| acronyms | abbreviations made from the beginning letters or parts of words. For example, VPK providers often use the term “ELC” to refer to their early learning coalition. |
| cognitive-environment | includes all of the activities, experiences, interactions, and opportunities to explore that are provided to children. The cognitive environment should be designed to make children active and eager learners. |
| culture | the behaviors, ideas, beliefs, and ways that are characteristic of a group of people. |
| Diverse | composed of distinct forms or qualities. |
| Echo | a teaching strategy where you ask the children to repeat a word. This strategy lets you know if an English language learner has the sounds of that word in his/her spoken vocabulary. Repeating the word also creates muscle memory which means the child will more likely remember the word if she/he repeats it. |
| English as a second language (ESL) | used to describe people whose native language is not English. |
| English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) | used to describe people whose native language is not English. |
| English language learner (ELL) | used to describe people who are speakers of languages other than English and who are learning English as a second language. |
| Explicit Teaching | when instruction is targeted at a specific skill. |
| Expressive Language | what a child is able to say to you. |
| Five Instructional Strategies | Provide a prompt; give wait time; give a cue; children respond; teacher provides immediate feedback |
| idiom | an expression that does not mean what it literally says in the context in which it is used – e.g. “piece of cake” when referring to how easy a task might be – “That project will be a piece of cake.” |
| Jargon | a kind of “shorthand” that develops to speed up communication and to express ideas that are frequently discussed among members of a group. |
| Limited English Proficient (LEP) | used to describe people whose native language is not English. |
| Linguistic Environment | all of the language exchanges and verbal communication that happen in the classroom; singing, listening, talking, reading, storytelling, writing, and all other interactions where language is used and influence how children build and acquire language proficiency. |
| Mode of Response | when a teacher changes the way she is asking a child to respond to a question. |
| Physical Environment | the actual space and location of the classroom. Classroom size, materials, arrangement, and equipment are all part of the physical environment and can influence the learning process. |
| Physical Response | a strategy that involves children using a “thumbs up” signal or response cards when responding to a teacher's question. |
| Recast | when a teacher provides a good model for a child who may have used incorrect grammar or pronunciation. |
| Reteach | an instructional strategy when a teacher teaches the same concept or skill in a different way. |
| Receptive Language | what a child is able to understand when you are talking to them. |
| Scaffold | the process of teacher modeling and providing appropriate support to help a child acquire a skill or knowledge (e.g. giving clues, asking questions, providing verbal prompts). |
| Second Language Acquisition | learning a second language. |
| Sentence Frames | grammatically-correct structures that allow children to insert information and to practice correct English at the same time. |
| Silent Period | a stage of acquiring language where a child is capable of understanding what you are saying but is reluctant to express himself. |
| Social and Emotional Environment | a reflection of the interactions between the children and their peers, between the children and their teachers or other adults, and even between the adults themselves. It can even include interactions with classroom pets! The social and emotional environment involves the feelings and emotions shared both verbally and nonverbally. Behaviors and responses to situations are part of the social-emotional atmosphere. |
| Stereotypes | ideas that are generalized and used to describe a cultural group and which may also provide a misleading view about them. |
| Tier 1 Words | words that children are going to learn on their own. These words may include body parts and words that are heard on a regular basis. Children, even English language learners, learn these words without our having to teach them. |
| Tier 2 Words | words that children are most likely to hear throughout their educational experience. That is, words they will hear, read, and be tested on. These are the words we want to spend most of our time teaching because they have a “higher pay off.” |
| Tier 3 Words | words that children are not likely to hear again. These rare words are important for the content – like “Stegosaurus” – and are fun to learn, but they are not high priority words. |
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