Praxis 5205

A team of fifth-grade teachers collaboratively provide explicit instruction to support the development of students' listening skills. The teachers select a series of videos and recorded books to build students' background knowledge, vocabulary, understanding of text structures, and inferencing abilities. The teachers' actions best indicate an understanding of which of the following research-based findings related to the connection between listening and reading comprehension? A. The influence of listening comprehension on reading comprehension increases over time, since both require the application of similar language processes. B. Content presented orally is of greater interest to and easier for students to process than reading a text that requires proficient word-recognition skills. C. As students develop more advanced literacy skills over the elementary years, the influence of listening comprehension on reading comprehension lessens. D. Students who lack basic decoding skills will need effective instruction in listening to learn content and limit the gap between reading and listening comprehension.

Option (A) is correct. Research has shown that as students move through the elementary grades, the relationship between listening and reading comprehension becomes more positively correlated. Good reading comprehension implies the existence of a mental model that integrates a story's multiple propositions and prior knowledge into a cohesive whole. Listening comprehension draws on the same language processes used to comprehend language via text, but it is free of the cognitive demands of having to decode text.

A first-grade teacher selects a picture book that retells the well-known fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears to read aloud to the class. Following the first oral reading of the text, the teacher distributes a graphic organizer with a set of questions for students to answer as the text is read again. During the second reading, the teacher pauses at different parts of the story and asks students to independently answer one of the questions related to that part of the story on the work sheet. The teacher's instructional method best engages students in which of the following thinking processes related to successful reading comprehension? A. Making decisions about what is going to happen next in a story by connecting existing knowledge to new information an author gives as a text is read B. Determining what is important in a story and recording it in the student's own words C. Searching a story to reach a conclusion based on clues an author gives and prior knowledge to construct meaning that goes beyond what is literally stated D. Creating mental images of the events happening in a story that support recall of main ideas

Option (C) is correct. The graphic organizer the teacher uses while reading the fairy tale to students asks them to draw inferences. Inferential questions are not answered directly in a text. A reader needs to use clues an author gives in the story and his or her background knowledge to go beyond the text to draw an inference.

A teacher has students read the following passage during a science lesson. The teacher then refers to the same passage during the reading block to demonstrate the structure of certain forms of informational text. Not all stars are the same, and it is important to understand their properties. There are five parameters of stars that we can measure. Luminosity is the measure of how much energy is emitted by the star. Stars also have their own size and temperature. The mass of stars can be measured, and we can also determine their composition. The passage best demonstrates which of the following text structures? A. Generalization B. Sequence C. Enumeration D. Classification

Option (C) is correct. The passage lists or enumerates five details that constitute the measures of stars. The details are facts that can be put in an unordered list numbered one to five.

A teacher provides students with sentences to use to determine the meanings of words according to their contexts. Which of the following sentences best fulfills the teacher's purpose? A. "Decomposers" are beneficial to the environment. B. Please "reanalyze" the errors in the assignment. C. "Omnivorous" animals prefer eating both plants and meat. D. My "radius" is broken, but the doctor says the injury is not life threatening.

Option (C) is correct. The sentence provides clues that help define the word "omnivorous."

A second-grade teacher reviewed data from the midyear literacy screening and compared them to the data from the beginning-of-the-year literacy screening. The data revealed that the students who were grade-level readers at the beginning of the year showed very little growth in reading comprehension, and two-thirds of the emergent readers were ready to be placed with the grade-level readers. Which of the following strategies will best help accelerate the growth of the grade-level readers? A. Playing recordings of interesting stories that are above the students' reading level and discussing character development, plot, and theme B. Using guided reading groups to assign students texts at their independent reading level and asking them to complete comprehension questions C. Telling students to practice silent reading with texts at their instructional level and requiring them to journal about setting, conflict, and resolution D. Using guided reading groups to assign students texts at their frustration level and practicing the use of context clues to define new words

Option (A) is correct. Students typically have a listening vocabulary that is above their reading vocabulary. Listening to books that are at their interest level regardless of reading level, while they either follow along with the text or not, allows them access to much more than just decoding words. Students will be exposed to vocabulary they may not typically hear, which helps their receptive and expressive vocabulary. Additionally, listening to texts allows students to focus on the deeper levels of reading, such as making inferences, exploring character development, and discussing theme. Teachers can also use audiobooks as part of text sets that expose students to different genres and different types of styles.

Which of the following is the most effective strategy for building and extending students' vocabulary knowledge? A. Showing students how to use roots and affixes to determine meanings B. Asking students to use unfamiliar words in a sentence C. Asking students to look up the definitions of unfamiliar words to determine meanings D. Requiring students to memorize the spelling of unfamiliar words

Option (A) is correct. Teaching students word-analysis skills such as identifying roots and affixes can help them determine the meanings of unfamiliar words they encounter.

Mr. Krause's fourth-grade students are having difficulty answering text-dependent comprehension questions. He plans to use the question-answer relationship (QAR) strategy to help students comprehend the types of questions being asked. The QAR strategy supports students in A. distinguishing between textually explicit and textually implicit questions B. identifying the text structure presented in the questions asked C. determining whether the question requires an answer or is hypothetical D. using words directly from the question to formulate a complete response

Option (A) is correct. The QARQ A R strategy helps students determine whether the answer to a question can be found directly in the text (explicit) or whether the question is implied in the text (implicit). This knowledge helps the reader distinguish when to search the text for the answer and when to make an inference about the text.

A second-grade teacher guides students in using Elkonin boxes to write letters in boxes under pictures. Which of the following phonics concepts does the strategy best reinforce in the example shown? A. Vowel digraphs B. Schwa sounds C. Short vowels D. Consonant blends

Option (A) is correct. The cards show words that contain the vowel digraph /oa/.

A kindergarten teacher sets a benchmark goal for students to quickly recognize a set of ten new sight words within a three-week instructional time period. The teacher introduces the words by using flash cards and engages students in a series of activities that reinforce learning within authentic contexts. During this time, the teacher also creates a small-group workshop activity in which students view each word printed in large letters on a card, say the word, and then use pipe cleaners to form the word. Which of the following is the primary benefit to students of participating in the workshop activity? A. Improving long-term memory of a nondecodable word by engaging multiple student senses in learning B. Building a student's reading fluency by improving the ability to flexibly apply phonological awareness skills C. Increasing a student's ability to use several sensory modalities to phonetically decode and recognize an unknown word D. Reinforcing recognition of a word through a student's ability to connect visual language symbols with sounds that the symbols represent

Option (A) is correct. The workshop activity in which students view sight words printed on a card, pronounce them, and use pipe cleaners to form them involves the use of multiple sensory modalities to learn. Using visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic senses to reinforce learning during the activity supports long-term memory of the targeted vocabulary.

A fifth-grade teacher wants students to create semantic gradients like the ones below to expand their understanding of known vocabulary words. The teacher provides students with a children's thesaurus to help them complete the assignment. Which of the following is a major limitation of using only a thesaurus for this activity? A. The students may not be able to spell the words correctly. B. A thesaurus does not distinguish between shades of meaning. C. Students cannot distinguish between synonyms and antonyms. D. The thesaurus does not have a wide variety of words in it.

Option (B) is correct. A thesaurus lists synonyms for a given word. While these words generally are close in meaning, they may not be exact. A thesaurus does not delineate between shades, or degrees, of meaning. This means a dictionary needs to be used in conjunction with a thesaurus when dealing with shades of meaning, as in the activity shown.

During a phonics lesson, a third-grade teacher provides direct instruction to a small group of students on how to decode multisyllabic words by identifying the syllable types found within the word and applying the phonics rules that govern each. The beginning of the teacher's instructional sequence with students is shown below. Teacher:Listen and tell me what you hear that is the same in each of these words:" sudden," "velvet," "kitten," "napkin," "contest." Student:Each of these words has two syllables. Teacher:Correct. Do you hear anything else that is the same? Student:Each syllable in the words has a short vowel sound. Teacher:That's right. Now I'm going to show you the words on this chart. What do you notice? Student:Each syllable contains one vowel followed by a consonant. When continuing the discussion with students, the teacher should inform students that each of the words presented in the lesson contains which of the following syllable types? A. Vowel digraph syllable B. Closed syllable C. Final stable syllable D. Open syllable

Option (B) is correct. All the words in the list contain two syllables, each of which follows a CVC pattern. Words in the CVC pattern are known as closed syllables, and the vowel in each is a short vowel sound.

In order to develop students' spelling skills a teacher presents the following words to the class. Chin Shut Draw Rash Which of the following strategies best utilizes a multisensory and recursive approach to teaching the spelling of these words? A. Chanting a poem with the digraph sounds found in the words B. Using letter tiles to build previously learned CVC words along with the new words C. Completing a work sheet that matches pictures with the correct digraphs in the words D. Writing each new word and similar CVC words multiple times

Option (B) is correct. Building with letter tiles will involve listening as well as tactile investigation of the word. Additionally, by including previously taught CVC words, the practice becomes recursive, ensuring previously taught skills are not lost.

A kindergarten teacher prepares to use an interactive read-aloud to enhance students' vocabulary knowledge. Which of the following best describes a guideline the teacher should adhere to when selecting the vocabulary words the students will learn? A. Words that are abstract in meaning should be chosen, because they require more frequent exposure before students can conceptualize them. B. Words that are used multiple times should be chosen, because they provide students with repeated exposure in a meaningful context. C. Words that represent a variety of disparate themes should be chosen, because they help to broaden students' background knowledge. D. Words that are unique to an individual text should be chosen, because they are not likely to be seen elsewhere by students.

Option (B) is correct. By exposing the students to a limited number of core words repeated often and in varied contexts, the teacher increases the chance that the students will retain the meaning of the words.

A teacher focuses on the following skills while working with a group of students. Clarifying a purpose for reading Previewing a text before reading Monitoring understanding by adjusting reading speed Checking for understanding after reading a text The teacher is primarily developing students' ability to A. draw conclusions from information or clues they find in a text B. use metacognitive strategies to think about and have control over their reading C. activate background knowledge to help them understand what they are reading D. synthesize information in a text to explain what the text is about

Option (B) is correct. Clarifying the purpose for reading, previewing a text, and monitoring understanding all focus on developing metacognitive strategies.

A third-grade teacher's reading instruction includes sources from multiple content areas. During a science lesson, students are reading a trade book about plants; the book contains many new and difficult vocabulary words, such as "chlorophyll," "germinate," and "photosynthesis." Which of the following teaching activities will best help the students develop an understanding of the new words? A. Making lists of words from the science book to post on a word wall in the classroom B. Planning direct instruction using multimedia methods to introduce words in rich contexts C. Having students assume definitions for the new words and relate them to words they already know D. Giving the students Venn diagrams to sort the new vocabulary into well-defined categories

Option (B) is correct. Direct instruction is the best and most highly recommended method for helping students learn totally new Tier 3 words from specific content areas. The meanings of such words are well determined and consistent and can be illustrated using robust contexts and multimedia methods.

While explicitly and systematically teaching phonics to students, a teacher wants to ensure proper phonics maintenance. Which of the following strategies will best meet the teacher's goal? A. Highlighting examples of words in texts that introduce a new spelling pattern B. Using index cards to review previously taught sound-letter relationships C. Orally manipulating onsets and rimes in word families as a class D. Modeling how to break words apart into sounds with small groups

Option (B) is correct. For the teacher to ensure proper phonics maintenance, children must overlearn the relationships between sounds and letters. Reviewing these relationships repeatedly will help ensure the students remember.

At the beginning of the school year, second-grade teachers meet to collaborate on a comprehensive instructional plan to teach students the five-step writing process. The teachers set a goal of creating a systematic writing program that will result in students requiring less direct guidance and support while moving toward independence over the course of the year. In which of the following teaching models are students engaged in the writing process at the most independent level? A. A teacher and students talk and think aloud as they share in the task of creating a writing piece. B. A teacher observes as students apply their writing skills to produce a draft during the creation of a writing piece. C. A teacher thinks aloud while composing a writing piece and explaining the strategies that are being used. D. Students contribute ideas for a writing piece as the teacher transforms the thoughts into writing.

Option (B) is correct. Guided writing is the instructional model described. In guided writing, students write drafts independently. The teacher observes and guides students as they actively apply their learned writing skills in creating a writing piece.

Fourth-grade students are researching animals using informational texts. They complete the inquiry chart (I-chart) below to record what they find in various texts. Which of the following is the most important pedagogical reason for having students complete an I-chart? A. It enables students to evaluate the reliability of expository texts. B. It encourages students to build on their prior knowledge of a topic. C. It supports students' understanding of content vocabulary. D. It promotes students' understanding of expository text features.

Option (B) is correct. I-charts help students take what they already know about a topic and add to it as they examine multiple sources of information.

While reading a short passage from a realistic fiction story aloud to the class, a student reads the following sentence. "I didn't think what I had done was so bad, but my mother sure knows how to make a mountain out of a molehill." The teacher focuses the students' attention on the author's use of the phrase "to make a mountain out of a molehill" as an example of figurative language. Which of the following teacher actions is the most appropriate next step in helping students understand the phrase? A. Having students recall other texts in which an author has used other unique linguistic structures B. Asking students to decide whether the literal meaning of the phrase is the author's intended message C. Adding the phrase to a student-created poster of author's tools used to convey meaning by using language in interesting ways D. Requiring that students write explanations of their personal reactions to the author's purpose for selecting the phrase to convey meaning

Option (B) is correct. It is good practice to first have students discuss the literal meaning of a figurative language structure and then ask students to consider whether they think the author actually intended to convey a message through a literal interpretation.

Which of the following is a primary benefit of including mentor texts in an instructional program to develop students' writing abilities? A. Improving students' skill in applying standard English conventions in their own writing by focusing on an author's accuracy in written expression B. Showing examples that students can emulate of how an author communicates ideas through elements such as word choice, text structure, and point of view C. Allowing students to self-assess their writing pieces by using writing models to create rubrics that clearly describe elements of effective writing D. Encouraging students to progress through the steps in the writing process fluently and quickly by allowing them to use models that demonstrate the relationship between writing and oral language

Option (B) is correct. Mentor texts are pieces of literature that can be used in writing instruction as examples of high-quality writing. When reading a text to students, a teacher can focus on the language an author uses to convey thoughts and ideas, how he/she organizes the piece, and the way in which the author communicates point of view. Students can then learn from the author's model and incorporate similar techniques in their own writing.

After presenting a group writing assignment to students, a third-grade teacher plans to introduce technology to foster group collaboration. Which of the following uses of technology would best help the teacher meet this goal? A. Having the students take turns at a computer station B. Employing an online document-sharing service C. Setting up a group chat on a social-media platform D. Utilizing an online bulletin board

Option (B) is correct. Online document-sharing services, such as Google Docs, allow multiple people to work on the same living document.

Ms. Dorsey, a second-grade teacher, begins a lesson by reviewing the story grammar of conventional short fiction. She reminds students that most stories have a beginning that includes information about the setting and the main characters. Then an event introducing a goal or problem occurs, followed by a series of events in which the characters attempt to solve the problem. At the end of the story, the goal or problem is finally resolved. Which of the following best explains the teacher's rationale for instructing students in recognizing story grammar in fictional texts? A. To provide a framework that helps students to comprehend and retain story information B. To improve skill in noticing how character traits change over the course of a story C. To support interest and motivation to engage in wide, independent reading activities D. To use the understanding of repetition in fictional plot development to write an original story

Option (B) is correct. Online document-sharing services, such as Google Docs, allow multiple people to work on the same living document.

The data is based on a recent assessment of fourth-grade students reading a short passage. The teacher analyzes the data to identify areas most in need of improvement. Which of the following instructional strategies will best meet the needs of Molly, Marcy, and Don? A. Giving the students review activities and games to practice unknown words B. Pairing the students to read aloud and provide feedback to each other C. Providing the students with graphic organizers to use while reading D. Encouraging students to read more books at home for pleasure

Option (B) is correct. Paired partner is an instructional strategy that incorporates peer modeling. Peer modeling is when one partner reads a text that is slightly challenging while the other partner corrects errors and checks for understanding. It is most effective to pair students so that one partner is a slightly more skilled reader than the other. Partners take turns being the reader and listener. The more skilled reader reads first, modeling fluent reading for the listener. While following along, the listener is exposed to any difficult words and essentially rehearses the text before reading it aloud. The partners switch roles, and the new reader reads aloud the same text while the new listener provides feedback and checks for understanding. This strategy is an evidence-based practice that will improve fluency and comprehension for both struggling and fluent readers.

Which of the following is the ability to recognize that words in oral language are made up of a variety of sound units? A. Alphabetic knowledge B. Phonological awareness C. Letter knowledge D. Print awareness

Option (B) is correct. Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and identify the different sounds in words. Phonological awareness enables a student to grasp the concept that oral language can be broken down in many different ways, such as from sentences into words, from words into syllables, and from syllables into individual sounds.

A kindergarten teacher plans a lesson designed to give students guided practice in learning a phonological awareness skill. Having students participate in which of the following activities best meets the teacher's goal? A. Asking students to follow along as the teacher moves a finger from left to right while orally reading a line of text in a picture book B. Having students say the word "airplane" and then asking them to say it again without pronouncing "air" C. Distributing a set of plastic letters to students and having them use the manipulatives to form decodable words D. Cutting a student's name card into individual letters and modeling how to put the letters together to form the name

Option (B) is correct. Phonological awareness refers to a student's ability to identify and manipulate units of oral language. The ability to delete a syllable in a spoken word, such as saying "plane" when "air" is deleted from the word "airplane," is an example of a phonological-awareness skill.

A fifth-grade student applies metacognitive strategies learned during instruction while reading a novel of choice during free-reading time. While conferencing with the teacher about the novel, the student mentions that there are many unfamiliar vocabulary words in the text. Which of the following metacognitive strategies is best for the teacher to suggest when helping the student decipher unknown vocabulary? A. Making notes in the margins of the novel B. Using context clues and knowledge of affixes C. Completing a self-created graphic organizer while reading D. Going back to reread text for clarification

Option (B) is correct. Remembering to use context clues and knowledge of affixes is a metacognitive strategy for understanding unfamiliar vocabulary while reading.

After reading the passage, the teacher asks students to make an inference about what is shown by King George's description of himself in sentence 3 versus his perception of the American colonists in sentence 4. Which of the following methods initiated by the teacher will best help students make inferences? A. Discussing the value of the dialogue for providing information B. Examining the use of a simile to create comparisons C. Considering the inclusion of many of the capitalized words D. Analyzing the presence of hyperbole for dramatic effect

Option (B) is correct. The author uses similes to compare King George to a lion and the American colonists to lambs. The use of simile extends a step further when the readers must consider the difference between "strong and meek" and "lion and lamb. To effectively make inferences about sentences 3 and 4, students need to understand simile and its purpose.

During a small-group literacy workshop, a teacher reads a classic fairy tale aloud to students. While reading, the teacher stops to discuss how good readers adjust the pitch and volume of their voice, use punctuation cues to attend to proper phrasing, and read with natural expression. The teacher's instruction primarily emphasizes which of the following components of reading fluency? A. Accuracy B. Prosody C. Automaticity D. Rate

Option (B) is correct. The teacher uses a read-aloud activity to model for students the elements of prosodic oral reading fluency (adjusting pitch and volume, reading with appropriate phrasing, and reading with natural expression).

A teacher designs a lesson on black holes as part of a unit on the solar system. Before reading the following paragraphs to the students, the teacher underlines words that are likely to be unfamiliar to them. A black hole is a region in space where the pulling force of gravity is so strong that light is not able to escape. The strong gravity occurs because matter has been pressed into a tiny space. This compression can take place at the end of a star's life. Some black holes are a result of dying stars. Because no light can escape, black holes are invisible. However, space telescopes with special instruments can help find black holes. They can observe the behavior of material and stars that are very close to black holes. Which of the following instructional strategies is most appropriate to use to develop students' deep understanding of the meaning of the targeted underlined words? A. Having students refer to a dictionary or science Web site to locate the etymology of each underlined word, study it, and record it in a reading journal B. Having students create a visual organizer that displays a definition, synonyms and antonyms, examples and nonexamples, and one or two contextual uses for each underlined word C. Asking students to independently locate each underlined word in a reference source, write the definition of each word using their own words in a journal, and share personal findings with peers D. Asking students to add the underlined words to personal word banks in their journals, use each word in a sentence, and prepare note cards to use for periodic review and practice activities

Option (B) is correct. The technique described in the option is that of word mapping. Word maps encourage students to acquire a deep understanding of targeted vocabulary and the relationships of words to other words. Recording how a word is used in context is a cognitive strategy that supports recall of concepts that the words represent.

A teacher prepares two visuals to model the components of a particular type of writing. -A video clip of an advertisement featuring a well-known athlete as the spokesperson for a popular brand of shoe -A pamphlet for mobile phone insurance that features images of damaged and cracked mobile devices The visuals best facilitate instruction about which of the following types of writing? A. Narrative B. Persuasive C. Expository D. Descriptive

Option (B) is correct. The visuals chosen by the classroom teacher are similar in that they illustrate emotional appeals to an audience. Emotional appeals are most useful when a writer is trying to persuade an audience.

Which of the following phonemic manipulations is the most complex and is generally developed last by most students? A. Change the /m/ in "mouse" to /h/. B. Say "frame." Say it again without the /r/. C. What word is made when "bl" and "oom" are combined? D. Say "doughnut." Now say it again, but don't say "dough."

Option (B) is correct. This is an example of phoneme deletion of a medial letter in a blend, which is generally the last phonological-awareness skill developed. This skill is not typically mastered until around age 9.

A first-grade student struggles when reading words with long-vowel patterns. Which of the following strategies will best help the student master words such as "train," "fight," and "mow"? A. Identifying words with open syllables in an assigned piece of text B. Memorizing individual word patterns to decode new words C. Segmenting individual phonemes to decode new words D. Singing nursery rhymes that contain words with similar patterns

Option (B) is correct. When a student is struggling with long-vowel patterns, the best strategy for mastery is to memorize the patterns and then see which vowel sound (long or short) applies when sounding out words. Students must memorize sounds for these individual vowel patterns. Vowel patterns do not always involve two vowels; they can also consist of a vowel plus consonants, if this pattern has a consistent sound (e.g.for example, "-igh" almost always is pronounced long /i/; "-all" almost always is pronounced /all/). Also, some vowel patterns can have more than one sound. For example, "-ow" can be pronounced as long /o/ as in grow or "-ow" as in cow. For these patterns, students learn both sounds and, when decoding an unfamiliar word, they try both sounds to see which one makes a real word.

After reading the excerpt aloud to students, the teacher deduces that the students are struggling with understanding several unfamiliar vocabulary words. The teacher asks students to identify the top three most difficult words that they cannot define. The words are "rebellious," "regiments," and "traitor." Which of the following teaching methods best helps students learn the meaning of the words in the excerpt? A. Having students read the sentences aloud and look for context clues B. Advising students to look up the words on their electronic devices and create electronic flash cards C. Instructing students to refer to a list of common affixes that break the words into parts that they can define D. Dividing students into groups to study one assigned word and make a word map for classroom display

Option (C) is correct. All three of the listed words contain affixes (re-, bel-, -ious, regi-, -ments, and -or) that can help a reader who is unfamiliar with a whole word to decipher parts of its meaning. This strategy, in turn, helps the reader to guess accurately at the meaning of a word, even if it contains unfamiliar components.

A first-grade teacher wants to use an analytical approach to instruct students in phoneme-grapheme correspondence. Which of the following instructional scenarios is best for the teacher to use? A. Teaching the class one letter-sound relationship per week in order of the alphabet B. Assisting students with identifying an unfamiliar word as they read connected text by teaching a specific letter-sound relationship C. Presenting students with previously learned words to assist them in learning specific letter-sound relationships and patterns D. Teaching students individual letter-sound relationships and then blending the sounds together to form a recognizable word

Option (C) is correct. Analytic phonics refers to an instructional program in which students learn to decode starting at the word level (i.e., analyzing a known word to determine its specific letter-sound relationships [spelling patterns]). In this method of teaching phonics, students do not pronounce sounds in isolation.

Which of the following reading skills is the most important prerequisite to understanding an author's purpose? A. Creating mental images while reading B. Eliminating unnecessary information C. Distinguishing between facts and opinions D. Making personal connections to the text

Option (C) is correct. Distinguishing between facts, which are used to inform, and opinions, which are used to persuade, is the most useful prerequisite skill to possess if one is to identify and understand an author's purpose.

A teacher begins a new unit on writing a persuasive letter. Which of the following instructional methods is best for the teacher to use during the planning stage? A. Providing students with a predetermined list of topic options B. Pairing students to share sentences orally before writing them C. Helping students determine appropriate goals for their letters D. Presenting a checklist to students for evaluating their letters

Option (C) is correct. Goal-setting is important when brainstorming as well as during the writing process. It allows the student authors to use self-questioning techniques to determine whether their writing is matching their goals.

While assessing students' reading ability, a teacher notices that many students struggle with words like "enough," "sign," "night," "through," and "was." Which of the following instructional strategies has the greatest impact on building students' automatic recognition of such words? A. Using an interactive whiteboard to show each word for students to copy into a journal B. Providing activity sheets with each word for students to trace in pencil or crayon C. Using an activity in which students read each word aloud, build each word with plastic letters, and write each word D. Providing each word on a card for students, placing the cards on a ring, and having students practice the words independently

Option (C) is correct. It includes three sensory pathways (auditory, visual, and tactile) and will have the greatest impact on students' automatic recognition of nondecodable words.

A teacher notices that a student reads fluently but struggles to understand the text afterward. Which of the following strategies is best for the teacher to implement to help increase the student's understanding? A. Lowering the readability level of text the student is reading B. Limiting comprehension questions about the text to literal questions C. Encouraging the student to think about connections with the text D. Requiring the student to do increased time trials of short passages of text

Option (C) is correct. Metacognition strategies include making connections that help the student increase comprehension of the text.

When planning instruction to support students' reading development, a third-grade teacher includes the following activities. -Engaging students in reader's theater -Requiring students to participate in repeated readings -Modeling fluent reading of various genres -Providing opportunities for independent reading By engaging students in the activities listed, the teacher best demonstrates an understanding of which of the following principles related to growth in literacy? A. A reader's ability to consistently process all genres of text at a rapid rate results in deeper comprehension of complex ideas. B. A reader's participation in oral reading activities with peers promotes the reader's interest in wide reading of complex texts. C. A reader who can fluently and automatically decode words can give full attention to comprehending a written text. D. A reader's exposure to texts in various genres allows the reader to absorb linguistic differences in authors' writing styles.

Option (C) is correct. Research has shown that a reader's fluency level is highly correlated with the reader's ability to comprehend text. To become a proficient reader, a student needs to be able to decode automatically and use mental energy to think about the meaning of a text.

Which of the following should a teacher do to best help students who are revising their own writing? A. Give the students a minilesson on how to identify errors in subject-verb agreement. B. Identify grammatical errors in the students' writing that need correction. C. Recommend that students elaborate and use words to make images more specific. D. Require students to use dependent clauses to make simple sentences more elaborate.

Option (C) is correct. Revision is the ongoing process of improving the content of a piece of writing. Writing can be improved through the elaboration of ideas with the addition of details to paint a specific image in the reader's mind.

Which of the following strategies is most likely to be effective in motivating elementary students to read independently in school? A. Reminding students that reading is crucial to being successful in the future B. Providing extrinsic rewards such as free time when students read more C. Allowing students to choose texts about topics that interest them D. Engaging students in critical thinking activities during guided reading

Option (C) is correct. Several research studies indicate that allowing elementary students to choose texts related to their interests is a major factor in motivating them to read independently.

A preschool teacher works with a small group of students in a center and asks them to walk around the room to find and name groups of five objects or pictures that begin with the same sound. Students first find a bat, a ball, a box, a boat, and a bug. Then they identify a chair, a chart, a chain, a chick, and a cherry. Which of the following early literacy concepts is best supported by the instructional activity? A. Distinguishing letter-sound correspondence in printed words B. Locating the onset and rime of words commonly used in class C. Developing phonological awareness by recognizing alliteration D. Building vocabulary based on items that are accessible in class

Option (C) is correct. Students naming familiar objects that start with the same sound are engaged in an alliteration activity that is preliminary to understanding that sounds are assigned to specific letters of the alphabet.

Which of the following instructional strategies is best for a first-grade teacher to use with emergent readers? A. Teaching a minilesson on a specific skill and asking students to complete independent practice of that skill B. Demonstrating two or three reading objectives in one lesson and facilitating guided practice for each of the objectives C. Designing a series of lessons with one reading objective and providing modeling, think-alouds, and guided practice of the objective D. Providing students with time to read independently and helping them select books with proper leveling, content, and interest factors

Option (C) is correct. Students who are emergent readers in first grade are still struggling with concepts of print, phonemic awareness, and decoding. These students need extensive practice with these skills and need targeted instruction in the areas in which they are struggling.

A teacher selects words from a storybook and places them in a pocket attached to the back cover. The student removes all the familiar words from the pocket and attempts to find the remaining words within the text of the story. Which of the following is the instructional purpose of the activity? A. Enhancing reading fluency B. Developing phonemic awareness C. Building sight word vocabulary D. Recognizing initial consonants in words

Option (C) is correct. The activity is intended to increase the student's bank of sight words by matching unknown words to their counterparts in the text.

The table shown represents data gathered by a classroom teacher after administering diagnostic reading assessments to a second-grade class over the course of the school year. Shown are the data for a specific student as well as the class averages. Which of the following instructional supports is best justified by the data shown? A. Enhancing self-monitoring strategies B. Strengthening vocabulary development C. Developing greater reading fluency D. Increasing text comprehension

Option (C) is correct. The data in the running record indicate that, compared to the grade-level average, the student is underperforming over time in the area of words read per minute. As words read per minute is one component of reading fluency, instruction designed to enhance that area is most indicated.

A kindergarten teacher uses bright-colored chalk to write individual letters on sheets of black construction paper. Students take turns pointing a flashlight at and naming the letter on each sheet. Which of the following instructional objectives does the activity target? A. Improving phonological awareness skills B. Building understanding that words are made by sequencing letters C. Supporting learning of the alphabetic principle D. Reinforcing knowledge of using phonics as a decoding strategy

Option (C) is correct. The flashlight activity is an engaging way to practice quick and accurate letter identification. A student's knowledge of letter names and shapes is a strong predictor of success in learning to read.

Which of the following literacy activities best demonstrates a first-grade student applying the literacy principle of decoding and encoding as reciprocal skills? A. Writing teacher-dictated sentences that include words in the CVCV pattern following instruction and word-sort activities using the pattern B. Reading a story about a little boy's family pet and recording a spontaneous retelling of the tale for classmates to listen to as a literacy workshop activity C. Attending closely as a teacher reads a picture book aloud and provides instruction in the various components of print literacy skills D. Reading a short fictional story independently and creating a story map through a series of drawings that illustrate major story elements

Option (A) is correct. During the instructional activity, the student learns to read and decode words containing the CVCV spelling pattern and applies the skill to word-sort activities. Then the student encodes words with the CVCV pattern by writing teacher-dictated sentences containing CVCV words.

A first-grade teacher notices during guided reading that a student has difficulty decoding words such as "ran," "pet," "him," and "hot." Which of the following is the most appropriate way for the teacher to confirm the student's difficulty? A. Administering a phonemic-awareness assessment in which the student breaks spoken words into individual phonemes B. Choosing an appropriate passage for the student to read aloud and noting how many words the student can read in 1 minute C. Checking for understanding by asking explicit questions after the student has completed reading a grade-level passage D. Presenting a list of grade-level high-frequency words for the student to read aloud

Option (A) is correct. From the words given, the student has difficulty with short-vowel sounds. Administering a phonemic-awareness assessment will yield information the teacher needs to address the student's difficulty with phonemic segmentation.

A third-grade student recently qualified for gifted services. The student typically receives perfect or near-perfect scores on classroom work and writing assignments and does not need to study or prepare in advance for comprehensive examinations. Which of the following is most important when assessing the student? A. Modifying assessments for the student so as to increase their rigor B. Involving the student in devising any assessment to be given C. Exempting the student from taking assessments in favor of independent study D. Placing the student in an alternate location during assessments to reduce testing time

Option (A) is correct. Gifted students need the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge of curricular concepts at a higher level than that of typically developing students. Modified assessments enable the student to demonstrate advanced concept attainment through challenging questioning and prompts.

Students in a fifth-grade class are working on writing personal narratives. After examining their first drafts, the teacher realizes the students need additional scaffolding to be successful. Which of the following instructional methods will best help students develop their personal narratives? A. Giving students a list of lively, descriptive, emotional, and precise words to consider using B. Reminding students that varying sentence structure makes writing more interesting C. Providing students with a review and checklist for how to write effective thesis statements D. Encouraging students to support key details with logic, facts, and quantifiable evidence

Option (A) is correct. Having a list of expressive words to draw on helps beginning writers develop their narrative in greater detail.

The instructional strategy list-group-label is most effective for teaching which of the following? A. Vocabulary B. Phonics skills C. Concepts D. Phonological awareness

Option (A) is correct. List-group-label is a vocabulary strategy that has students sort and categorize words, allowing them to connect words and make them more meaningful.

Which of the following statements about the correlation between phonemic awareness and reading development is best supported by research? A. Students' reading skills advance as students develop greater phonemic awareness. B. Weak phonemic awareness has virtually no impact on reading skills after the third grade. C. Students with weak phonemic awareness often acquire strong decoding skills to compensate. D. Poor reading skills in the later grades are solely the result of weak phonemic awareness in the early grades.

Option (A) is correct. Phonemic awareness and reading skills are reciprocal in nature. As phonemic awareness develops, reading skills improve. Likewise, a student with poor phonemic awareness is at high risk of becoming a struggling reader.

A fourth-grade teacher uses a variety of personal narrative writing samples as models to provide instruction in the characteristics of the genre. Following the instruction and a review of steps in the writing process, the teacher assigns a project in which students are asked to write personal narrative stories. Jennifer, a student, begins the process of writing a personal narrative to share with peers about an adventure that happened during a recent family camping trip. She uses a story-map organizer as a prewriting strategy to focus on the basic elements of the genre as they relate to the experience. Jennifer then uses the information in the graphic organizer to write a draft. Next, she begins the revision step in the writing process and while rereading the draft pauses to consider her audience. Through reflection on her work, Jennifer decides to return to the graphic organizer to add more vivid language and details to make the writing piece more exciting to classmates. Jennifer's actions best demonstrate an understanding of which of the following essential components of effective writing? A. Maintaining a focus that the purpose of writing is to inform an audience about a chosen topic of inquiry B. Having adequate background knowledge on a subject to be able to work through the writing process independently C. Patterning personal writing pieces on ideas in exemplary texts that show varied linguistic structures to make writing interesting D. Being flexible and moving recursively through the stages of the writing process to best meet targeted goals

Option (C) is correct. The teacher uses the work sheet to provide instruction in the writing mechanics skill of understanding a variety of different sentence types that students can use in their writing pieces. Students learn that moving from writing only simple sentences to more complex and interesting sentences improves the quality of their writing pieces.

A group of students have an accuracy rate of 94%94 percent and above on a recent running record. Which of the following activities will best help improve the development of the students' reading skills? A. Continuing to read books at the current level because students are succeeding B. Reading familiar books with a partner of a lower reading level C. Reading books at the next level with teacher support D. Listening independently to audiobooks from the next level

Option (C) is correct. The teacher wants to boost student development, not stagnate development or overwhelm students like the other options suggest. The student would need the teacher's support when moving to the next level, as some problems may arise if he/she is no longer in the independent level.

A teacher selects both fiction and nonfiction texts that all students in a guided reading group can read independently with 95 percent accuracy. The teacher instructs the students to read the texts aloud together chorally four times over a period of time. Which of the following changes to the activity best facilitates reading fluency? A. Including only texts that students can read with 100 percent accuracy B. Choosing either all fiction or all nonfiction texts C. Modeling how to read the selected texts before asking the students to read them D. Introducing key vocabulary words before having students read the texts

Option (C) is correct. The weakness in the teacher's plan is the lack of modeling to enable students to hear fluent oral reading.

A kindergarten teacher is helping students develop concepts about print. The teacher can best achieve the goal by using which of the following approaches? A. Helping students understand that a new word is formed when adding certain sounds to the beginning of a familiar word B. Having students identify a missing word in a familiar text when only one vowel in the word is provided C. Asking students questions about the number of words in a sentence and where a sentence begins and ends in a paragraph D. Creating word-family charts so that students can see that words look alike when their endings sound alike

Option (C) is correct. To become readers, students need to understand how the components of text such as words, spaces, sentences, and paragraphs work together to communicate meaning. To answer the teacher's question, the students must know what a sentence is and where it begins and ends in a paragraph.

A kindergarten teacher assesses students' understanding of concepts of print at the beginning of the year. Based on the data, which of the following instructional methods will best promote the student's understanding of print conventions? A. Teaching letter-sound relationships explicitly and in isolation B. Activating the student's background knowledge of concepts that are important to the content of the text C. Using a finger to draw attention to letters and words in the text during a shared reading D. Previewing the text to make predictions about its content before a shared reading

Option (C) is correct. Using a finger draws the student's attention to letters, words, and punctuation and promotes student understanding of directionality.

A primary purpose of a criterion-referenced reading benchmark is to A. identify a student's level of mastery of a curriculum-based skill as beginning, developing, or proficient B. compare a student's mastery of a specific skill to that of peers who have previously taken the same assessment C. evaluate student skill mastery by reporting performance with raw scores, percentile ranking, and grade equivalents D. set the standards for student skill mastery along with a time frame indicating when the level of mastery should be achieved

Option (D) is correct. A benchmark identifies criteria that are set to show a student has mastered a particular reading skill. Often a time period for assessing the level of skill mastery is established as part of the process of evaluation.

A teacher scores student writing samples using criteria that define expectations for different levels of proficiency. Which of the following tools is the teacher most likely using? A. Anecdotal notes B. Checklist C. Scoring guide D. Rubric

Option (D) is correct. A rubric gives specific descriptions on a scale to demonstrate what is expected for the task

The following sentence appears in a nonfiction book that fourth-grade students are reading in class. Unfamiliar words selected by students are underlined in the excerpt. The duck-billed platypus is a peculiar animal in that its snout, which does not look like a nose, helps it recognize sources of food. Which of the following instructional methods will best help students understand and retain the meaning of the new words? A. Asking students to look up the definitions of the words and write them in their reading journals B. Helping students find easily understood synonyms for each word and write them in place of the new vocabulary C. Advising students to examine the use of each word in context and narrow connotations for the words to a singular context D. Discussing each new word by asking students probing questions that require the students to support their answers with reasoning

Option (D) is correct. Asking students a question using each vocabulary word and requiring them to support their answers with reasoning during discussion helps the teacher determine whether the students understand the meaning of the words and can justify their thoughts related to it.

A fifth-grade teacher has students self-select topics of interest for a research report related to a social studies unit. Before students begin the report, the teacher conducts a series of lessons on how students can appropriately use multiple print and electronic resources to gather information. Then the teacher reviews the steps of the writing process with students before directing them to begin working on the report. Which of the following student actions best demonstrates to the teacher that students have a grasp of the recursive nature of the writing process while they are working on the report? A. Following the outline generated in the prewriting stage during the drafting and revision process in order to make the task of writing easier B. Evaluating the organization of the report to determine whether the transitions move readers smoothly from one subtopic to another C. Recognizing during the drafting stage that adequate content related to a prewriting subtopic is unavailable and eliminating that content from the report D. Using a tool such as a checklist during each stage of the writing process to self-evaluate the inclusion of necessary elements in effective expository text

Option (D) is correct. Asking students to use a self-evaluation checklist as they progress through the steps of the writing process is an effective instructional practice. The tool is useful and purposeful in helping students engage in writing as a recursive as opposed to a linear process during which they may well come up with new ideas and directions.

As part of a social studies unit on the American Revolution, a sixth-grade teacher plans to prepare students to read a short historical nonfiction novel about the Boston Tea Party. Which of the following prereading strategies will best assist the teacher in building students' background knowledge and improving their general understanding of the topic? A. Providing time for students to skim the text and create a list of new vocabulary words and ideas that the author discusses B. Encouraging students to look at the illustrations in the text and discuss with a partner what they see in the images C. Presenting a list of statements about the topic and having students indicate whether they agree or disagree with each one D. Having students visit approved Web sites before reading the text to view video clips and primary documents related to the topic

Option (D) is correct. By having the students use approved Web sites to engage in virtual experiences related to the Boston Tea Party before they read the novel, the teacher is helping the students to build background knowledge about the subject. The information on carefully chosen Web sites can deepen students' comprehension of any subject.

A kindergarten teacher introduces phonics concepts to students early in the school year and works on explicitly teaching short vowel sounds and consonant sounds. Which of the following activities best helps students work on the described phonics concept? A. Sorting one-syllable words that are closed and not closed B. Using letter tiles to practice vowel digraphs C. Highlighting words with CVCEC V C E patterns in a passage D. Teaching word families that follow CVC patterns

Option (D) is correct. CVC word families contain short vowel sounds and are the easiest to learn.

A teacher gives students strips of paper like the ones shown in the figure. The teacher asks the students to add different letters to the front of the letter patterns to create as many words as they can. The activity best develops students' understanding of which of the following? A. Consonant digraphs B. Schwa sounds C. Syllable types D. Word families

Option (D) is correct. Changing the beginning (onset) of words creates rhyming words, which constitute word families.

Ms. Jones introduces visualizing as a comprehension skill to her first-grade students using a short passage of text. Which of the following strategies illustrates how to best introduce the skill? A. Allowing the students to read the passage independently and draw an illustration to match it B. Assigning partners to illustrate the passage that is read aloud by the teacher C. Demonstrating how to summarize the passage using a story map with pictures D. Explaining the process in detail and modeling it by thinking aloud while reading the passage

Option (D) is correct. Comprehension skills must be taught explicitly to ensure proper understanding prior to encouraging independent use of the skill.

Which of the following statements about the relationship between reading and writing development is best supported by research? A. Both reading and writing are markedly similar with regard to activity, strategy, and purpose. B. Reading and writing are innate skills for which the human brain is naturally wired. C. Developing readers and writers proceed through the same stages to reach proficiency. D. The skills of decoding in reading and encoding in writing reflect similar learning.

Option (D) is correct. Decoding in reading is when written words are translated into spoken words, and encoding in writing is the reverse process of translating sounds into written words, which reflects similar learning.

A kindergarten teacher prepares to use an interactive read-aloud to enhance students' vocabulary knowledge. Which of the following best describes a guideline the teacher should adhere to when selecting the vocabulary words the students will learn? A. Words that are abstract in meaning should be chosen, because they require more frequent exposure before students can conceptualize them. B. Words that are used multiple times should be chosen, because they provide students with repeated exposure in a meaningful context. C. Words that represent a variety of disparate themes should be chosen, because they help to broaden students' background knowledge. D. Words that are unique to an individual text should be chosen, because they are not likely to be seen elsewhere by students.

Option (D) is correct. Jennifer's actions in the scenario indicate that she has completed the prewriting and drafting stages in the writing process. However, during the revision stage she stops to reflect on the audience for her writing. She realizes more details and vivid language need to be added to her piece, so she returns to the prewriting stage to make the piece more exciting and interesting to her peers. By not continuing on with her writing in a linear fashion, Jennifer's actions provide evidence that she is flexible and understands the recursive nature of the writing process.

The two best predictors of a beginning reader's future reading success are alphabetic knowledge and the development of A. phonics skills B. reading fluency C. sight word recognition D. phonemic awareness

Option (D) is correct. Phonemic awareness is the precursor of the mastery of phonics. Research supports that phonemic awareness, along with alphabetic knowledge, are the two strongest early predictors of future reading success.

A teacher laminates pictures of book covers for several favorite read-aloud stories and places them in the retelling center. Student A chooses a cover and, without showing it to Student B, describes the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Student B guesses which story Student A is describing. The activity is best suited to reinforce which of the following literacy skills? A. Developing oral reading fluency B. Conveying a point of view C. Visualizing a book's story elements D. Interpreting a communicated message

Option (D) is correct. The activity described requires Student B to be an active listener by receiving the message Student A communicates, understanding the words Student A uses, and responding with an appropriate book title.

The teacher gives the student and assignment to annotate the text while reading it a second time. One of the students, Logan, annotates a portion of the text as shown. (9) How could a few colonies hold out against a powerful empire? (10) He'd just send a few more The primary purpose for Logan's annotation of the text is to A. make a personal connection to the king as portrayed in the story B. help develop mental visual imagery of life during the American Revolution C. prepare for an exam with questions about the major story elements D. connect reading and writing by considering examples of characterization

Option (D) is correct. The annotation shown delves into the character of King George and his thoughts and feelings about the American Revolution. He was blinded by his own confidence, and this became his undoing

A first-grade teacher informally assesses students' reading skills by periodically conducting running records. The teacher measures individual student progress in reading rate, word-recognition accuracy, and comprehension of fictional text. Results from a running record are given in the following chart. Which of the following actions can the teacher take to best use the data to guide instruction? A. Holding a conference with each student to provide immediate feedback regarding performance in the assessed literacy areas B. Creating small groups of students with mixed abilities to engage in hands-on activities that reinforce recently introduced literacy skills C. Providing whole-class direct instruction in recognized areas of weakness by using alternate teaching strategies to improve student skill mastery D. Organizing flexible groups comprising students with similar strengths and weaknesses to reteach or enrich targeted skills

Option (D) is correct. The purpose of forming homogeneous flexible groups based on formative assessments is to structure lessons in a way that provides targeted instruction in supportive small-group settings. Such a setting allows students to practice skills they need to learn and enriches students who are proficient in the assessed areas. Reteaching and reinforcement give students an additional opportunity to succeed.

During a whole-class literacy lesson, a third-grade teacher uses an electronic whiteboard to display the paragraph below. The teacher uses the format of the passage to conduct a think-aloud strategy that supports students' comprehension of informational writing within the context of viewing and analyzing an authentic text. The teacher's instruction primarily models for students that comprehension improves when a reader A. is familiar with identifying an author's purpose in conveying information in a wide variety of literary genres B. analyzes the degree to which transition words and phrases are repeated in a text to achieve coherency C. can evaluate the degree to which the vocabulary an author selects communicates new ideas in a clear, concise manner D. has knowledge of organizational patterns and cue words found in various fiction and nonfiction text structures

Option (D) is correct. The teacher in the scenario uses the think-aloud technique to provide instruction on cause and effect as a text structure in informational writing. The structure of the sentences in the paragraph, the use of specific cue words, and the content of the passage are all components of cause and effect writing structures. By having students participate in the lesson, the teacher shows an understanding of the importance of students' knowledge of various text structures as a support to reading comprehension.

Ms. Kirkpatrick, a fifth-grade teacher, writes the following sentences on the whiteboard. While walking through the woods, I saw a vixen and her six pups. I was amazed at the beauty of the red pelt that covered her body. The teacher begins a lesson on ways to determine the meaning of the unknown underlined word in the sentence by sharing ideas aloud with students while mentally processing information the author provides. Ms. Kirkpatrick then writes her thoughts on the board, indicating that what the unknown word describes must be an animal, a female, and have red fur. The teacher's instructional strategy helps students to develop word knowledge by figuring out the meaning of an unknown word using primarily which of the following types of context clues? A. Giving information about word meaning by using signal words that show contrast to the unknown word B. Looking for other words or phrases that define an unknown word directly and clearly in the sentence in which it appears C. Restating a word's meaning by using other terms in a sentence with similar meanings to the unknown word's meaning D. Unlocking a word's meaning that is not directly described but needs to be inferred based on information given by an author

Option (D) is correct. The teacher models the thinking process involved in using context clues to determine an unknown word's meaning by inferring a definition through looking for clues the author gives that do not directly define the word.

A teacher reviews the following student scores on a standardized reading test with the goal of determining the areas in which the student will require additional instruction. -75th percentile in vocabulary knowledge -85th percentile in decoding -40th percentile in comprehension -70th percentile in fluency Based on the data, which of the following activities best addresses the student's needs? A. Reviewing high-frequency words B. Identifying context clues in sentences C. Listening to an audio version of the text D. Using a plot chart to track the events in a story

Option (D) is correct. The test scores show that the student is weak in comprehension. Understanding text structures such as the plot will aid the student's comprehension of texts.

While conducting a think-aloud to demonstrate a word-learning skill for use in decoding multisyllabic words, the teacher states, "I look for parts of the word I know." By using this technique, the teacher provides instruction that focuses primarily on A. phonics B. knowledge of cognates C. etymology D. structural analysis

Option (D) is correct. The use of structural analysis as a decoding skill involves looking for graphic features such as prefixes, suffixes, and root words.

A teacher who is working with students on decoding multisyllabic words in text writes the following words on an anchor chart after students encounter them in their readings for the week. Which of the following activities will best help the students divide the words into syllables? A. Marking off syllables by using a dot between vowels and consonants B. Examining long-vowel sounds in the words with a stable-final syllable C. Identifying stressed and unstressed vowels in each of the words D. Breaking up closed-syllable words based on consonant splitting

Option (D) is correct. The words in the list are words with closed syllables and the rule for splitting words with closed syllables is to split them between the double consonants.

To address the fluency difficulties faced by students in a guided reading group, the teacher decides to implement readers' theater lessons. Which of the following instructional steps will best support the students' improvement of reading fluency? A. Permitting the students to work as a group to select a text based on their collaborative interests B. Assigning each student a character part prior to reading the text as a group C. Modeling the reading of three possible texts for students to decide on one D. Asking students to read the text independently and orally before choosing character parts

Option (D) is correct. This is an essential step in the process of readers' theater. It provides students with time to develop familiarity, practice, and ownership that supports their growth in reading with fluency.

Criteria such as timeliness of information, professional affiliation, bias, and domain suffixes all relate to which of the following factors? A. Considering ethical issues that may arise when designing assessments B. Respecting cultural knowledge and prior learner experiences when designing instruction C. Tailoring content, process, products, and learning environment to meet individual learner needs D. Evaluating and selecting reference materials for student use in classroom research

Option (D) is correct. Timeliness of information, professional affiliation, bias, and domain suffixes are considerations for evaluating and selecting classroom reference materials.

A first-grade teacher works with small groups of students to teach them how to develop their writing skills. Which of the following methods best fosters the students' ability to use correct mechanics, such as punctuation and capitalization, in their own writing? A. Assigning work sheets from a workbook to complete B. Having students copy rules in their copybooks for reference C. Emphasizing pauses indicated by punctuation during read-alouds D. Using mentor texts to encourage imitation of effective writing

Option (D) is correct. When first-grade students are asked to imitate sentence structures with well-placed punctuation found in mentor texts, they build vocabulary and mechanics and develop a sense of how to communicate with an audience.

When using a newspaper article for a shared reading activity, no students in the class can explain the meaning of the word "absence" in the following passage. Sam was chosen because he is considered the best investigator of mechanical failures. The bridge collapsed overnight, yet the video shows no people, animals, or warnings of a problem. Sam read the report twice, yet he still could not overcome the absence of cause and gain a clear understanding about the factors that explained the disaster. Based on the passage, which of the following teacher-directed questions is most appropriate for students learning to identify the meaning of unknown words? A. Which definition in the dictionary explains the meaning of the word "absence"? B. Was Sam confused because there were no people or animals near the bridge? C. How would you use the word "absence" in a sentence? D. Do the surrounding words offer a clue about the meaning of the word "absence"?

Option (D) is correct. When readers attempt to decipher the meaning of a new word, it is often useful to look at what comes before and after that word. The surrounding words can give readers helpful context clues about the meaning and structure of the new word, as well as how it is used.

Which of the following instructional techniques is most effective in teaching students the phonemic awareness skill of segmentation? A. Having students identify the odd sound in a sequence of three or four spoken words B. Saying a sequence of individual sounds and asking students to combine them to form a word C. Asking students to recognize the common sound in a set of three one-syllable words D. Pronouncing a word and having students position plastic counters in a row to represent each sound

Option (D) is correct. When students are asked to identify the number of individual sounds (phonemes) in a spoken word, they are practicing the phonemic awareness skill of segmentation.

A fourth-grade teacher intends to use student performance data to guide lesson planning for small-group reading and remediation of specific skills. Which THREE of the following actions are most appropriate for using the data to inform instruction? A. Analyzing data prior to adjustment of instructional goals and delivery B. Analyzing data after the adjustment of instructional goals and delivery C. Analyzing data to determine summative descriptions of performance D. Analyzing data to determine formative descriptions of performance E. Analyzing data to determine norm-referenced descriptions of performance

Options (A), (B), and (D) are correct. Analyzing data before adjusting instruction is the second part of the cycle of using data to inform instruction. Analyzing data after adjusting instruction is the third part of the cycle of using data to inform instruction. Analyzing data to determine formative descriptions of performance is diagnostic and intended to guide instruction.

A fourth-grade teacher works with a small group of students who decode well but demonstrate poor comprehension. Through various informal assessments, the teacher determines that the students do not effectively apply knowledge of prefixes, suffixes, roots, and bases when words change form, and therefore students often lack understanding of academic text. Which THREE of the following activities best help students improve morphological analysis for better reading comprehension? A. Combining word parts written on cards to form new words B. Making lists of words with similar affixes in a vocabulary notebook C. Completing a cloze by using a bank of word parts to fill in blanks in sentences D. Examining word affixes and roots on semantic map posters E. Studying words with common bases and roots for a spelling quiz

Options (A), (C), and (D) are correct. The act of physically manipulating word parts to form longer words requires students to think about where the word part naturally occurs across multiple contexts (beginning, middle, or end) and to put it in places that create meaningful words. Completing a cloze activity using a bank of word parts requires students to think about what words are required to complete each sentence while also providing them support to construct the words. By mapping out unfamiliar words on poster-sized paper, students are breaking words into parts and analyzing their meanings. The poster remains behind as a visual reminder of what was discovered while deconstructing the word and can help in deconstructing future words with similar affixes/bases/roots.

Place the following oral language milestones in the order in which they are developed, earliest to latest. A. Responding to simple questions with a "yes" or "no" B. Using content-related vocabulary correctly during conversations C. Making an oral presentation that is appropriate for the given audience D. Answering questions using complete sentences and a variety of sentence structures

Options (A), (D), (B), and (C) are correct. The question is asking about the sequence of oral language development. Children's speech becomes more advanced as they develop and begin answering questions with yes or no and later use complete sentences. As children grow, their content-related vocabulary increases and emerges in conversations.

Below are various problems students encounter when self-selecting texts. Match each strategy a teacher can use to best solve each student's problem. The student selects a text that has too high a reading level. The student chooses the same book repeatedly. The student is overwhelmed with selecting a text. The student no longer enjoys a book he or she has been reading. A. Encourage the student to select a book by a favorite author or topic. B. Suggest the student read the book using paired reading with a parent. C. Ask the student about his or her interests and explain how the books are organized in the library. D. Provide several book choices and encourage the student to determine the readability of a text before making a selection.

Options (B), (A), (C), and (D) are correct. To best encourage and motivate students' reading, the teacher should encourage a student to select a book by a favorite author or topic when they are reading a book repeatedly. A student will reread a book they enjoyed and will most likely enjoy other books by the same author. When a student selects a text that is above his or her reading level, the teacher should suggest the student read the book using paired reading with a parent to effectively encourage and motivate the student to read their selected book. When a student is overwhelmed by all the choices in the library, a teacher should help narrow the student's focus by asking about their interests and helping the student find a book according to how the library is laid out. This will help the student be able to make a similar selection independently in the future. If a student no longer has interest in a book they selected, the teacher should provide a few options for the student to choose from within his or her reading ability to encourage the student to continue to read. Any other order is incorrect because the strategies would not appropriately solve the students' issue when making a selection for independent reading.

A teacher recognizes that organizing a class word wall by syllable type will help provide an ongoing visual reference for students during both direct instruction and independent writing activities. To incorporate this resource with content-based instruction, the teacher uses the word wall during a unit that focuses on geography. Place each word next to the syllable type that it best exemplifies. r-controlled vowel-consonant-e closed-syllable vowel-team A. inlet B. harbor C. stream D. lake

Options (B), (D), (A), and (C) are correct. "Harbor" is an example of a word that uses an r-controlled vowel. "Lake" is an example of a word that contains a vowel-consonant-e. "Inlet" is an example of a word that has a closed syllable. "Stream" is an example of a word that uses a vowel team.

A third-grade teacher notices that many students in class exhibit poor reading fluency when asked to read sentences or longer passages aloud and plans to incorporate activities to support fluent reading behaviors. Which THREE of the following activities best accomplish the teacher's objective? A. Encouraging students to record events from a story while they read B. Engaging in choral reading as a class for a page of text C. Asking questions during and after reading a familiar text D. Modeling one sentence at a time aloud for students to imitate E. Providing students with a script to practice and read orally in front of their peers

Options (B), (D), and (E) are correct. Choral reading is a literacy technique that helps students build their fluency, self-confidence, and motivation in reading. During choral reading, a group of students or an individual student reads a passage aloud, with or without a teacher. Echoing is an effective method to learn to read with greater expression, phrasing, and prosody. It incorporates modeling with an action that students must do themselves. Readers' theater is an oral performance of a script, it is one of the best ways to promote fluency.

Place each description beside the spelling stage it best exemplifies. Stage 1: Emergent spelling Stage 2: Letter name-alphabetic spelling Stage 3: Within-word pattern spelling Stage 4: Syllables and affixes spelling A. Using inflectional endings, changing spellings when needed B. Writing words with long vowel patterns and r-controlled vowels C. Writing the beginning and ending consonant sounds of words D. Drawing random capital or lowercase letters, numbers, or other symbols

Options (D), (C), (B), (A) are correct. This is the correct sequence because spelling skills are developed through stages. In the emergent stage, children draw random letters/numbers/symbols to represent words. In the letter name-alphabetic spelling stage, students learn to connect letters to phonemes, beginning with consonant sounds and then short vowels, to write CVC words. In the within-word pattern spelling stage, students learn to write words with long vowel patterns, blends and digraphs, and r-controlled vowels. In the syllables and affixes spelling stage, students become adept at writing more difficult words, using inflected endings and affixes. Any other order would be incorrect because the descriptions would not match the stages.

After a shared reading of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a teacher focuses classroom instruction on how writing in response to reading offers a wide array of choices and creative opportunities. The teacher provides the students with several prompts in response to the reading. Students may choose whichever prompt they prefer but need to understand that the prompts are categorized according to the four types of writing they will study throughout the writing process. Place each prompt next to the type of writing that it best helps exemplify. A. Think about the protagonist and antagonist and write a short story using a modern setting. B. Think about whether or not Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn should really be friends and write an essay that explains your reasons. C. Think about the emotions included in the text and write about these with cadence and rhythm. D. Think about how the text was structured and write an essay that explains and provides examples of the characteristics of the author's style.

Options (D), (C), (B), and (A) are correct. Think about how the text was structured and write an essay that explains and provides examples of the characteristics of the author's style is an example of expository text. Think about the emotions included in the text and write about these with cadence and rhythm is an example of a descriptive text. Think about whether or not Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn should really be friends and write an essay that explains your reasons is an example of persuasive text. Think about the protagonist and antagonist and write a short story using a modern setting is an example of narrative text.

A team of first-grade teachers writes formative common assessments that will determine whether students possess certain beginning literacy skills. Place the best assessment description with each literacy element. Phonological Awareness Phonics Fluency Comprehension A. Providing students with a base word and telling them to write new words by adding letters to the base B. Giving students short lists of rhyming words and asking them to verbally add a word to each list C. Assigning students to work with a partner to orally retell a story the teacher has read to the class D. Instructing students to read an unfamiliar passage aloud three times in a row.

The correct answers in order are (B), (A), (D), (C). Phonological awareness: Giving students short lists of rhyming words and asking them to verbally add a word to each list. Phonics: Providing students with a base word and telling them to make new words by adding letters to the base. Fluency: Instructing students to read an unfamiliar passage aloud three times in a row. Comprehension: Assigning students to work with a partner to orally retell a story the teacher has read to the class. That order is correct because each literacy element fulfills a specific role in learning to read. Rhyming is a phonological-awareness activity. Making new words by adding letters to a base word is a phonics assignment. Reading a passage aloud several times helps students to improve and demonstrate fluency. Orally retelling a story that has already been read to the class is a comprehension activity.