NYSTCE Multi-Subject Birth-Grade 2 key terms

The ability to notice and work with the sounds of spoken language, including syllables, rhymes, and individual sounds in words, without relying on written letters.

The narrower skill of hearing and manipulating the smallest units of sound in spoken words, such as blending /k/ /a/ /t/ into the word cat.

Instruction in the links between letters and the sounds they represent, used to help children read and spell unfamiliar words.

The understanding that spoken words are made of sounds and that printed letters stand for those sounds in a predictable system.

Using letter-sound knowledge to turn printed words into spoken words, typically by sounding out the letters and blending them together.

Splitting a syllable into its opening consonant or consonants, called the onset, and the vowel-plus-ending chunk, called the rime, as in c + at.

Knowledge of how books and text work: where a book begins, that print is read left to right, that print carries meaning, and that words are separated by spaces.

Reading connected text accurately, at a suitable pace, and with expression, so that attention can go to meaning instead of to figuring out words.

Young children's early attempts to write words by recording the sounds they hear, showing developing letter-sound knowledge rather than carelessness.

A written record of a child's oral reading of a short passage, coded for accurate words, substitutions, omissions, and insertions, then analyzed for error patterns.

Temporary support from a teacher or peer on a task just beyond what a child can do alone, gradually withdrawn as the child takes over.

A planned shared reading in which the teacher reads a text aloud, pauses to model thinking, poses questions, and invites children to discuss ideas.

Instantly recognizing how many objects are in a small group, up to about four or five, without counting them one at a time.

The understanding that the last number named when counting a group tells how many objects the whole group contains.

Matching one number word or object to each item being counted, touching each item exactly once so the count matches the set.

Knowing that the quantity of a group stays the same when the objects are spread out or rearranged, as long as none are added or removed.

A flexible grasp of quantity: how numbers compare, combine, and break apart, plus the habit of judging whether an answer is reasonable.

Building numbers by combining parts and taking them apart, such as seeing seven as five and two or as four and three.

A grid of two rows of five squares where counters are placed so children can see quantities up to ten in relation to five and ten.

A teaching order that moves from real objects to drawings to written symbols, so a math idea is first met in a hands-on form.

The idea that a digit's value depends on its position within a number, so in 34 the 3 stands for three tens.

Measuring length, weight, or capacity with everyday objects such as paper clips or cubes instead of standard units like inches or grams.

A sequence built from a unit that repeats again and again, such as AB or AABB, which lays groundwork for later algebraic thinking.

Grouping objects by a shared feature such as color, size, shape, or texture, an early step toward patterns, measurement, and data.

Children investigating a question by observing, predicting, trying something out, and discussing results, rather than memorizing facts about a topic.

Gathering information about an object or event using the senses or simple tools, and describing accurately what was noticed.

Observable features of materials, such as color, texture, hardness, or whether something floats, used to describe and sort substances.

Simple forces young children explore when moving objects; a push moves something away and a pull moves it closer.

The stages a living thing passes through from one generation to the next, such as seed to sprout to flower, or egg to caterpillar to butterfly.

The place where a plant or animal lives and can find the food, water, shelter, and space it needs to survive.

The basic things all organisms require, such as air, water, food or sunlight, and space or shelter, which children compare across plants and animals.

An economic distinction: goods are things people make or grow and buy, while services are kinds of work done for others.

North, south, east, and west, used with maps, globes, and movement activities to describe where something is or how to get there.

The shared way of life of a group, including language, food, celebrations, beliefs, and traditions, which children learn to compare and respect.

The basic visual building blocks, including line, shape, color, texture, form, space, and value, used to describe and create artwork.

Pretend play in which children take on roles and act out familiar situations such as a store or doctor's office, building language, cooperation, and self-regulation.