same number.

The amount of surface inside a two-dimensional figure, measured in square units; for a rectangle it equals length times width.

The arithmetic average, found by adding all the values in a set and dividing by the number of values; a measure of center that is affected by outliers.

A comparison of two quantities by division, which can be written as a fraction, with a colon, or in words, such as 3 to 4.

A number from 0 to 1 that describes how likely an event is, often computed as favorable outcomes divided by all equally likely outcomes.