English Language Arts Glossary

Acronym	A word created from the first letters of each (or most) word in a phrase, such as SCUBA, self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.
Affix	A letter or group of letters attached to the beginning and/or end of a root word that changes its meaning or function, such as the prefix un- and the suffix -able in undeniable.
Allegory	A narrative in which the characters, events, action, and setting are contrived not only to make sense in themselves but also to signify a second, correlated order of persons, things, concepts, or events.
Alliteration	The repetition of the beginning sounds of two or more neighboring words, such as “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”
Argumentative	A type of writing that develops or debates a topic in a logical or persuasive way.
Assonance	The repetition of a vowel sound in words, such as the long e sound in she feeds the seals.
Climax	In a story or play, the turning point or highest point of interest in the action of the plot. See also plot sequence.
Cognate	Two or more words from different languages that are related to one another because their historical base is the same or similar.
Conceit	A metaphor or simile that is constructed using elaboration or exaggeration to establish a striking parallel between two apparently dissimilar things or situations.
Connotative	The emotional, implied, or suggested meaning attached to a word that goes beyond its literal meaning.
Consonance	The repetition of final consonant sounds, such as bake, stick, clock.
Consonant Blends	Two or more consonants that are blended together rapidly without loss of identity of the sounds, such as the bl sound in black or the str sound in struggle.
Conventions of Print	Fundamental knowledge of how a person interacts with printed material based on the culture of the person. This knowledge forms the basis upon which a person learns to read. Examples include directionality (left to right, top to bottom), differences between letters and words, uppercase and lowercase letters, punctuation, understanding that books have front and back covers, title page, author, etc.
Conventions of Writing	Fundamental knowledge of how a person uses his or her own understanding of the written language when writing. This knowledge includes grammar, usage, mechanics (including capitalization and punctuation), structure (topic sentence, paragraph, etc.), and spelling.
Declarative Sentence	A sentence that states an idea, a fact, or an argument—often punctuated by a period—such as The rabbit hopped.
Deductive Reasoning	The process of logical reasoning that proceeds from the more general to the more specific; reasoning from whole to parts.
Denotative	The literal meaning or dictionary definition of a word.
Derivative	A word formed by adding an affix (prefix and/or suffix) to a root or stem, such as dogs, highly, running, bicycle, replant.
Developmental Spelling	The transitional stages students progress through as they move toward spelling standard English words.
Digraph	Two or more letters that make up a single sound, such as the ph sound in phone or the oo sound in foot.
Dialect	The social or regional variation of a language as it differs from the standard language.
Diphthong	A single vowel sound made when the tongue glides from one vowel sound to another in the same syllable, such as the ow sound in owl or the ai sound in main.
Dramatic Monologue	A type of poem or speech uttered by an assumed character, or persona, in a specific situation at a critical moment, that reveals the character’s innermost thoughts and feelings to the audience. See also soliloquy.
Epic	A long narrative poem about a subject, and told in an elevated style, centering on the adventures of a larger-than-life hero or heroine, and reflecting the ideals of a nation or culture.
Etymology	The study of words—their origins, history, and meanings.
Euphemism	A word or expression used to replace unacceptable or taboo language.
Exclamatory Sentence	A sentence that expresses a strong opinion or emotion, often punctuated by an exclamation point or marked by intonation, such as What a fantastic play!
Expository	A mode of writing that is informational in nature. It is used to explain, describe, or tell about something.
Falling Action	The part of the plot generally following the climax, in which the author reveals the result of the conflict.
Fiction	Literary writing whose content comes from the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact but is designed to entertain; specifically, a type of literature, especially prose (novels, short stories, and forms of folklore).
Figurative Language	Language enriched by word images and figures of speech; not literal in its intent, but designed to make the reader take an imaginative leap to understand the author’s point. Often includes the use of similes, metaphors, personification, etc.
Flashback	A literary device in which an earlier event is inserted into a narrative to show events that happened at an earlier time.
Fluency	The ability to orally read words or express ideas with clarity and ease.
Foreshadowing	The technique of arranging events and information in a narrative so that later events are set up beforehand.
Genre	A French term for a kind, a literary type or class.
Graphic Organizer	A representation of information in forms such as maps, charts, graphs (including pie charts and bar graphs), or tables, which visually organize information to identify patterns and relationships.
Homograph	One of two or more words that have the same spelling but differ in origin, meaning, and sometimes pronunciation, such as bear (large animal) and bear (support; carry) or bow (weapon for shooting arrows) and bow (forward part of a ship) and bow (bend in greeting or respect).
Homonym	One of two or more words that have the same sound and often the same spelling but that differ in meaning, such as bay (a body of water) and bay (part of a window).
Hyperbole	A figure of speech in which subject exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, such as That tree must be a mile tall!
Idiom	A verbal expression that does not mean what it literally says and which may not be understood without local knowledge of the given language. For example, You’re barking up the wrong tree is the equivalent to arriving at the wrong conclusion.
Imperative Sentence	A verb, a phrase, or a sentence whose construction or spoken tone issues a command and is punctuated with an exclamation point, for example, Watch out!
Inductive Reasoning	The process of logical reasoning that proceeds from the more specific to the more general; reasoning from parts to a whole.
Inflection	A change in the form of a word by the addition of an affix or by changing the base of the word to indicate grammatical features, such as number, person, tense, or mood, for example, run to runs or run to ran.
Inflectional Forms	The changing grammatical forms, functions, and meanings of a base or root word as different affixes are added to it. For example, the root word is bake; some inflectional forms of bake are bakes, baked, baking, prebake.
Interrogative Sentence	A sentence or expression that asks a question and is punctuated with a question mark, such as Where are you going?
Intonation	The rise and fall in pitch of the spoken voice, helping to convey the meaning of a phrase or sentence, for example, the difference between a command and a question as in “Stop!” or “Stop?”
Irony	A literary technique for implying, through words, plot or character development, that the actual comments or situation is quite different from what is asserted. The author’s use of tone, exaggeration, or understatement often suggests the opposite of the literal meaning of the words used.
Literal	The simplest, nonfigurative, or most obvious meaning of a word or words; without exaggeration or embellishment. The words stated mean exactly what they say.
Literary Devices	Rhetorical elements (such as metaphor, foreshadowing, flashback, allusion, symbolism, irony, hyperbole, etc.) used to create a desired mood or tone in a piece of writing.
Metaphor	A figure of speech that makes an implied comparison between two things, such as Habits are first cobwebs and then cables.
Mood	The emotional state expressed in a literary work.
Motif	Intentional repetition of a word, phrase, event, or idea used as a unifying element in a piece of writing.
Multicultural Literature	Writing that reflects the customs, beliefs, and experiences of people of differing nationalities, ethnicities, cultures, and races.
Narrative	1. A written (or orally presented) story that consists mainly of a sequence of events, which may be fictional or nonfictional. Narratives generally give an account of something presented as if it really happened. 2. A mode of writing that includes telling a story.
Nonfiction	A genre of writing designed to explain, argue, or describe a real event rather than to tell an invented story. A type of prose other than fiction but including biography and autobiography.
Nonphonetic Word	Any word whose pronunciation cannot be accurately predicted from its spelling.
Onomatopoeia	The formation and use of words to imitate sounds, such as buzz, bang, crunch, etc. A figure of speech in which the sound reflects the sense.
Onset	The part of a syllable that precedes the syllable peak when spoken aloud. Typically, the consonants preceding the syllable’s vowel sound, such as the gr in grape.
Paradox	An apparently contradictory or illogical statement that goes against common sense but suggests a truth, such as Less is more.
Personification	A metaphorical figure of speech in which nonhumans (animals, objects, or concepts) are given human qualities.
Persuasive	A mode of writing or a spoken text, the purpose of which is to prove something to be true, credible, or worthy. Arguments may be explicit or implicit, but the purpose of a persuasive argument is to convince an audience to adopt a belief or perform a desired action.
Phoneme	The smallest sound unit of speech that conveys a difference in the meaning of a word, for example, /b/ in book and /t/ in took.
Phonemic Awareness	An understanding of the sounds (phonemes) that make up syllables and spoken words.
Phonics	The application of sound-symbol relationships to read and write words.
Phonological Awareness	A broad term that includes identifying and making oral rhymes, working with syllables, onsets and rimes.
Plot Sequence	The structure of the actions of a narrative or drama. The classic plot sequence is as follows: 1) exposition, 2) rising action, 3) climax, and 4) falling action leading to 5) resolution.
Point of View	In fiction, the narrative perspective used by an author to tell a story: · Third-person points of view: ○ omniscient – gives the reader an all-knowing position from which to see actions and the characters’ thoughts ○ limited— point of view that presents the story from outside any single character’s perception, but the reader has no special insight into the characters' minds or motivations · First person points of view—events are related as they are perceived by one character. ○ self-conscious narrator—aware that he or she is composing a work of art and takes the reader into his or her confidence about problems involved either seriously or for comic purposes ○ fallible or unreliable narrator—his or her interpretation of matters does not coincide with the implicit beliefs and norms of value held by the author, whose beliefs and norms the author expects the reader to share.[j1] In nonfiction, used to discuss the author’s beliefs and objectivity or subjectivity toward his or her subject.
Prefix	An affix (a letter or group of letters) that comes before a base or root word, such as pro at the start of proclaim.
Primary Source	A research resource that a writer studies first hand and that contains original opinions or information. A writer may use primary sources as research for an essay or presentation, such as interviews, journals/diaries, letters, autobiographies, etc. See also secondary source.
R-controlled Vowel	The modified sound of a vowel immediately preceding /r/ in the same syllable, as in care, never, sir, or, curse, etc.
Resolution	The part of a story following the climax in which the conflict is resolved.
Rhetorical	Using the principles of rhetoric (the art of finding the available means of persuasion for a given situation) to compose effective and purposeful texts or speeches.
Rime	One or more vowels following the consonant sound of a syllable, such as /ǒǒk/ in cook or brook, or /ā/ in stay.
Rising Action	The part of a story in which the plot becomes increasingly complicated and introduces the conflict. Rising action generally leads to the climax of the story.
Satire	A literary technique or work that uses ridicule, humor, and wit to expose vices and fallacies. It may provoke change in the targeted beliefs, attitudes, or institutions.
Secondary Source	A research resource that contains the work and ideas of other authors or researchers. A writer may use secondary sources as research for an essay or presentation, such as reference books, articles by other authors, biographies, etc. See also primary source.
Simile	A comparison of two things that are apparently dissimilar, usually using the words like or as, for example, coffee as cold as ice.
Soliloquy	A speech, usually dramatic, performed by a character while or as if alone on stage. The soliloquy generally is used to develop the speaker’s character and typically is a projection of the speaker’s innermost thoughts. See also dramatic monologue.
Sound Devices	Literary terms that emphasize the sound(s) of the word (e.g., alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia).
Standard English	The style of spoken and written English used in most schools, businesses, and government organizations in the United States. Standard English varies geographically and culturally, but maintains a fairly uniform grammatical structure.
Story Elements	Typical components that make up a story’s structure and can be discussed individually, such as plot, characters, setting, theme, conflict, and outcome.
Stream of Consciousness	In literature, a technique used to present a character’s thoughts and feelings as they develop; generally a random but continual flow of these thoughts and feelings.
Style	An author’s distinctive manner of using language that suits his or her ideas and purpose in writing. An author’s style often reflects his or her personality and beliefs and appears through each writer’s characteristic ways of arranging ideas and use of diction, sentence structures, rhythm, figures of speech, and other elements of composition.
Suffix	An affix (a letter or group of letters) that comes at the end of a base or root word that changes the meaning or grammatical function of the word, such as -ing at the end of fishing.
Symbol and Symbolism	Symbol: a word or a set of words that signifies an object or event which itself signifies something else. Scales, for example, symbolize justice; a dove, peace; the lion, strength and courage. Symbolism: the use of a concrete image to express an emotion or an abstract idea, such as the white whale representing the concept of evil in Moby Dick.
Syntax	The pattern or structure of word order in sentences, phrases, and clauses. The rules of grammar that dictate proper sentence construction.
Technical Writing	Writing for the purpose of communicating scientific or technical information or instructions to a specific audience.
Theme	A main idea or central idea that may be stated directly or indirectly. A theme may be profound, difficult to understand, or even moralistic. Generally a theme can be extracted as the reader explores a text.
Thesis Statement	The main point or argument of which an author or speaker tries to convince an audience through writing or speech.
Tone	The reflections of an author’s attitude toward the topic and the audience as suggested by his or her word choices and stylistic efforts, for example, using a formal or informal tone. The tone of a text may also indicate the message or reaction that an author hopes for from the audience. See also voice.
Visual Texts	Information conveyed with images, or with meaningful patterns or sequences. Visual texts range from diagrams to documentaries. Other examples include tables, flowcharts, storyboards, picture glossaries, maps, and movies.
Voice	The expression of an author’s self or identity as reflected in sentence construction and word choices, for example, using an active or passive voice. Less formally, the total effect of the elements of style that make a particular author’s voice distinctive. See also tone.
Webbing	Any method of using diagrams, mapping, or other graphic-based tools that illustrate the relationships among the ideas and topics to be included in a piece of writing. May be used as a tool for teaching prewriting, outlining, comprehension, and note-taking.

Mathematics Glossary

Absolute Error	The difference between a measured value and the actual value. For example, when the thermometer reads 75º, the actual temperature might be 73º. The absolute error is 2 degrees.
Accuracy	The extent to which a measurement/value/quantity conforms to an actual fact. For example, “The accuracy of this estimate will ensure there is enough water in the container without it overflowing.”
Associative Property	A property, applicable to addition and multiplication, which states that it does not matter how numbers are grouped if they are all being added or all being multiplied (e.g., 2 + (4 + 9) = (2 + 4) + 9).
Asymptote	A line or curve that is approached (but never actually reached) by a function (e.g., the x-axis is an asymptote of the function).
Backward Reasoning	The reasoning involved when one assumes a conclusion is true and then works (or reasons) backwards to the evidence that the conclusion is true.
Box and Whiskers Plot	A graph in which five elements in a set of data are specifically marked: minimum value, first quartile, median value, third quartile and maximum value. This plot indicates a minimum of 6, first quartile of 11, median of 25, third quartile of 56 and maximum value of 93.
Combinations	Sets containing a certain number of objects selected from another set. The combinations of three items from the set are: . The sets {a, b, c} and {b, a, c} are considered to be the same sets.
Common Equivalent Reference Points	Common fractions with decimal equivalents that can be used to approximate other nearby values. For example, ¼ = 0.25, ½ = 0.5, and ¾ =0 .75. Since 4/10 is slightly less than ½, its decimal equivalent will be slightly less than 0.5.
Commutative Property	A property, applicable to addition and multiplication; this property states that it does not matter in which order numbers are added or multiplied. (e.g., 5 + 6 = 6 + 5 and 8 x 9 = 9 x 8).
Complementary Events	Events that, when combined, constitute all possibilities. In the study of mathematics, the set of all complementary events constitutes the universal set. For example, writing an even integer or writing an odd integer are complementary events, since every possible integer is either even or odd.
Computational Fluency	A level of skill reached when a person is able to execute an algorithm or procedure efficiently and correctly without assistance.
Congruent	Figures that have the same size and shape.
Conic Sections	Figures that result from the intersection of a plane and a double-napped cone. The conic sections are a circle, an ellipse, a parabola, and a hyperbola.
Contrapositive	Given a statement of the form, “If P, then Q,” the contrapositive is the statement, “If not Q, then not P.” The contrapositive is logically equivalent to the original statement. Given the statement, “If it rained, then Bob went inside,” the contrapositive is, “If Bob did not go inside, then it did not rain.”
Converse	Given a statement of the form, “If P, then Q,” the converse is the statement, “If Q, then P.” The converse is not necessarily logically equivalent to the original statement. For example, given the statement, “If it rained, then Bob went inside,” the converse is, “If Bob went inside, then it rained.”
Coordinate Systems	Systems used to locate points using lines or points.
Cosine Ratio	The cosine of an angle in a right triangle is the ratio of the length of the adjacent side to the length of the hypotenuse. For example, in triangle ABC shown below, the cosine of angle A is the ratio .
Degenerate Conics	Figures that result from the intersection of a plane and a double-napped cone, but are not “true” conic sections. The degenerate conics are a point, a line, and two intersecting lines.
Euler Path	A path that connects two vertices of a graph and travels each path in the graph exactly once. For example, the path A-B-C-D-B-E-D-F-E is an Euler path.
Dependent Events	Events that influence each other. If a bag contains three red marbles and two green marbles, randomly picking a red marble from the bag and then randomly picking a green marble from the bag (without replacing the red marble) are dependent events.
Dilation	A transformation that maps lines onto parallel lines. A dilation may be a translation (no size change) or an enlargement. The image on a movie screen represents a dilation of the image on the film.
Discrete Mathematics	The branch of mathematics dealing with situations in which there are a finite or countable number of values or objects (i.e., not continuous). For example, since no fractional values are applicable, determining the combination of colors that can be used in a drawing requires application of discrete mathematics. Three colors, a discrete number, is reasonable. and other fractional numbers of colors do not make sense and are not reasonable solutions.
Distributive Property of Multiplication Over Addition	Property that states that for numbers a, b, and c, a(b+c) = ab + ac.
Expanded Form	The form of a number written as a sum to show place value. For example, the expanded form of 367 is 300 + 60 + 7.
Frequency Table	A table that lists how often different outcomes occur. Below is a frequency table representing the results of a poll about students’ favorite fruits.
Function Machine	A simple way to think of a function. You provide one input value and the machine (function) produces one output value. The diagram below shows a function machine which doubles and adds five to each number placed into the machine.
Fundamental Counting Principle	The principle that states that, “If there are r ways to do one thing and s ways to do another, and t ways to do a third thing, and so on, then the number of ways of doing all those things at once is r x s x t x …”. Suppose a license plate lists a sequence of three letters followed by three digits. There are a total of possible, different license plates.
Hamiltonian Path	A path that connects two vertices of a graph and visits each vertex in the graph exactly once. The path A-B-C-D-E-F is a Hamiltonian path.
Independent Events	Events that have no influence on each other. For example, flipping “tails” with a coin and rolling a four with a die are independent events.
Inverse	Given a statement of the form, “If P, then Q,” the inverse of the statement is, “If not P, then not Q.” The inverse is not necessarily logically equivalent to the original statement. Given the statement, “If it rained, then Bob went inside,” the inverse is, “If it didn’t rain, then Bob didn’t go inside.”
Inverse Operations	Operations that “undo” or are opposites of one another are inverse operations (e.g., addition and subtraction, multiplication and division).
Line of Symmetry	A line that divides a geometric object into two congruent halves.
Manipulatives	Concrete, physical objects used to help illustrate mathematical concepts.
Matrix (pl. Matrices)	A set of values arranged in a rectangular array. For example, the coefficients of the expressions , , and are represented in the matrix .
Mental Math	Computations and estimations performed without the aid of paper and pencil.
Mutually Exclusive Events	Two or more events, each of which precludes all the others. For example, the people voting in a presidential election and the people who are celebrating their 15^th birthday on that election day are mutually exclusive events.
Ordinal Number	A number that denotes position in a sequence. In the sentence, “Susan was the 6^th person in line,” 6^th is an ordinal.
Outcomes	Results that are possible from an experiment or simulation. For example, the possible outcomes of rolling a six-sided number cube are rolls of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Perfect Square	A number that can be written as the square of one of its factors. For example, the number 36 is a perfect square since it is the product of 6 and 6 (i.e., ). The number 36 is said to be the square of 6.
Permutations	The ordered arrangements of the elements of a set. For example, the permutations of the list are (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) and (6)
Pictographs	A visual representation of statistical data that uses pictures to indicate value or quantity.
Picture Graphs	See pictograph.
Polyhedron (pl. Polyhedra)	A three dimensional object with faces that are plane polygons. Cubes are polyhedra in which each face is a square.
Polynomial Expression	A mathematical expression that is the sum of terms, each of which is the product of a constant and a non-negative power of a variable or variables. For example, the expression is a polynomial expression.
Precision	The degree of specificity to which a measurement/value/quantity is determined. For example, “The measurement is precise to the nearest millimeter.”
Probability	A number between 0 and 1, inclusive, which indicates the likelihood of an event occurring. For example, the probability of rolling a 1 on a fair, six-sided number cube is 1/6.
Pythagorean Theorem	The theorem that states a triangle is a right triangle if, and only if, the sum of the squares of the two sides is equal to the square of the hypotenuse. For example, the measures of the sides and hypotenuse of a triangle are 6 in., 8 in., and 10 in. Therefore, the triangle is a right triangle since .
Quartiles	The three values that divide a set of data into four intervals with an equal number of elements in each interval. In the set of values , the quartiles are 2 (1^st), 4 (median) and 6 (3^rd).
Range	The absolute difference between the greatest and least value in a set of data. For example, the range of the data set is 16.
Rational Number	Any number that can be written as a fraction in which both the numerator is an integer and the denominator is a natural number. For example, 3/7 is a rational number since it can be written as a fraction.
Rectangular Array	An arrangement of objects to aid in understanding multiplication. For example, four rows with three pieces of candy in each row can be used to illustrate 3 x 4 = 12 and 4 x 3 = 12.
Region Model	A geometric figure divided into equally-sized parts to illustrate fractional concepts. For example, the model below could be used to illustrate ¼ (the shaded region) or ¾ (the unshaded region).
Related Turn-around Pairs	Addition and multiplication facts that are the same except for the order in which the numbers are added or multiplied. For example, 2 + 3 = 5 and 3 + 2 = 5 is a related turn-around pair.
Rotational Symmetry	The property of an object such that after the object is rotated a number of degrees (less than 360°), the object is identical to the original object. For example, a square has rotational symmetry because it can be rotated 90 degrees and then appears identical to the original square.
Scatter Plot	A two-dimensional graph of a collection of points.
Sequences of Arithmetic Growth	A sequence of numbers in which the difference between successive terms is constant and the value of successive terms is increasing. For example, the pattern 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, … is an arithmetic sequence with a constant difference of 3.
Sequence of Geometric Growth	A sequence of numbers in which the ratio of successive elements is constant and the value of successive elements is increasing. For example, the pattern 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 192, … is a geometric sequence with a constant ratio of 2.
Set Model	A model for fractions in which the fraction is shown by a subset of highlighted objects out of the total set of objects. For example, one-third might be represented as · o o.
Similarity	The quality of having the same shape and proportional corresponding linear measurements. For example, the triangles are the same shape, but ea