Odisha LTR Teacher key terms

An approach in which teaching starts from the learner's interests, prior knowledge and pace rather than from the teacher's lecture, so children actively construct understanding through activity, discussion and exploration.

A learning theory holding that learners build new knowledge by connecting it with what they already know, so rote transmission is less effective than guided discovery, questioning and hands-on tasks.

Vygotsky's term for the gap between what a learner can do alone and what the learner can do with skilled adult or peer help; teaching is most effective inside this range.

Temporary support a teacher gives, such as hints, models, prompts or partly completed examples, which is gradually withdrawn as the learner gains competence and can work independently.

A four-stage sequence - sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational - describing how children's thinking moves from sensory action to abstract reasoning, with each stage having characteristic limits.

The understanding that quantity, mass or volume stays the same despite changes in appearance or arrangement; typically achieved in the concrete operational stage, and its absence is shown in classic Piagetian tasks.

Assessment carried out during teaching to gather evidence about learning and adjust instruction, using tools such as oral questions, quizzes, observation and exit slips rather than only end-of-term marks.

Using assessment evidence to help learners improve, through clear goals, feedback, self-assessment and peer assessment, so evaluation serves learning rather than only ranking or certification.

Assessment at the end of a unit, term or course that judges achievement against standards and produces a grade or certificate, in contrast to ongoing assessment used to guide teaching.

A school assessment scheme that judges both scholastic and co-scholastic areas continuously through the year, using multiple tools, with the aim of reducing exam fear and supporting holistic development.

Organising regular schools so that all children, including those with disabilities or from disadvantaged groups, learn together with the support they need, instead of being segregated into separate settings.

A written plan for a specific learner that sets personalised goals, required support and services, and review dates; it is prepared with parents and specialists and guides classroom accommodations.

A persistent difficulty in a specific academic skill such as reading, writing or arithmetic that is not explained by low intelligence or poor schooling; it calls for identification and targeted teaching strategies.

A specific learning difficulty affecting accurate and fluent word reading and spelling, despite adequate instruction and intelligence; support includes phonics, structured reading practice and extra time in examinations.

The internal or external force that starts, directs and sustains learning behaviour; intrinsic motivation arises from interest and competence, while extrinsic motivation comes from rewards, praise or pressure.

In behaviourist theory, any consequence that increases the likelihood of a behaviour repeating; positive reinforcement adds a reward, while negative reinforcement removes an unpleasant condition.

Six rights guaranteed by Part III of the Indian Constitution, including equality, freedom, protection from exploitation, and cultural and educational rights, enforceable through courts by writ petition.

Guidelines in Part IV of the Indian Constitution that direct governments to promote welfare, social justice and education; they are not directly enforceable in courts but are fundamental in governance.

The 2009 Indian law making free and compulsory elementary education a fundamental right for children aged six to fourteen, setting norms for pupil-teacher ratio, infrastructure and no-detention policy.

A flagship Indian programme launched in 2001 to universalise elementary education through school infrastructure, teacher recruitment, and support for out-of-school and disadvantaged children.

A school nutrition programme providing a cooked meal to children in government and aided schools, intended to improve attendance, retention and nutritional status while reducing classroom hunger.

The three-tier system of rural local self-government - village, block and district levels - created by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment to decentralise planning and service delivery.

Odisha has a unicameral legislature, the Odisha Legislative Assembly, with elected members who frame state laws; the state is represented in Parliament by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members.

A seasonal reversal of wind direction that brings heavy rainfall; India's southwest monsoon from June to September delivers most annual rain, while the northeast monsoon affects Odisha and Tamil Nadu in winter.

A low-pressure storm system with rotating winds around a centre; the Bay of Bengal frequently generates cyclones that strike the Odisha coast, making early warning and evacuation essential.

The process by which green plants use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide, with chlorophyll, to make glucose and release oxygen; it links light energy to food chains and the carbon cycle.

The release of energy from food inside living cells, usually using oxygen and producing carbon dioxide and water; it differs from breathing, which is only the exchange of gases.

A sequence showing how energy passes from producers such as plants to herbivores and then to carnivores; arrows indicate the direction of energy flow, and chains interlink into food webs.

A community of living organisms interacting with one another and with non-living components such as soil, water and sunlight in a defined area, forming a functioning unit of nature.

The value a digit has because of its position in a numeral, so in 4,508 the 5 stands for five hundreds; understanding it underpins reading, writing, comparison and calculation with numbers.

Numbers that express a part of a whole or of a collection, written as one integer over another; equivalence, comparison and operations on fractions are core primary mathematics content.

A way of writing fractions whose denominators are powers of ten, using a point to separate whole and part; place value extends to the right of the point in tenths, hundredths and beyond.

The phonetic joining of two adjacent sounds in Odia, such as a final vowel meeting an initial vowel, producing a combined form; recognising sandhi rules helps in reading and splitting words correctly.

A compound word in Odia formed by joining two or more words into one unit, where the components may lose their separate endings; knowing compound types aids vocabulary and precise comprehension.

The grammatical relation a noun or pronoun bears to the verb in a sentence, such as doer, object or instrument; Odia marks these relations with case endings and postpositions.

A prefix attached to a root verb or noun in Odia that modifies its meaning, for example turning a simple action into one suggesting intensity, direction or opposition.

The writing system used for Odia, an abugida in which consonants carry an inherent vowel and vowel signs are attached as matras; it also writes allied languages and is rounded in shape.

The study of word structure, including roots, prefixes, suffixes and inflection; in Odia it explains how tense, number, gender and case are marked and how new words are formed.