MTLE flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Phonemic awareness

The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual phonemes, the smallest units of spoken sound, such as blending /k/ /a/ /t/ into cat. It is oral and does not involve printed letters.

Phonics

An approach to reading instruction that teaches the relationship between letters (graphemes) and the sounds they represent (phonemes), helping students decode unfamiliar printed words systematically.

Fluency

The ability to read text accurately, at an appropriate rate, and with proper expression. Fluent reading supports comprehension because less attention is spent on decoding individual words.

Five essential components of reading

Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, the five areas identified by the National Reading Panel as essential to effective early reading instruction.

Metacognition in reading

Readers' awareness and regulation of their own thinking while reading, including monitoring understanding, noticing when meaning breaks down, and applying fix-up strategies such as rereading or summarizing.

Tier 2 vocabulary words

High-frequency, cross-content academic words such as compare, analyze, or evidence that appear across many subject areas and are especially valuable targets for direct vocabulary instruction.

Running record

An informal assessment in which a teacher records a student's oral reading, noting accuracy rate, error patterns, and self-corrections to determine instructional reading level and appropriate text difficulty.

Place value

The value a digit has because of its position in a number; in 4,703 the 7 represents 700 because it sits in the hundreds place.

Equivalent fractions

Fractions that name the same amount despite different numerators and denominators, such as 1/2 and 3/6; multiplying or dividing both parts by the same nonzero number produces them.

Commutative property

The principle that changing the order of addends or factors does not change the sum or product: a + b = b + a and a × b = b × a. It does not apply to subtraction or division.

Mean versus median

The mean is the sum of a data set divided by the number of values; the median is the middle value when data are ordered. The median is less affected by extreme outliers.

Order of operations

The agreed sequence for evaluating expressions: grouping symbols first, then exponents, then multiplication and division left to right, then addition and subtraction left to right.

Prime number

A whole number greater than 1 whose only whole-number factors are 1 and itself, such as 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11. The number 1 is neither prime nor composite.

Proportional reasoning

Reasoning about relationships in which two quantities vary together at a constant rate, often solved by setting two ratios equal and cross-multiplying to find an unknown value.

Hypothesis

A testable, tentative explanation or prediction about a relationship between variables that can be supported or refuted by evidence gathered in a controlled investigation.

Photosynthesis

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

Food web

A model showing the overlapping feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem, tracing the flow of energy from producers through consumers to decomposers.

Water cycle

The continuous movement of water among the atmosphere, land, and oceans through evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, runoff, and infiltration.

Newton's third law

For every action force there is an equal and opposite reaction force; forces always occur in pairs that act on two different objects.

States of matter

The common physical forms of matter, solid, liquid, and gas, distinguished by particle spacing and motion; adding or removing thermal energy causes changes among them.

Five themes of geography

Location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region: a framework for organizing geographic inquiry about where things are and why they matter.

Checks and balances

The constitutional principle that each branch of government can limit the powers of the others, as with the presidential veto, congressional override, and judicial review.

Opportunity cost

The value of the next-best alternative given up when a person or society chooses one use of scarce resources over another available use.

Primary source

An original record created by a participant or witness at the time of an event, such as a diary, photograph, letter, or artifact, rather than a later interpretation.

Federalism

A system of government in which power is divided between a central national government and state governments, each with its own defined responsibilities and authority.

Push and pull factors

Conditions that drive people away from a place (push), such as war or famine, or attract them to a new place (pull), such as jobs or safety.

Zone of proximal development

Vygotsky's term for the range of tasks a learner can accomplish with guidance from a more knowledgeable other but cannot yet do independently; instruction is most effective in this range.

Formative assessment

Ongoing, low-stakes checks during instruction, such as questioning, exit tickets, or quick quizzes, used to adjust teaching and give feedback rather than to assign a final grade.

Backward design

A planning approach that begins with identifying desired learning outcomes and acceptable evidence of mastery before designing the instructional activities and lessons.

Differentiated instruction

Adjusting content, process, or product based on readiness, interest, and learning profile so that all students can reach the same essential learning goals.

Bloom's taxonomy

A hierarchy of cognitive objectives (remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create) used to design questions and tasks at increasing levels of complexity.

Individualized Education Program

A legally binding written plan for a student who qualifies for special education, specifying annual goals, services, accommodations, and the least restrictive placement for that student.