Abstract: Difficult to understand because of its detachment from concrete existence; opposite of concrete.

Academy Modules: Modules developed for students in the three content areas are referred to as Academy modules. The instructor's modules are created for orientation purposes and are not intended for professional development. Rather, they are designed to convey information about Academy modules and how they can be integrated into teacher education programs.

Acronym: A word made up of the initial letters of words in a phrase or sentence; examples include NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

Analogy: A general likeness; partial likeness. In this module, two concepts (one new, the other familiar) with partial similarity are compared to enhance the understanding of the new concept. For example, a teacher might introduce the new concept of parasitism by comparing it to the more familiar concept of unwanted guest or might compare solving a math problem with solving a mystery.

Antonym: A word that means the opposite of another word. Examples: "happy - sad"; "tall - short."

Attribute: Key features and qualities; characteristics.

Background knowledge: A personal reservoir of information on a variety of topics; information retained in one's long-term memory.

Clause: An arrangement of words containing a subject and verb that creates part, but not all, of a sentence. Clauses can be dependent or independent.

Cognition: The process of knowing by thinking, comprehending, analyzing, or evaluation. Examples: Students use the cognitive process to be able to understand or gain meaning from spoken or written material by reasoning, making inferences, seeing relationships, etc.

Cognitive: Involving the process of knowing by thinking, comprehending, analyzing, or evaluation. Example: Students use the cognitive process to be able to understand or gain meaning from spoken or written material by reasoning, making inferences, seeing relationships, etc.

Cognitive deficit: Lack of or impairment in the process of knowing by thinking, comprehending, analyzing, or evaluation.

Comparative structure: (also known as comparative visual depiction device) A type of visual depiction that shows the relationship between at least two concepts that are being compared or contrasted and organizes them in a manner that makes the information easier to learn. Examples include relationship charts, matrices, and concept analysis diagrams.

Concept: A distinct idea or category into which examples with shared characteristics may be placed.

Concept anchoring routine: A method used to teach a complex, abstract concept through the creation of an analogy to a similar, better-known concept.

Concept anchoring table: A table used to teach a new idea by creating an analogy to another, better known idea and graphically depicting the key elements involved. The concept anchoring table is co-constructed by the students and teacher and serves as the "centerpiece" of the Concept Anchoring Routine.

Concept comparison routine: A set of instructional methods used to compare and contrast two or more ideas or examples of ideas.

Concept comparison table: A two dimensional instructional tool used by a teacher to display information about two or more ideas, or examples of ideas. The teacher uses the comparison table to draw student attention to critical characteristics of each idea, determine their similarities and differences, and show the categories into which the characters fit.

Concept development: The process of gaining an understanding of an idea, or concept.

Concept diagram: A two-dimensional instructional tool used by a teacher to display information related to a key idea. Complex and abstract pieces of information, and their relationships, are displayed in a way that enhances student understanding and retention.

Concept ladder: A device that uses superordinate, subordinate, and coordinate ideas to teach hierarchical concept relationships.

Concept mastery routine: Instructional procedures built around a visual device, called the Concept Diagram, used by a teacher to display and analyze information related to a key idea for the purpose of gaining meaning about that idea.

Conditional knowledge: Within this lesson, knowledge that relates to the contexts and circumstances of using specific procedures, addresses "when," "where," and "why" information.

Content Areas: OSEP has specified three content areas within the teacher education curriculum for the Academy to focus on. The content areas include reading, positive behavioral supports and technology in education. These are the content areas from which research-based interventions will be selected and transformed into instructional modules.

Content enhancement: A systematic teaching procedure for content that involves making decisions about what content to teach, manipulating and translating that content into easy-to-understand formats, and presenting it in ways that are easy to remember.

Content specific knowledge (vocabulary): Words that relate to a given domain of knowledge, such as medical terminology or computer jargon.

Coordinate concept: As used in this lesson, an idea or category that has the same position and status as another idea in a hierarchy. For example, Siamese, Persian, and Main Coon are all types of cats. They all belong to the same class, which makes them coordinate concepts.

Cue-Do-Review sequence: A component of content enhancement routines involving the instructional method used to draw students' attention to the use of a certain instructional process, involve them in that process, and check the effectiveness of that process.

Cycle: In this module, a visual device that shows a process or a series that repeats itself.

Declarative knowledge: The "what" or content of learning; knowing a piece of information - a fact, a concept, or a label.

Decoding: The ability relating a sequence of letters in print to their corresponding sounds, allowing the reader to translate the sequence into a word.

Dialect: Distinctive variety of language spoken in a particular region or by a particular group which is mutually understandable by speakers of the mother tongue.

Direct instruction: Instruction characterized by high rates of teacher involvement and control during the initial stages of information acquisition and careful performance monitoring as the learner gradually assumes control over application; structured, modular, and sequential instruction that emphasizes practice and mastery and provides a high level of success experiences and positive feedback to the student.

Directed Questions: A series of questions about lesson content has been included as a feature in each module. A question is presented. Once students enter their response they are able to access exemplary answers. This allows them to compare their response to responses prepared by the Academy staff.

Directional structure: A type of visual depiction in which items of information are placed in a sequence, and in which one element is not necessarily subordinate to another. Examples include timelines, cycles, and flowcharts.

Elaborative language: Language that is more complex than the usual public language, thereby expanding the meaning and context of words.

Experiential deficit: Not having the experiences necessary for full comprehension of what one is learning. An example would be trying to get a wealthy teenager from the United States to fully understand what is taking place in Sierra Leone. The student would have an experiential deficit in this area because he/she has never experienced what the children in Sierra Leone are experiencing (famine, disease, poverty).

Explicit: Completely and clearly expressed without ambiguity or vagueness; fully developed. Example: Explicit instructions would leave no doubt in your mind about what you were to do. Every part would be "spelled out."

FIRST Letter Mnemonic Strategy: A strategy that students can use to help them master large bodies of information and be able to remember it. Specifically, students create lists of information that is important to learn, generate an appropriate label for each set of information, select a mnemonic device for each set, and create study cards.

Figurative: Word images that cannot be interpreted literally; types of figurative language include similes ("cute as a button"), metaphors (he was a lion in battle"), idioms ("start from scratch"), personification ("the puppy was indignant"), and hyperbole ("I'm so hungry I could eat a horse").

Figurative language: Language that uses word images that cannot be interpreted literally; types of figurative language include similes ("cute as a button"), metaphors (" the storm roared in"), idioms ("start from scratch"), personification ("the puppy was indignant"), and hyperbole (I'm so hungry I could eat a horse).

Flowchart: A diagram or visual device that shows the step-by-step progression of events in which the order is determined by decisions or outcomes at each step.

Fluency: In the area of reading, the skill of reading with accuracy, speed, and ease; also called automaticity.

Full concept knowledge: Knowledge that allows an individual to demonstrate a broad understanding of a word and to use this knowledge to manipulate meaning. For example, an individual with full concept knowledge is able to name antonyms, compare and contrast similar words, understand multiple meanings of words, and use words in novel ways.

General knowledge: Information that individuals in a given culture would know from common experiences and use in everyday life.

General vocabulary: Words that individuals in a given culture would know from common experiences and use in everyday life.

Gist recall: Remembering with ease the main points about information that has been stored in one's long term memory.

Graphic organizer: Visual depiction of information organized to enhance comprehension of it.

Hierarchy: In this module, the order of relationships among ideas, determined by degree of inclusiveness.

Hyperbole: A non-literal statement or expression, which is purposely farfetched. Examples include, "I nearly died laughing" and "I tried a thousand times."

Ideational scaffolding: External support provided by teachers in which they present easier or known content and skills to students as a bridge to learning new or difficult material.

Idiom: A phrase, statement, or expression the meaning of which is not obvious from a literal interpretation. Examples include "with a grain of salt," and "born with a silver spoon in one's mouth."

Idiomatic expression: A phrase, statement, or expression the meaning of which is not obvious from a literal interpretation. Examples include "with a grain of salt," and "born with a silver spoon in one's mouth."

Inconsiderate text: Text that is poorly written, poorly organized, or both, thereby making it difficult to understand.

Interactive analysis: Collaborative examination of a given idea in order to fully understand the entire concept and its relationship to other ideas.

Keyword device: Method of remembering a new word by linking it to a known word that looks or sounds like the new one. For example, to remember that the word "drudge" means to do hard, menial, or monotonous work, you might imagine a person working day in and day out in a stifling fudge factory doing nothing but cutting huge slabs of fudge as they rapidly move by on a conveyer belt.

Keyword method: Method of remembering a new word by linking it to a known word that looks or sounds like the new one. For example, to remember that the word "drudge" mean to do hard, menial, or monotonous work, you might imagine a person working day in and day out in a stifling fudge factory doing nothing but cutting huge slabs of fudge as they rapidly move by on a conveyer belt.

Language connection: The process of setting up and building an association between the differing processes of language; namely, listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Lexicon: A compilation of words and their meanings in a book (dictionary) or stored in a person's memory (vocabulary). We each have our own personal lexicon, or mental dictionary.

Linguistics: Field of knowledge relating to the study of language; involves study of the subsystems of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.

Matrix: A two dimensional, visual depiction that is used to aid in student learning.

Matthew effects: Briefly stated, the effects of a cycle, in which students with reading disabilities may find themselves. Poor decoding skills limit their ability to advance to more complex texts. This, in turn, limits their exposure to the content, as well as the more complex structure, of texts that are necessary for future learning.

Menu: There are menus for each level and lesson in an Academy module. Links to the level menus appear in the center of the menubar. Access any level menu by clicking the level titles in the center of the menubar. Click the up arrow (top right) to access the menu for the current level or to go to the next higher menu level. For example, if you are viewing a page in a lesson the up arrow takes you to the current Lesson menu then to the menu for all Lessons then to the Table of Contents (ToC) for the entire module.

Metacognition: A person's reflection on his or her own thinking processes.

Metalinguistics: A person's reflection on the nature or properties of language or his/her own use of it; an individual's language awareness.

Metaphor: A figure of speech in which there is an implied, not stated, comparison of two unlike things or ideas. Such as, "it's a dog's life"; "all the world's a stage"; and "computers are the vehicles of tomorrow".

Mnemonic device: Creative device used to aid memory. It can be linguistically based as in a word mnemonic. For example, HOMES gives us the beginning letters of the Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior and the sentence mnemonic, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge, stands for the notes on the staff of the Treble Clef. It can also be visually based, as in mnemonic illustrations which are pictures that help us remember information, such as a picture of a wolf with a hat on that says "canine" on the brim to help remember the species to which wolves belong.

Navigation: Navigation refers to the technical process of moving from one feature to another in an online module. The navigation system for Academy modules allows students to follow a critical path, but also to exercise flexibility when they wish to vary from the normal path of progressing through a module.

Partial concept knowledge: Word knowledge that is characterized by limited use and difficulty discriminating a word's meaning from meanings of similar words.

Pegword device: A recall technique involving the use of a memorized series of words to attach to another series of words; examples of peg words are one is bun, two is a shoe, three is a tree, four is a door, five is a hive, six are sticks, seven is heaven, eight is a gate, nine is a line, and ten is a hen.

Procedural knowledge: A type of background knowledge that involves understanding how to do something; the "how" type of knowledge that tells us rules to follow to accomplish a task. An example would be the steps of long division.

Reading comprehension: The process or result of gaining intended and personal meaning from written material.

Reading disability: Condition characterized by reading performance that is significantly below what would be expected for an individual's age and reading potential.

Recall device: A tool that helps a learner remember information.

Recall enhancement routine: A teaching procedure in which students are guided to identify significant information and create ways to recall it.

Reciprocal relationship: A connection between two processes in which development in one area enhances development in the other. Correspondingly, where a problem exists in one the other is adversely affected. For example, there is a reciprocal relationship between vocabulary and concept development. Vocabulary knowledge assists with growth in concept knowledge and vice versa. Deficits in vocabulary thwart concept attainment and vice versa.

Relationship chart: A visual depiction that shows the association among different terms and concepts.

Repertoire: All of one's experiences or one's expertise in a particular area.

Scaffolded instruction or scaffolding: Instruction during which the teacher provides a student with just enough help to allow him to accomplish a task that he would be unable to accomplish without help. As instruction continues, the student does more and more on his own until he can successfully accomplish the task without any help.

Schemata: The plural of schema; a network of many schema; the structures, frames, units, or scripts into which all knowledge is packed and organized.

Semantic feature analysis: Using a graph or table to determine the relationship between a given word and its features in vocabulary instruction.

Semantic map: A graphic structure that is focused on a single, central idea or concept from which all information radiates outward.

Semantics: Part of the structure of language, along with phonology, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics, which involves understanding the meaning of words, sentences, and texts.

Simile: A phrase or expression using 'like' or 'as' to compare two unlike objects or ideas to each other. Examples include, "cheeks like roses"; "as hard as nails"; and "as bright as a button".

Strategic instruction: In the context of reading, an educational approach aimed at providing rules or guidelines to help individuals approach reading tasks more effectively, efficiently and independently.

Strategy: A method or plan used to complete a task efficiently, effectively, and independently.

Student-mediated learning: A process in which students take initiative and have the skills to learn on their own.

Subordinate: As used in this module, a smaller, less inclusive idea or concept that fits under a larger, more inclusive one.

Subordinate Concept: As used in this lesson, the smaller idea or concept that fits under a larger one. For Example: humans are subordinate to mammals and mammals are subordinate to animals.

Superordinate: As used in this module, a larger, more inclusive concept or category to which subordinate concepts belong.

Superordinate Concept: As used in this lesson, the all-inclusive concept or category to which the targeted concept belongs. For Example: animals are superordinate to mammals and mammals are superordinate to humans.

Syntax: The ordering of words within phrases, clauses, and sentences whereby the relations among the words are indicated. For example, in English, verbs usually follow nouns, and adjectives usually precede nouns.

Table of Contents: Each module includes a general Table of Contents (ToC) covering the entire module. Click "ToC" in the top right of the menubar to access the Table of Contents

Tactic: An approach a teacher uses to help a student learn.

Teaching device: An instructional technique, procedure, or tactic designed to promote learning. A teaching device is associated with facilitating organization, understanding, recalling, and applying information. Examples include verbal (summaries, stories, analogies, acronyms) and visual (graphic organizers, diagrams, models, films) devices.

Teaching routine: A set of integrated instructional procedures which revolve around a specific teaching device that is designed to promote broad learning goals associated with the full spectrum of information acquisition, storage, and expression/demonstration of content information (Bulgren & Lenz, 1995).

Timeline: A visual device used to chronologically arrange past events.

Verbal association knowledge: An understanding that allows a person to link a new word with a specific definition or single context. This involves surface understanding of a word.

Verbal device: A teaching device used in presentations where the teacher uses language to help the students learn. Examples include summaries, organizational cues, analogies, and stories.

Verbal rehearsal: The process of continually practicing a skill orally in order to master it.

Visual depiction: Graphic structures used to organize information in a manner that makes the information easier to learn and remember.

Visual device: A teaching device used to aid teachers with their presentations. Examples include graphic organizers, diagrams, tables, outlines, webs, models, films, and demonstrations.

Vocabulary acquisition: The process of gaining and keeping new words in one's knowledge base.

Vocabulary deficits: Gaps in the number of words which one knows in comparison to peers; problems with learning new words fast enough to serve well in acquiring new information.

Web: A graphic structure that is focused on a single, central idea or concept from which all information radiates outward.

World knowledge: Labels, concepts, ideas, and facts about the world in general; general information shared by people in a given culture.

World knowledge schemata: Organized network of structures, frames, units, or scripts that include labels, concepts, ideas, and facts about the world in general and information shared by people in a given culture.