Objective 7
#77 Two proficient readers are answering post reading comprehension questions about a chapter in a content-area textbook. • The first student demonstrates exceptional recall of details from the chapter but has difficulty answering questions about the gist of the chapter. • The second student can give an outstanding summary of the chapter but has difficulty remembering specific facts from the chapter. Which of the following best explains the most likely reason for the students' varied understanding of the text? A. The first student is more proficient than the second student at using metacognitive comprehension strategies to make sense of the text. B. Each student applied different reading comprehension skills when reading the text. C. The second student is more proficient at reading for literal understanding than for inferential understanding. D. Each student brought a unique set of prior experiences to the reading of the text.
A. is wrong because the first student is not more proficient at using metacognitive comprehension strategies than the second because the second can still form a summary of the chapters. B. is correct because they are both capable of applying reading comprehension skills while reading but they are just different reading comprehension skills. C. is wrong because the second student is not more proficient because the first student has literal understanding of the text as well. D. is wrong because the students both have a struggling factor so their set of prior experiences to reading the text does not exist because they both still have their barriers.
#76 A fifth-grade teacher gives students a reading guide for an informational text that they will be reading independently. The reading guide contains various activities, including prompting students to summarize certain passages, to explain relationships between concepts according to specific information in the text, and to determine the meaning of domain-specific words based on appositives or appositive phrases embedded in the text. This reading guide is likely to be most effective for achieving which of the following instructional purposes? A. developing students' ability to read the text evaluatively B. encouraging students to read and interact closely with the text C. supporting students' development of prosodic reading skills D. teaching students to adjust their reading rate based on text complexity
A. is wrong because the students are not trying to determine the importance of this text, they are trying to use different activities to understand the deeper meaning in the text. B. is correct because the students are being encouraged to read and interact closely with the text with use of activities, summarizing passages, and explaining relationships between concepts according to specific information in the text. C. is wrong because the students are not trying to master their reading skills with this informational text, they are trying to master their understanding D. is wrong because you should not use an informational text to adjust your reading rate
#73 A sixth-grade class is working on an Internet research project about various natural resources and their uses. The teacher could best support students' effective use of the Internet for their research by: A. providing students with a checklist of questions that prompt critical evaluation of information on Web sites. B. giving students a list of Web sites that have been preapproved based on the sites' reading levels. C. encouraging students to search for Web sites that are easy to navigate and that contain familiar vocabulary. D. teaching students to employ a variety of search engines to locate relevant Web sites.
Answer: A. Determining whether a given Web site is reliable and an academic source is an important research skill. Having students evaluate the validity of a website is important to assure they can find reliable sources. B is incorrect because giving them websites does not teach them how to do research and practice evaluating sources for validity. (C) it is important for students to be able to read more in-depth text that may not be easy that contains the necessary information. (D) does not lead to more effective research because different search engines will have similar articles and websites.
#71 A third-grade teacher periodically reads aloud from a chapter in content-area textbooks and describes his thought processes as he reads. Following is an example: "'The moon does not shine on its own. The sun's light reflects off the moon.' Hmm. I'm imagining that the sun is like a flashlight shining on the moon in the dark. 'As the moon rotates, only the part that faces the sun is visible from the Earth.' I'm not quite sure what "visible" means, but it sounds kind of like vision, which I know has to do with eyes. It probably means the part that we can see from the Earth. Now, that makes me wonder— why do we see different amounts of the moon at different times? Let's see if the next part of the chapter explains this . . ." This practice is most likely to promote students' reading proficiency by: A. exposing them to new vocabulary in context. B. modeling for them metacognitive comprehension strategies. C. giving them an example of fluent oral reading. D. summarizing for them the main ideas of an expository text.
B. is the correct answer This is because the definition of metacognitive comprehension strategies is the methods used to help students understand the way they learn; it is a way for students to "think" about their "thinking". The teacher is expressing to the students that as he is reading he is thinking about what the words on the page are meaning. A. is the wrong answer This is because the students are not being exposed to new vocabulary in text because he is not providing definitions of the words he's reading. C. is the wrong answer This is because ORF is defined as the reading rate and accuracy of a reader. The teacher is not testing his reading rate or accuracy, he is simply taking his time to stop and think about what the meaning is behind what he is reading. D. is the wrong answer This is because if the teacher was summarizing the main ideas in an expository text, then he would not have chosen a chapter out of a content-area textbook, he would have chosen a news article that gets straight to the point for the readers.
#72 Skimming is likely to be the most effective strategy for accomplishing which of the following reading tasks? A. evaluating the validity of information on an Internet Web site B. previewing a chapter in a content area textbook C. synthesizing information from various sources for a research report D. studying specific facts for a content area exam
B. is the correct answer This is correct because skimming would allow the students to look over the content they are going to be learning about and prepare them for what they are going to be reading. A. is the wrong answer This answer is wrong because skimming would not help you evaluate the validity of information. To evaluate the validity of information you must look deeply into the information and analyze it not just skim it. C. is the wrong answer This is wrong because synthesizing information from various sources for a research report would take more in depth analyzing than just skimming over the work. D. is the wrong answer This answer is wrong because if you were studying for a content area exam then skimming the information would not be the most effective strategy. This is because you need to actually know the content area and not just an overview.
#69 A teacher can best help sixth graders draw inferences from informational text by asking them to complete which of the following statements? A. In my opinion . . . B. The passage suggests . . . C. In comparison . . . D. The author's first point is . . .
B: This is the strongest answer because the student is able to pull any piece of information out of the text when using this statement. The other answers are incorrect because they are not as clear and do not prove that the student is using information from the story when drawing their inferences.
#78An English Language Learner reads academic texts fluently in her primary language but is struggling to understand her content-area textbooks in English. This student would likely benefit most from engaging in which of the following activities? A. translating textbook reading assignments from English into her primary language B. receiving reading comprehension instruction with texts written in her primary language C. learning to use metacognitive reading strategies with English text D. reading texts in her primary language that cover the same material as her English textbooks
Correct Response: C. The student reads academic texts well in her primary language, so she likely has both adequate background knowledge in the content areas and basic reading skills. The student would benefit from using metacognitive strategies such as self-monitoring to connect what she has already learned in the primary language with the content presented in the English textbooks. A, B, and D all focus on primary-language materials. They do not promote the students' ability to comprehend content-area textbooks in English.
#70 A sixth-grade teacher gives students several persuasive essays that present contrasting opinions on a current social issue. The teacher then asks students to consider the following questions as they read the texts. 1. What is the author's opinion on the issue? 2. How might the author's background influence his or her opinion? 3. What evidence does the author use to support his or her opinion? These questions are likely to be most effective for helping students: A. monitor comprehension of informational texts. B. identify the theme in expository texts. C. draw inferences from informational texts. D. analyze point of view in expository texts.
D. Because in each of the three questions, the teacher included something about the author's point of view. Point of view is crucial when looking at persuasive essays. The other options are wrong because the teacher does not ask about comprehension, theme, or inferencing in her three questions.
#74 Which of the following text features are students likely to find most useful when previewing informational texts such as library books for a research project? A. index B. bibliography C. glossary D. table of contents
D. Table of contents. I think this is the correct answer because the table of contents will give a student all the chapters and page numbers in the book. They can scan the names of the chapters and see if any of the information can be useful for their research project. The other answers are incorrect because an index, bibliography, and glossary can be useful, but not when first previewing an informational text. You would not go to these places before going to the table of contents.
#80 A fifth-grade teacher plans to have students read a chapter about the American Revolutionary War from their social studies textbook. The following is an excerpt from the chapter. The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775. At the time, the American army occupied the area from Cambridge to the Mystic River. American troops gathered in Cambridge Common on the evening of June 16, 1775, and set out for Bunker Hill. Upon reaching Bunker Hill, however, officers decided to move to Breed's Hill, a smaller hill closer to Boston. The teacher asks students to locate and mark places mentioned in the chapter on a map as they read. This activity is most likely to help students: A. use visualization to facilitate their comprehension of the text. B. paraphrase content to make the text more understandable. C. connect elements in the text to their background knowledge. D. identify the text's main ideas and supporting details.
The correct answer is A.Use visualization to facilitate their comprehension of the text. Marking ideas in the chapter and then transferring them onto a map will help the student visualize and further comprehend the text they are reading. B. is incorrect because when students are putting information on a map tey are not paraphrasing. C. is incorrect because the students are using their background knowledge while looking at the map, but that is not the only reason for having them do it. D. is incorrect because the information that is put on the map may be some main ideas, but not supporting details.
#79 A fifth-grade teacher plans to have students read a chapter about the American Revolutionary War from their social studies textbook. The following is an excerpt from the chapter. The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775. At the time, the American army occupied the area from Cambridge to the Mystic River. American troops gathered in Cambridge Common on the evening of June 16, 1775, and set out for Bunker Hill. Upon reaching Bunker Hill, however, officers decided to move to Breed's Hill, a smaller hill closer to Boston. Based on this excerpt from the chapter, which of the following graphic organizers would best promote students' awareness of the chapter's text structure? A. outline B. Venn diagram C. timeline D. semantic map
The correct answer is C. Timeline. This is the correct answer because having the students create a timeline of the chapter would indicate that they do or do not understand the chapter. I think that this organizer would be the most in depth and could cover a full chapter. A. Is incorrect because an outline would not be able to cover the whole chapter. It would just be a basic display of information that might help the students write an essay or do another activity. B. Is incorrect because venn diagrams are for comparing and contrasting, not for reviewing the chapter's text structure. D. is incorrect because a semantic map is focused on vocabulary and the connections between words, not for chapter structure.
#75 A third-grade teacher observes that students who read aloud fluently also demonstrate greater comprehension of expository texts. The best explanation for this is that fluent readers: A. possess a self-awareness that allows them to use metacognitive skills efficiently. B. have already developed the base of background knowledge typically covered by textbooks C. have well-developed skills for decoding any level of text word by word. D. are able to focus their full attention and cognitive resources on the meaning of a text.
The correct answer is D. are able to focus their full attention and cognitive resources on the meaning of a text. This answer is correct because fluent readers are passed the decoding stage. Therefore, they have more cognitive space to comprehend the text they are reading. The other answers are incorrect because the question is not focused on decoding or metacognitive skills even though a fluent reader will have metacognitive skills. Also, if a reader is fluent, background knowledge would not be not be necessary, but it is helpful.
