FTCE Prekindergarten/Primary PK-3 key terms

The ability to notice and manipulate individual speech sounds in spoken words, such as blending, segmenting, or deleting phonemes. It is oral and does not involve printed letters.

A broader awareness of the sound structure of language, covering syllables, rhymes, onsets and rimes, and individual phonemes. It develops along a continuum and underpins later decoding instruction.

Instruction in the predictable relationships between letters or letter patterns and the sounds they represent, used to help children decode and encode unfamiliar words.

The understanding that speech sounds map onto letters and letter combinations in a systematic way. Children who grasp it can begin to use letter-sound knowledge to read and spell.

Applying letter-sound knowledge and syllable patterns to convert printed words into spoken words. Accurate, automatic decoding frees attention for comprehension.

Reading text accurately, at an appropriate rate, and with suitable expression. Fluent reading supports comprehension because less effort is spent on word recognition.

The expressive features of oral reading, including pitch, stress, phrasing, and pacing that reflect meaning. It is one component of reading fluency often observed in young readers.

The store of word meanings a child understands and can use, including both everyday oral words and academic or text-specific terms. It strongly predicts reading comprehension.

Constructing meaning from text by integrating word recognition, vocabulary, background knowledge, and strategic reasoning. It is the ultimate goal of early reading instruction.

What a reader already knows about a topic, which supports making inferences and understanding text. Teachers build it through read-alouds, discussion, and rich content experiences.

An individually administered assessment in which a teacher records a child's oral reading errors, self-corrections, and reading behaviors to gauge accuracy and strategy use.

Examining the substitutions, omissions, insertions, and self-corrections a reader makes to infer which cue systems the reader is using and what instruction is needed.

Young children's temporary spellings that represent the sounds they hear, such as writing 'becuz' for 'because.' It reveals developing phonemic awareness and is a stage, not an error to punish.

The early reading and writing behaviors of young children, such as handling books, scribbling, and recognizing signs, that develop before conventional reading and writing.

Understandings about how print works, including that print carries meaning, is read left to right and top to bottom, and is made of letters, words, and spaces.

A flexible grasp of quantity, including comparing amounts, recognizing small groups without counting, and understanding how numbers relate to one another.

Instantly recognizing the number of objects in a small set without counting them one by one. It supports early addition and place-value reasoning.

The understanding that the last number named when counting a set tells how many objects are in that set. It is a key counting principle in early childhood mathematics.

Matching each object in a set to exactly one number word or one other object while counting or comparing. It is foundational for accurate counting and comparison.

Building numbers by combining parts and breaking numbers into parts, such as seeing that 5 is 3 and 2. It builds fluency with addition and subtraction.

The principle that a digit's value depends on its position in a number, so the 4 in 42 means four tens. It underlies multi-digit computation and regrouping.

Concrete materials representing ones, tens, and hundreds, used to model place value, regrouping, and operations with multi-digit numbers.

Physical objects such as counters, cubes, or pattern blocks that children handle to explore mathematical ideas before moving to abstract symbols.

Ongoing checks during instruction, such as observations, exit tickets, or questioning, used to adjust teaching while learning is still in progress.

An evaluation at the end of a unit or period that measures what students have learned, such as a unit test or end-of-year screening. It informs reporting rather than moment-to-moment teaching.

Planning lessons so content, process, or product are adjusted to students' readiness, interests, and learning profiles, while all students work toward the same standards.

Temporary supports, such as modeling, prompts, or graphic organizers, that help a learner complete a task just beyond independent reach and are gradually removed as competence grows.

The range between what a child can do alone and what the child can do with guidance from a more capable person. Instruction is most effective within this range.

A multi-tiered framework of increasingly intensive instruction and progress monitoring used to identify students needing support and to distinguish instructional gaps from suspected disabilities.

Frequent, brief measurement of a student's growth in a specific skill, used to judge whether an intervention is working and to adjust instruction.

A written plan for a student with a disability that sets present levels, measurable annual goals, services, and accommodations, developed by a team including parents.

The legal requirement that students with disabilities be educated alongside peers without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate, with supports as needed.

Placing students with disabilities in general education classrooms with the supports and services they need, rather than segregating them in separate settings.

Instructional techniques such as visuals, gestures, sentence frames, and sheltered content language that make grade-level material understandable to multilingual learners.

The predictable phases through which a second-language learner progresses, often described as preproduction, early production, speech emergence, and intermediate fluency, each needing different supports.

A language teaching approach in which students respond physically to spoken commands, linking movement to meaning and lowering anxiety for beginning learners.

Teaching decisions grounded in knowledge of typical child development, each child's individual characteristics, and the child's social and cultural context.

Using guided and free play, such as dramatic play or block building, as a context for developing language, social skills, and early academic concepts in young children.

A team of educators who meet regularly to examine student data, share practice, and improve instruction collaboratively, with a focus on results for students.

Job-embedded professional support in which a coach observes, models, and gives feedback to help a teacher refine classroom practice.

Using student assessment and observation evidence to choose instructional strategies, group students, and evaluate whether changes are improving learning.

Building respectful, two-way partnerships with families and community organizations to support children's learning, including regular communication and shared decision making.

Recognizing and valuing students' cultural backgrounds and adjusting instruction, materials, and communication so all children feel seen and can learn effectively.

State-adopted standards of professional conduct covering obligations to students, the public, and the profession, including reporting misconduct and maintaining confidentiality.

The legal duty of educators to report suspected child abuse, neglect, or abandonment to the designated state agency, typically within a set time frame.