MTEL General Curriculum key terms

The ability to notice and work with the individual speech sounds in spoken words, such as blending, segmenting, or deleting sounds, without relying on printed letters.

An approach to reading instruction that teaches how letters and letter patterns map to speech sounds, helping students decode unfamiliar printed words systematically.

Broad awareness of the sound structure of language, including syllables, rhymes, and individual phonemes; it develops before and supports later phonics learning.

Applying knowledge of letter-sound relationships to pronounce written words, especially words not yet recognized automatically by sight.

Reading text accurately, at a reasonable rate, and with appropriate expression, which frees attention for comprehension rather than word-by-word decoding.

Constructing meaning from text by integrating word knowledge, background knowledge, text structure, and inference; the ultimate goal of reading instruction.

Drawing a conclusion not stated directly in a text by combining textual clues with prior knowledge, such as inferring a character's motive or an implied cause.

The central point a paragraph or passage communicates about its topic, often stated in a topic sentence or requiring synthesis across details.

The organizational pattern of a text, such as compare-contrast, cause-effect, chronological sequence, problem-solution, or description, which guides readers in locating and organizing information.

Nonfiction writing whose purpose is to inform, explain, or describe, typically organized with headings, facts, and logical structure rather than narrative elements.

Writing that tells a story, usually including characters, setting, plot, and conflict, and often following a sequence of events toward a resolution.

The underlying message or insight about life that a literary work conveys, distinct from its subject or plot summary.

Language that departs from literal meaning to create effect, including simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole.

A direct comparison stating that one thing is another, without using like or as, to illuminate a quality or idea.

The emotional or cultural associations a word carries beyond its dictionary meaning, which shape tone and reader response.

The literal, dictionary meaning of a word, independent of emotional associations or implied shades of meaning.

An original document or artifact created during the period under study, such as a letter, diary, photograph, law, or eyewitness account.

An account that interprets or analyzes primary evidence after the fact, such as a textbook, biography, or scholarly article.

The political, economic, social, and cultural circumstances surrounding an event or document that help explain why it occurred and how people understood it.

The relationship between events in which one condition or action contributes to producing another, often involving multiple interacting causes rather than a single factor.

The practice of dividing the past into named eras or periods, a choice that reflects historians' judgments about continuity and change rather than neutral fact.

The study of how history has been written and interpreted, including changing methods, sources, and perspectives among historians over time.

A constitutional principle in which each branch of government can limit the powers of the others, such as vetoes, judicial review, and legislative override.

A system dividing power between a national government and state governments, with each level holding authority granted or reserved by a constitution.

The division of governmental authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches to prevent concentration of power in any one body.

The principle that a digit's value depends on its position in a number, so in 4,072 the 4 represents four thousands and the 7 represents seven tens.

A positional number system using ten digits in which each place value is ten times the value of the place to its right.

Exchanging units between place values, such as trading one ten for ten ones, to carry out addition or subtraction algorithms accurately.

Different fractions that name the same quantity, such as 1/2 and 3/6; they are generated by multiplying or dividing numerator and denominator by the same nonzero number.

A shared multiple of the denominators of two or more fractions, used to compare, add, or subtract them by expressing each with like parts.

The smallest positive number that is a multiple of two or more given numbers, useful for finding common denominators and solving rate problems.

The largest number that divides two or more given numbers evenly, useful for simplifying fractions and factoring expressions.

A comparison of two quantities by division, expressible as a fraction, with a colon, or in words, and often used to describe scale or proportion.

Solving problems involving equivalent ratios by recognizing multiplicative relationships, such as scaling recipes or computing unit rates.

A relationship between two variables whose graph is a straight line, characterized by a constant rate of change and an equation of the form y = mx + b.

The measure of a line's steepness, computed as the change in the vertical value divided by the change in the horizontal value between two points.

A systematic approach to investigating questions through observation, hypothesis formation, controlled testing, data analysis, and revision of explanations based on evidence.

A testable, evidence-based prediction about the relationship between variables that can be supported or refuted by observation or experiment.

A factor held constant across experimental trials so that observed effects can be attributed to the manipulated variable rather than to confounding influences.

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

The process by which cells break down glucose to release usable energy, consuming oxygen and producing carbon dioxide and water in aerobic organisms.

A model of feeding relationships in an ecosystem showing how energy and matter move among producers, consumers, and decomposers through interconnected food chains.

The theory that Earth's lithosphere is divided into rigid plates that move over the asthenosphere, causing earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building at boundaries.

The ongoing transformation of rock among igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic forms through melting, cooling, weathering, erosion, deposition, and heat and pressure.

The breakdown of rocks and minerals in place by physical, chemical, or biological processes, distinct from erosion, which transports the broken material.

An iterative cycle of defining a problem, generating and evaluating solutions, building and testing prototypes, and improving designs based on evidence and constraints.

An early working model of a design used to test function, gather data, and identify problems before committing to full-scale production.

A limitation on a design, such as budget, materials, time, safety, or size, that shapes which solutions are feasible and how success is judged.

An acceptance of a disadvantage in one quality of a design in exchange for an advantage in another, reflecting that no solution optimizes every criterion at once.