TS-TET Paper 2 key terms

An approach to learning which holds that learners actively build understanding by linking new information to prior knowledge, rather than absorbing facts passively. Teachers therefore plan activities, questions and group work that provoke thinking and interpretation.

The distance between what a learner can accomplish unaided and what the same learner can accomplish with help from a teacher or more capable peer. Instruction works best when it targets tasks inside this band.

Support given temporarily to a learner working on a task too hard to complete alone, such as hints, worked examples, prompts or partially solved steps. The support is reduced and finally removed as competence grows.

In Piaget's theory, the recognition that amount, mass, weight or volume remains unchanged when the shape or layout of objects changes. Children usually acquire it during the concrete operational stage, around seven to eleven years.

Schooling in which children with disabilities, minority languages or disadvantaged backgrounds study in ordinary classrooms alongside peers, with curriculum, teaching and assessment adjusted so that each child can participate fully.

A school assessment scheme that records scholastic and co-scholastic progress throughout the year using several tools, such as projects, observation and tests, instead of depending on one annual examination.

Assessment carried out while teaching is still in progress, used to reveal what learners have grasped and where they are stuck so that instruction can be adjusted before final grading.

The drive to engage in an activity because it is interesting, enjoyable or personally meaningful, rather than because of marks, prizes, praise or fear of punishment. It sustains learning longer than external pressure.

The phase of development from roughly eleven to nineteen years, marked by puberty, fast physical growth, strong peer influence, search for identity and a growing ability to reason abstractly and hypothetically.

A lasting difficulty with reading, writing, spelling or arithmetic that is not caused by low intelligence, poor teaching or sensory impairment. It requires identification and specific remedial teaching strategies.

The language a child acquires first at home and uses most naturally for thinking and feeling. In school it supports concept formation and serves as a bridge when a second language is taught.

The ability of a person or a classroom to use more than one language. Teachers can treat pupils' home languages as resources for explaining ideas instead of banning them.

The smallest unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a language, such as the difference between /p/ and /b/ in 'pat' and 'bat'.

The smallest meaningful unit of a word. 'Unhappiness' contains three: 'un-', 'happy' and '-ness'. Some morphemes are free-standing words; others, like prefixes and suffixes, must attach.

Moving between two languages inside a conversation or a lesson, often when a term is easier in one language. In the classroom it can be a legitimate comprehension strategy rather than a fault.

A variety of a language spoken in a particular region or social group, differing in pronunciation, vocabulary and sometimes grammar, yet usually understood by speakers of the standard form.

A method of teaching early reading that connects letters and groups of letters with the sounds they represent, so that learners can decode unfamiliar printed words systematically.

Reading a text quickly to grasp its general idea or gist, for example by looking at headings, first sentences and key words, without attending to every detail.

A conclusion a reader draws from clues in a text combined with background knowledge, going beyond what is literally stated, for example judging a character's mood from actions.

Conveying what someone said without quoting the exact words, which requires shifting pronouns, tenses and time expressions, as in 'She said she was leaving the next day'.

Expressions that mean something beyond their literal sense, such as simile, metaphor, personification and hyperbole, used to create vivid images and emotional effect in speech and writing.

The value a digit carries because of its position in a numeral; in 4,085 the 4 stands for four thousands while the 8 stands for eight tens. It underpins all written calculation.

A ratio compares two quantities of the same kind by division, such as 3:5. A proportion states that two ratios are equal, allowing an unknown quantity to be found by cross-multiplication.

An equation in which the variable appears only to the first power, for example 3x + 5 = 20. Its graph is a straight line and it has exactly one solution unless the coefficients cancel.

In any right-angled triangle the square on the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares on the other two sides, so a squared plus b squared equals c squared. It is used to find unknown lengths.

The arithmetic average of a set of values, found by adding all the values and dividing by how many there are. Unlike the median, it is affected by extreme scores.

The process by which green plants use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide, with the help of chlorophyll, to make glucose and release oxygen. It is the base of most food chains.

Three statements describing how force affects motion: objects keep their state unless a force acts; acceleration depends on force and mass; every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

A sequence showing how energy passes from one living thing to another, beginning with a producer such as grass, then herbivores, then carnivores, with decomposers recycling nutrients at each level.

The fundamental set of rules that establishes a country's political system, distributes powers among institutions, and limits government by guaranteeing rights to citizens. India's Constitution came into force in 1950.

A system in which power is divided between a central government and regional governments, each with its own defined sphere. India combines this with strong central features during emergencies.

The principle that the state treats all religions equally, neither promoting nor discriminating against any, while citizens are free to profess, practise and propagate their faith. India's version permits state reform of religion.

Basic entitlements guaranteed by the Indian Constitution to every citizen, such as equality, freedom of speech, protection from exploitation and the right to constitutional remedies, enforceable through courts.

The three-tier system of elected local government in rural India, comprising the gram panchayat, the panchayat samiti and the zila parishad, with reserved seats for women and marginalised groups.

A seasonal reversal of wind direction that brings heavy rainfall to the Indian subcontinent, usually from June to September when moist winds blow from the sea towards land. Agriculture depends on it.

Gandhi's method of non-violent resistance based on truth and the refusal to harm an opponent, using tools such as peaceful protest, non-cooperation, boycotts and willingness to accept punishment.