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67 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
1. A sixth grader who is advanced in most
areas of reading has difficulty completing assigned reading selections. He appears motivated when he begins reading, but he has difficulty keeping his attention on the task at hand. Which of the following would be his teacher's best initial strategy for addressing this difficulty? A. adapting the student's reading assignments to reduce their complexity and level of cognitive challenge B. telling the student that his grades will be based in part on his ability to improve his concentration when he works on reading assignments C. breaking down the student's reading assignments into small steps and helping him learn to monitor his own attention and progress D. managing the student's reading assignments so that he generally has only one to work on at any given time |
C. breaking down the student's reading
assignments into small steps and helping him learn to monitor his own attention and progress |
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2. When creating lesson plans to promote
specific reading skills, a teacher should make sure that: A. each planned activity for students is designed to strengthen two or more specific reading skills. B. the targeted reading skills relate to an appropriate instructional progression and reflect students' needs. C. each planned activity connects students' reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. D. the targeted reading skills are grade-appropriate and taught to all students using the same instructional methods. |
B. the targeted reading skills relate
to an appropriate instructional progression and reflect students' needs. |
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3. An early elementary teacher could most
effectively support at-home reading by: A. sending parents/guardians a regular newsletter describing classroom reading activities. B. sharing with parents/guardians important articles from professional reading journals. C. recommending books that parents/guardians would likely enjoy reading with their children. D. providing parents/guardians with periodic reports on their children's progress in reading. |
C. recommending books that
parents/guardians would likely enjoy reading with their children. |
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4. A sixth-grade teacher wants to ensure
that the classroom reading environment supports content-area learning for the English Learners in the class. Which of the following strategies is likely to be most effective in addressing this objective? A. replacing classroom content-area books with simpler texts on the same subjects that the English Learners can understand more readily B. providing English Learners with grade-level, English-only content area books to promote academic language C. making available in the classroom content-area texts at various levels that supplement and reinforce the information presented in students' textbooks D. setting up an area in the classroom where students can go to reread the content-area textbook quietly and independently |
C. making available in the classroom
content-area texts at various levels that supplement and reinforce the information presented in students' textbooks |
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5. Of the following questions, which
would be most important for a teacher to consider when interpreting the results of a reading assessment for a particular student? A. How did the student's performance on this assessment compare with that of the student's classmates? B. Are these findings sufficient to assign a grade to the student's performance? C. How do these findings relate to the student's performance on other recently administered reading assessments? D. Do these findings provide information about the student's ranking in regard to national norms of reading achievement? |
C. How do these findings relate to the
student's performance on other recently administered reading assessments? |
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6. A fourth-grade class includes two students
with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). When planning classroom entry level and progress-monitoring assessments for these students, the teacher should: A. make arrangements for the students to be tested in an environment that is quiet and free from distractions. B. consult the Reading/Language Arts Framework for California Public Schools to determine appropriate assessments for students with IEPs. C. recognize that these students may require additional time to complete their work on these assessments. D. consult each student's IEP to determine any specific testing accommodations required for that student. |
D. consult each student's IEP to
determine any specific testing accommodations required for that student. |
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7. A middle school teacher is preparing for
the class to take the sixth-grade California Standards Test (CST) in English-language arts. The teacher believes that a student in the class with a Section 504 Plan would perform significantly better on the assessment if she were allowed to have frequent supervised breaks within sections of the test. Which of the following guidelines would be most important for the teacher to follow to ensure that arrangements for this student during the test are appropriate? A. providing the student with this testing accommodation only if it is specified in her Section 504 Plan B. using good teacher judgment to determine if such an accommodation is warranted C. following whatever accommodations are generally recommended for students with Section 504 Plans D. requesting testing accommodations for the student in writing at least eight weeks before the test is given |
A. providing the student with this
testing accommodation only if it is specified in her Section 504 Plan |
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8. Midway through the year, a second-grade
teacher convenes a student success team to plan additional support for a student who is performing somewhat below grade-level standards in reading. Other members of the team include the student and her parents, another teacher who works closely with the student, and a school administrator. In the context of developing an improvement plan for the student, which of the following pieces of information would be most important for the teacher to communicate to the success team? A. a comparison of the student's reading skills with those of her peers who are performing at grade level B. a list of each of the formal and informal reading assessments that the student has taken so far during this school year C. a list of appropriate formal reading assessments that could be used for the student's summative evaluations D. a description of the student's assessed strengths and weaknesses that could serve as a foundation for addressing her needs |
D. a description of the student's
assessed strengths and weaknesses that could serve as a foundation for addressing her needs |
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9. A kindergarten teacher plays the following
game with students. The teacher says, "Guess whose name I'm going to say now?" The teacher then says the initial sound of a student's name (e.g., /m/ for Mariko), and the children try to guess the name. This activity is likely to promote the reading development of students primarily by helping them: A. blend separate sounds in words. B. recognize that a spoken word is made up of sounds. C. understand the principles of phonics. D. learn how to spell their own names. |
B. recognize that a spoken word is
made up of sounds. |
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10. Which of the following informal
assessments would be most appropriate to use to assess an individual student's phonemic awareness? A. asking the student to identify the sound at the beginning, middle, or end of a spoken word (e.g., "What sound do you hear at the end of step?") B. having the student listen to a taperecorded story while looking at the book and then answer several simple questions about the story C. asking the student to identify the letters in the alphabet that correspond to the initial consonant sounds of several familiar spoken words D. having the student listen to the teacher read aloud a set of words with the same beginning sound (e.g., train, trap, trouble) and then repeat the words |
A. asking the student to identify the
sound at the beginning, middle, or end of a spoken word (e.g., "What sound do you hear at the end of step?") |
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11. A kindergarten teacher is preparing a
student for a phonemic awareness assessment. Teacher: What is this a picture of? [The teacher displays a picture of a boat.] Student: A boat? Teacher: A boat, that's right. Now, let's say the word boat together very slowly: /b/.../ō/.../t/. [The student pronounces the word with the teacher.] Teacher: How many sounds do you hear? /b/.../ō/.../t/ . . . [The teacher slowly repeats the word.] Student: Three? Teacher: That's right, three. Now, I'd like you to do this for some more words. This assessment would be an appropriate way to test the student's ability to perform which of the following phonemic awareness tasks? A. counting and blending the phonemes in a word B. identifying onsets and rimes C. recognizing how many phonemes are contained in a word D. relating phonemes to letters |
C. recognizing how many phonemes
are contained in a word |
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12. The use of rhyming texts for kindergarten
read-alouds is likely to promote the reading development of kindergarten students primarily by: A. fostering their phonological awareness. B. increasing their vocabulary knowledge. C. enhancing their understanding of story elements D. improving their letter recognition skills. |
A. fostering their phonological
awareness. |
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13. Which of the following strategies would
best help a kindergarten student who is having difficulty visually distinguishing between the letters b and d? A. helping the student focus on the directionality of each letter as the student traces it B. having the student look for the letters within the text of a favorite picture book C. repeating the name of each letter several times as the student points to the letter D. encouraging the student to observe closely as the teacher writes the letters |
A. helping the student focus on the
directionality of each letter as the student traces it |
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14. A first grader can identify the letters of the
alphabet and decode a number of simple words. He becomes confused, however, when tracking print in consecutive lines of print. Which of the following strategies is likely to be most effective in helping the student read a short paragraph of simple text? A. Help him sound out unfamiliar words included in the text before he attempts to read the entire paragraph. B. Have him use his finger or a marker as he reads the text. C. Help him increase his reading rate to improve his understanding of the continuity between words and sentences in the paragraph. D. Modify the paragraph by using a yellow highlighter to identify natural groupings of words and phrases within the paragraph. |
B. Have him use his finger or a marker
as he reads the text. |
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15. Which of the following instructional
practices would be most effective in promoting kindergarten students' understanding of the alphabetic principle? A. routinely saying the sounds in words when writing the words on the board B. creating a writing center in the classroom, stocked with paper and writing implements C. labeling key objects in the classroom such as the clock and tables D. stopping frequently during readalouds to carefully pronounce and define important words |
A. routinely saying the sounds in
words when writing the words on the board |
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16. An emergent reader frequently reverses
some letters and numbers during writing tasks. Which of the following strategies would be most effective in helping this student develop more accurate letter formation skills? A. providing the student with supplemental practice writing lists of words that are spelled with the target letters B. having the student practice tracing the target letter shapes with a finger while saying aloud the sequence of steps to form each letter C. providing the student with a supplemental handwriting workbook that describes the formation of the target letters in a series of steps D. encouraging the student to vocalize words when writing, especially when the words contain the target letters |
B. having the student practice tracing
the target letter shapes with a finger while saying aloud the sequence of steps to form each letter |
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17. In the word chimpanzee, which of the
following pairs of letters is a digraph? A. ch B. mp C. an D. ee |
A. ch
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18. A kindergarten student has demonstrated
the ability to write words phonetically, but she is reluctant to write because she is worried about misspelling words. The teacher could best promote the student's reading and writing development by: A. reassuring her that it is okay for now to express herself in writing by spelling words as they sound. B. giving her a spelling list of highfrequency sight words to copy and learn each day. C. helping her make a list of words that she already knows how to spell correctly. D. suggesting that she spend time copying some of the words found in her favorite stories. |
A. reassuring her that it is okay for now
to express herself in writing by spelling words as they sound. |
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19. During which of the following stages of
spelling development do students typically begin to show an understanding of the correspondence between letters and sounds? A. precommunicative B. semiphonetic C. phonetic D. transitional |
B. semiphonetic
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20. Function words such as to, the, and of are
most appropriately taught in the context of which of the following areas of reading instruction? A. phonics skills practice B. structural analysis skills C. academic-language development D. sight-word vocabulary |
D. sight-word vocabulary
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21. A first-grade teacher provides students
with explicit, systematic phonics instruction to promote their reading development. When designing activities to teach letter-sound correspondences, the teacher should: A. provide reading opportunities for students to practice sounds in context after studying the sounds in isolation. B. make certain that students have mastered vowel sounds before focusing on consonants. C. ensure that students master the spelling of practice words using the target sound before teaching a new sound. D. include instruction in related consonant blends when introducing individual consonants |
A. provide reading opportunities for
students to practice sounds in context after studying the sounds in isolation. |
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22. Early in the school year, a first-grade
teacher wants to conduct an assessment of students' ability to read grade appropriate words, including phonetically regular words and high-frequency irregular sight words. Which of the following informal assessments would be most appropriate and effective for this purpose? A. The teacher pairs each student with a partner for shared oral reading of simple texts and makes anecdotal notes on their performance. B. The teacher meets individually with students and asks each student to write a list of words the student knows how to read. C. The teacher allows each student to select a grade-appropriate text from the classroom library and asks each student to try reading the text aloud. D. The teacher prepares a list of grade-appropriate words, asks each student to try reading the words aloud, and records the results. |
D. The teacher prepares a list of
grade-appropriate words, asks each student to try reading the words aloud, and records the results. |
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23. Several first graders have mastered
sounding out and blending words that follow simple short-vowel phonics patterns. Their teacher would like to help them begin to develop whole-word reading (i.e., automatic word recognition) of words that follow these patterns. Which of the following instructional approaches would be most effective for this purpose? A. using teacher read-alouds followed by echo reading and then choral rereading of the students' favorite texts that include some simple words B. scheduling frequent silent independent reading practice of word lists based on the students' oral language vocabulary C. providing modeling and guided student practice sounding out simple, regular words subvocally and then reading them aloud normally D. exposing students to common environmental print to provide frequent exposures to everyday words and phrases |
C. providing modeling and guided
student practice sounding out simple, regular words subvocally and then reading them aloud normally |
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24. When reading aloud texts, a second-grade
English Learner often makes errors in pronunciation that are unrelated to her ability to accurately decode the words. The teacher's best response would be to: A. write down words the student mispronounces and include them on a list for her to practice reading aloud. B. analyze the student's pronunciation patterns and plan an intervention to address difficulties that may affect her reading comprehension. C. encourage other students in the class to help the student work on improving her accuracy in pronunciation. D. help the student avoid having pronunciation errors count as reading miscues by stopping her and having her correct her own errors. |
B. analyze the student's pronunciation
patterns and plan an intervention to address difficulties that may affect her reading comprehension. |
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25. Which of the following approaches would
be most effective in helping first-grade students who have the prerequisite decoding skills learn to decode words that end in the inflectional morpheme -ing? A. explicitly teaching the students to read the unit -ing in isolation before teaching them to decode familiar words that end in the inflection B. using think-aloud during a guided reading to model how to use contextual analysis as a strategy for recognizing words ending in -ing C. having students practice reading word lists that include words ending in both the more familiar rime -ing as well as the inflection -ing D. teaching the inflectional ending -ing in the context of an instructional unit on identifying open and closed syllables in multisyllabic words |
A. explicitly teaching the students to
read the unit -ing in isolation before teaching them to decode familiar words that end in the inflection |
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26. An eighth-grade teacher wants to help
students improve their spelling of scientific vocabulary, including the terms listed below. barometer centimeter dehydrate hydrogen microscope telescope thermal thermometer Which of the following instructional strategies is likely to be most effective for this purpose? A. showing students how to divide scientific terms into syllables to facilitate accurate spelling B. conducting practice drills to help students memorize the irregular spelling patterns of the words C. familiarizing students with the spelling and meaning of Greek morphemes in scientific terms D. helping students determine correct spellings by dividing the words into onsets and rimes |
C. familiarizing students with the
spelling and meaning of Greek morphemes in scientific terms |
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27. A sixth-grade teacher observes that
several students have misspelled the word pasteurize. After writing pasteurize and Louis Pasteur on the board, the teacher explains how Pasteur invented the process of pasteurization. Students then discuss how the word Pasteur relates to the word pasteurize. This instructional activity fosters students' reading and writing development primarily by: A. helping them learn to use etymology to improve spelling and decoding of multisyllabic words. B. helping them improve their ability to distinguish between similarly spelled words. C. motivating them to use orthographic patterns to expand their vocabulary knowledge. D. motivating them to improve their spelling and decoding through the use of systematic study skills. |
A. helping them learn to use etymology
to improve spelling and decoding of multisyllabic words. |
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28. A third-grade student who is an advanced
learner has already demonstrated mastery of the derivational suffixes -ness and -ment, which will be the focus of an upcoming whole-class decoding and spelling lesson. Which of the following strategies for differentiating instruction for this lesson would be most appropriate for this student? A. having the student work on inflectional suffixes B. teaching the student the content planned for the following lesson C. encouraging the student to engage in independent silent reading D. introducing the student to higher level derivational suffixes |
D. introducing the student to higher level
derivational suffixes |
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29. Which of the following word pairs are
homophones? A. answer and reply B. playful and replay C. table and stable D. sight and site |
D. sight and site
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30. A second-grade teacher would like to
include independent silent reading as one of several approaches used to promote students' fluency development. When planning differentiated fluency instruction for individual students in the class, the teacher should keep in mind that using independent silent reading to promote fluency: A. is most critical for students whose sight-word knowledge is below grade level. B. should be limited to narrative texts in the early elementary grades. C. is most effective when students select texts at or above their instructional reading level. D. should be limited to students who have already acquired automaticity. |
D. should be limited to students who
have already acquired automaticity. |
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31. A fourth-grade student who reads grade-level
narrative texts with fluency and excellent comprehension is struggling to read aloud a grade-level content-area passage about a topic with which the student is familiar. The student reads the passage hesitantly, frequently stopping to reread clauses or entire sentences. Afterward, the student demonstrates limited comprehension of what was read. Which of the following factors is most likely disrupting the student's fluent reading of this text? A. insufficient background knowledge to support basic comprehension of the text B. lack of experience with the academic-language structures used in the text C. insufficient monitoring of comprehension while reading the text D. lack of grade-level word analysis skills for accurate decoding of the words in the text |
B. lack of experience with the
academic-language structures used in the text |
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32. Which of the following instructional
activities would best help upper-elementary English Learners develop intonations and rhythms of the English language to support fluent reading? A. leading a class discussion on an age-appropriate topic, then having each student read aloud a section of a text that is written about the same topic B. having the students record their own oral reading of a passage and then listen to the recording while silently rereading the passage C. giving an expressive oral reading of a short text, then having the students echo read the text as the teacher reads it aloud again D. encouraging the students to practice reading aloud a text in which stressed words and punctuation marks are highlighted |
C. giving an expressive oral reading of
a short text, then having the students echo read the text as the teacher reads it aloud again |
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33. A second-grade teacher would like to plan
an activity to improve the reading rate of two students who read at about the same rate and level and are both automatic readers. Which of the following activities would best address the students' needs? A. a cooperative silent reading activity, in which the students read the same passage together silently, stopping periodically to share their understanding of the text B. a repeated reading activity, in which each student takes several turns reading aloud a decodable passage to the other student while the other student follows along silently C. a paired reading activity, in which the students sit side by side and read a shared text aloud in unison, gradually increasing their pace as they proceed through the text D. a timed partner-reading activity, in which the students take turns silently reading a shared text for one minute while the other student keeps time and says when to stop |
A. a cooperative silent reading activity,
in which the students read the same passage together silently, stopping periodically to share their understanding of the text |
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34. A second grader has demonstrated the
ability to decode individual words accurately, but she reads very slowly and laboriously. When the teacher tries to engage the student in oral reading activities, she says she feels "embarrassed" and would rather read silently. Which of the following modifications to instruction would be most appropriate and effective for helping this student improve her reading fluency? A. encouraging her to serve as an "audience" for other students' oral reading until she demonstrates willingness to read aloud herself B. having her reread a text several times using whisper reading to build her fluency and confidence with respect to the text C. teaching her how to use self-monitoring as she reads to improve her literal comprehension and ability to read with prosody D. providing her with explicit phonics instruction to improve her word identification skills before requiring her to read aloud |
B. having her reread a text several
times using whisper reading to build her fluency and confidence with respect to the text |
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In an oral fluency assessment at the beginning of the school year, a third-grade student reads aloud an
unfamiliar passage selected by the teacher while the teacher records the student's reading performance on a separate copy of the text, noting the student's reading time and then calculating the student's oral reading fluency score. The teacher's annotated copy of the passage appears below. Notes see page 18 of 08/2009 Rica: Passage consists of Three paragraphs, approx 100 words, multiple self corrections (18) with compound words (with mispronunciations and pauses between each part), one omission, one mispronounced word. Time: 155 sec Oral Reading Fluency: 57 wpcm/ 98% accuracy Fall 50th percentile benchmark is 71 wcpm or words correct per minute. 35. Based on the student's reading performance on this assessment, instruction to increase the student's reading fluency should focus primarily on: A. enhancing the student's contextual analysis skills. B. promoting the student's automatic word recognition. C. improving the student's academic-language skills. D. expanding the student's oral vocabulary knowledge. |
B. promoting the student's automatic
word recognition. |
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In an oral fluency assessment at the beginning of the school year, a third-grade student reads aloud an
unfamiliar passage selected by the teacher while the teacher records the student's reading performance on a separate copy of the text, noting the student's reading time and then calculating the student's oral reading fluency score. The teacher's annotated copy of the passage appears below. Notes see page 18 of 08/2009 Rica: Passage consists of Three paragraphs, approx 100 words, multiple self corrections (18) with compound words (with mispronunciations and pauses between each part), one omission, one mispronounced word. Time: 155 sec Oral Reading Fluency: 57 wpcm/ 98% accuracy Fall 50th percentile benchmark is 71 wcpm or words correct per minute. 36. When reading the last sentence of the passage, the student pronounces the word imagine as [ĭm mā' jīn]. Evidence from this assessment best supports which of the following interpretations of this word-reading error? A. The student recognizes the base word but is unaware of phonological shifts that apply to the derived form. B. The student is unfamiliar with syllabication rules governing medial consonants. C. The student does not apply the appropriate phonics generalizations to the last two syllables of the word. D. The student applies syllabication and phonics rules correctly but does not recognize the word. |
D. The student applies syllabication
and phonics rules correctly but does not recognize the word. |
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37. Lately, when choosing a book to read, a
third grader who reads at grade level always selects books from a series that is written in a very formulaic style that does little to extend his conceptual or language development. The teacher's best response to this behavior would be to: A. avoid interfering with the student's selection of books as long as he finds his choices enjoyable. B. provide the student with books with similar themes or on similar topics that are more challenging for him. C. point out to the student some of the major limitations of the books he is choosing to read and ask him not to read those books at school. D. advise the student that he should choose books that will prepare him for the more difficult reading he will encounter in fourth grade. |
B. provide the student with books with
similar themes or on similar topics that are more challenging for him. |
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38. A second-grade student has limited
vocabulary knowledge, which hinders the student's word recognition and reading comprehension. The student's oral reading is slow and labored, and the student typically spends the majority of independent reading time browsing through books, making little effort to read the actual words on the page. Research has shown that which of the following is most likely to happen if this student receives no instructional intervention? A. The student will always be behind average-performing peers but will achieve an adequate reading level to be academically successful. B. The student will naturally begin to show more interest and proficiency in reading as the student matures and will catch up with average-performing peers in third grade. C. The student will remain approximately at a second-grade reading level and will not be able to progress beyond this level. D. The student will begin to fall behind peers in reading development and will continue to fall further behind in later grades as texts include increasingly difficult vocabulary. |
D. The student will begin to fall behind
peers in reading development and will continue to fall further behind in later grades as texts include increasingly difficult vocabulary. |
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39. Which of the following statements best
explains an important limitation of teaching students to rely on context as their primary strategy for determining the meaning of unfamiliar words in texts? A. Context clues have limited usefulness for students who already have well-developed background knowledge related to a text's subject or content. B. Using context to determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word disrupts students' reading fluency more significantly than simply consulting a dictionary. C. Explicit context clues about a word's meaning are not very common in most texts, while implicit contextual clues often require students to apply background knowledge they lack. D. Overreliance on context as a wordlearning strategy hinders students' vocabulary growth, since they should be learning most new words in direct vocabulary instruction. |
C. Explicit context clues about a word's
meaning are not very common in most texts, while implicit contextual clues often require students to apply background knowledge they lack. |
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40. A fifth-grade teacher is planning a
multidisciplinary unit on water pollution. For this unit, students will read chapters from their social studies and science textbooks as well as relevant fictional narratives. These materials will also be incorporated into a variety of instructional activities designed to promote students' reading development. Which of the following statements best describes an important advantage of using a cross-curricular approach such as this unit to promote students' reading development? A. Interdisciplinary reading instruction provides more opportunities for teachers to tailor teaching strategies to the needs of individual students. B. Reading instruction that focuses on both literature and content-area texts helps students recognize and understand differences between written and oral English. C. Interdisciplinary reading instruction motivates students to apply a variety of word identification strategies to clarify the meaning of texts. D. Reading instruction that integrates a variety of related texts promotes deep processing of new vocabulary through multiple exposures to key words and concepts. |
D. Reading instruction that integrates a
variety of related texts promotes deep processing of new vocabulary through multiple exposures to key words and concepts. |
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41. A middle school teacher writes the morpheme dict on the board, pronounces it, and explains that dict
derives from the Latin word for "speak." The teacher then asks students if they can think of English words that start with or include dict. The teacher uses the students' suggestions to create the diagram shown below. benediction dictionary dict (speak) dictator predict contradict This activity is likely to promote students' vocabulary development primarily by helping the students: A. recognize common prefixes and suffixes. B. learn the techniques of concept mapping. C. apply knowledge of word roots as a word-learning strategy. D. draw on a knowledge of phonics to unlock word meanings. |
C. apply knowledge of word roots as a
word-learning strategy. |
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42. A teacher substitutes blank spaces for
several nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in an appropriate level text and asks students to determine reasonable and logical words to complete each blank. This technique is useful as an informal assessment of students' understanding of English language structures primarily because it requires them to: A. define various grammatical categories in their own words. B. select appropriate words based on their grammatical function as well as on their meaning. C. group words into grammatical categories to clarify their meaning. D. draw on grammatical knowledge to identify the subjects and predicates of complex sentences. |
B. select appropriate words based on
their grammatical function as well as on their meaning. |
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43. A fifth-grade teacher gives students the
following sentence: Neither walking on the beach nor running around the track cheered Ahmed up. The teacher asks the students how the phrases that come just after neither and just after nor are similar. This exercise can promote students' reading comprehension by helping them: A. distinguish between explicit and implied main ideas. B. apply literal comprehension skills. C. identify cause-and-effect relationships. D. recognize parallel grammatical structures. |
D. recognize parallel grammatical
structures. |
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44. A middle school teacher designs an
instructional activity in which students combine several sentences to form a single sentence, as illustrated below. Combine: Matthew stood and waited for the bus. The sun was blazing hot. Matthew fanned himself with the newspaper. Single sentence: Waiting for the bus, Matthew stood in the blazing sun, fanning himself with the newspaper. This activity is likely to be most effective in helping students: A. strengthen their ability to comprehend and write complex sentences. B. apply literal comprehension skills to identify and write main idea statements. C. improve their inferential comprehension skills. D. use self-monitoring techniques to clarify the meaning of text. |
A. strengthen their ability to
comprehend and write complex sentences. |
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45. Structural analysis would be the most
appropriate strategy for a student to use to determine the meaning of which of the following words? A. impassable B. elephant C. interim D. examine |
A. impassable
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Use the information below to answer
the question that follows. A sixth-grade teacher reads his students the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll. The first four lines of the poem are shown below. 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. 46. The teacher reads aloud the clause "All mimsy were the borogoves" and asks students what that might mean. One student responds, "It means that the borogoves were all mimsy!" This student's response demonstrates skill in which of the following reading comprehension strategies? A. applying relevant content knowledge B. recognizing cause-and-effect relationships C. analyzing the use of figurative language D. interpreting unusual grammatical constructions |
D. interpreting unusual grammatical
constructions |
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Use the information below to answer
the question that follows. A sixth-grade teacher reads his students the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll. The first four lines of the poem are shown below. 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. 47. The teacher plans a variety of activities related to "Jabberwocky." Students will work in pairs to make up definitions for some of the nonsense words (e.g., slithy). They will read the poem aloud using tone of voice to express various moods. Finally, they will create their own nonsense poems and give oral readings of them. These activities are most likely to promote students' reading development by: A. providing students with the opportunity for an in-depth analysis of a specific literary genre. B. developing students' understanding of the differences between written and oral English. C. fostering students' enjoyment of playing with and thinking about language. D. helping students make distinctions between serious and whimsical literature. |
C. fostering students' enjoyment of
playing with and thinking about language. |
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Use the information below to answer
the question that follows. A sixth-grade teacher reads his students the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll. The first four lines of the poem are shown below. 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. 48. One student pronounces gyre with a hard g sound, while his classmate uses a soft g sound. They ask the teacher who is correct. The teacher's best response would be to: A. remind students to use their knowledge of syntactic principles to determine the pronunciation. B. explain that one strategy for determining a likely pronunciation of a new word is to consider other words that contain a similar root (e.g., gyrate, gyroscope). C. have the class vote and suggest that students use the pronunciation that is preferred by the majority. D. advise them that since gyre is a nonsense word, it does not really matter whether they pronounce it with a hard g or a soft g, so both pronunciations are correct. |
B. explain that one strategy for
determining a likely pronunciation of a new word is to consider other words that contain a similar root (e.g., gyrate, gyroscope). |
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Use the information below to answer
the question that follows. A sixth-grade teacher reads his students the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll. The first four lines of the poem are shown below. 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. 49. The teacher asks the students if they can tell which of the nonsense words in the poem are nouns. One student says that toves is a noun. Another says that wabe and borogoves are nouns and adds that gyre and gimble are verbs. The class then discusses how students were able to draw these conclusions. This exercise would be especially useful for helping students understand that: A. being familiar with conventions of capitalization and spelling can help a reader interpret a text. B. recognizing the roots of words can help a reader decode the words. C. being familiar with common language structures can help a reader interpret a text. D. recognizing a text's genre can help a reader comprehend the text. |
C. being familiar with common
language structures can help a reader interpret a text. |
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Use the information below to answer the question that follows.
A sixth-grade class that includes several English Learners has been studying volcanoes. The teacher designs the following paragraph-building activity as part of a chapter review toward the end of the unit. Step 1: The teacher leads a brief whole-class discussion reviewing key topics covered by the textbook chapter. Step 2: Students form heterogeneous cooperative learning groups with three or four students in each group. Each of the students selects one of the key topics reviewed during the discussion. Step 3: Individual students write one or two sentences about their topic on sentence strips. Step 4: The members of the group then decide how to put the various sentences together, editing the sentences as necessary to form a comprehensible paragraph about the chapter and correcting any errors in grammar or spelling. After participating in this activity, all of the students review the chapter in their science text about volcanoes. 50. The paragraph-building activity described is likely to promote students' reading development primarily by helping them: A. apply knowledge of common text structures to improve comprehension as they read. B. transfer skills from oral language to written language. C. use a variety of word identification strategies. D. understand differences between spoken and written English. |
B. transfer skills from oral language to
written language. |
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Use the information below to answer the question that follows.
A sixth-grade class that includes several English Learners has been studying volcanoes. The teacher designs the following paragraph-building activity as part of a chapter review toward the end of the unit. Step 1: The teacher leads a brief whole-class discussion reviewing key topics covered by the textbook chapter. Step 2: Students form heterogeneous cooperative learning groups with three or four students in each group. Each of the students selects one of the key topics reviewed during the discussion. Step 3: Individual students write one or two sentences about their topic on sentence strips. Step 4: The members of the group then decide how to put the various sentences together, editing the sentences as necessary to form a comprehensible paragraph about the chapter and correcting any errors in grammar or spelling. After participating in this activity, all of the students review the chapter in their science text about volcanoes. 51. After assessing the effectiveness of this activity, the teacher decides to include an additional step. For step 5, the teacher will guide students to develop topic sentences for the paragraphs they generated. This modification is most likely to promote students' reading development by: A. encouraging students to draw on prior knowledge to clarify their understanding as they read. B. helping students distinguish between facts and opinions as they read. C. encouraging students to apply vocabulary knowledge in new contexts. D. helping students recognize main ideas and how supporting details relate to main ideas. |
D. helping students recognize main
ideas and how supporting details relate to main ideas. |
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Use the information below to answer the question that follows.
A sixth-grade class that includes several English Learners has been studying volcanoes. The teacher designs the following paragraph-building activity as part of a chapter review toward the end of the unit. Step 1: The teacher leads a brief whole-class discussion reviewing key topics covered by the textbook chapter. Step 2: Students form heterogeneous cooperative learning groups with three or four students in each group. Each of the students selects one of the key topics reviewed during the discussion. Step 3: Individual students write one or two sentences about their topic on sentence strips. Step 4: The members of the group then decide how to put the various sentences together, editing the sentences as necessary to form a comprehensible paragraph about the chapter and correcting any errors in grammar or spelling. After participating in this activity, all of the students review the chapter in their science text about volcanoes. 52. Which of the following best describes one important way in which this activity is likely to benefit English Learners? A. Arranging sentences in a meaningful order helps English Learners develop skills for locating and retrieving related information from content-area texts. B. Combining sentences into paragraphs encourages English Learners to employ a variety of word identification strategies. C. Discussing and writing about a content-area topic support English Learners' reading related to the topic by reinforcing key concepts and academic-language development. D. Analyzing and editing individual sentences improve English Learners' reading fluency by helping them chunk text as they read. |
C. Discussing and writing about a
content-area topic support English Learners' reading related to the topic by reinforcing key concepts and academic-language development. |
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53. To promote students' comprehension of a
passage about comets and meteoroids, a middle school teacher shows the students how to use facts from the text to complete the following Venn diagram. [Illustration on page is of Venn diagram comparing and contrasting "comets" and "meteroids"] This comprehension strategy is most effective in facilitating students' ability to: A. use inferential comprehension skills to identify cause-and-effect relationships. B. draw on their prior knowledge to clarify understanding. C. organize textual information according to similarities and differences. D. apply their vocabulary knowledge in new contexts. |
C. organize textual information
according to similarities and differences. |
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54. An eighth-grade class will be reading a
drama that is a challenging grade-level text. The teacher is concerned that a student in the class who has a reading disability will have difficulty keeping up with and understanding the reading assignments. Which of the following strategies would be most effective for the teacher to use to promote the student's access to the text and his ability to participate fully in class discussions related to it? A. assigning the student the play several weeks before his classmates are scheduled to begin reading it B. providing the student with a narrative version of the play to read rather than the original, dramatic version C. assigning the student only selected portions of the play, such as a few key speeches and dialogues D. providing the student with an audiorecording of the play to listen to in conjunction with his reading |
D. providing the student with an
audiorecording of the play to listen to in conjunction with his reading |
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55. A first-grade teacher plans to assess a
student's comprehension of a short story through oral retelling. After the student silently reads the story, the teacher will prompt the student's retelling by asking open-ended questions. To prepare for this assessment, the teacher reads the story carefully and composes the questions. Which of the following additional steps would be most helpful for the teacher to take before the retelling activity begins? A. Prompt the student to recall similar tasks the student has previously performed. B. Prepare a checklist of the key elements that an effective retelling of this story should include. C. Review grades earned by the student on recent tests and quizzes in language arts. D. Remind the student to concentrate on recalling as many details as possible during the retelling. |
B. Prepare a checklist of the key
elements that an effective retelling of this story should include. |
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56. A fifth-grade teacher is teaching a unit on
fiction. To begin, students read several simple fairy tales and discuss the moral or meaning of each one. The teacher then assigns a more complex story and leads a discussion about the moral of the story after students finish reading it. This instructional strategy is most likely to promote students' reading proficiency by: A. guiding students to analyze the relationship between plot and character in a literary text. B. helping students identify and understand the theme of a literary text. C. fostering students' ability to distinguish an author's use of fact versus opinion in a text. D. enhancing students' ability to use self-monitoring strategies to clarify the meaning of a text. |
B. helping students identify and
understand the theme of a literary text. |
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57. A third-grade teacher prepares several
poster-sized copies of the star diagram illustrated below. What? Who? What? How? Where? Why? After reading an assigned story, students divide into small groups, and the teacher distributes a copy of the star diagram to each group. The members of each group discuss how the six questions (who, what, when, where, why, and how) apply to the story and write answers in the six points of the star. The teacher then displays the completed star diagrams and leads a whole-class discussion about them. This instructional activity is most likely to promote students' reading proficiency in which of the following ways? A. improving students' comprehension by encouraging them to analyze a text's underlying theme B. helping students learn a strategy for using visual representation to analyze key elements of a text C. improving students' comprehension by encouraging them to connect personal experience to a text D. helping students learn to use evaluative comprehension skills to determine an author's point of view |
B. helping students learn a strategy
for using visual representation to analyze key elements of a text |
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58. A sixth-grade teacher has students read a short expository text. After the students finish reading the text,
the teacher uses guided discussion to help them complete the form shown below. [Topic of the text:] [Author's thesis about the topic:] [Evidence presented by the author:] 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. [Is this evidence factual and/or reasonable?] 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. This writing activity promotes students' comprehension and analysis of expository texts primarily by: A. developing their ability to evaluate the adequacy of an author's conclusions. B. teaching them explicit strategies for distinguishing facts from opinions. C. encouraging them to identify ways in which a text reflects the traditions and beliefs of its author. D. helping them clarify their understanding of a text through the use of outlines. |
A. developing their ability to evaluate
the adequacy of an author's conclusions. |
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Use the information below to answer the question that follows.
A fourth-grade class is beginning a unit on deserts. The teacher starts the unit by having the students form small groups and list everything they know about deserts. Then the whole class meets to share their lists, and the teacher helps the students arrange their ideas into a web. The class's partially completed web is shown below. [Partial web of "Deserts" with categories of CLIMATE, PEOPLE, PLANTS, LANDFORMS, ANIMALS] [CLIMATE] dry hot thunderstorms sandstorms [PLANTS] cactus [LANDFORMS] sand dunes big boulders [ANIMALS] snakes scorpions camels [PEOPLE] nomads food water shelter tents 59. Creating such a web is likely to promote students' ability to retain and use information they read about a topic by: A. encouraging students to attend to new information on the topic rather than to familiar information. B. providing students with the vocabulary they need to make sense of their reading. C. prompting students to assess the accuracy of their prior knowledge of the topic. D. helping students learn to use categories to organize their thinking about the topic. |
D. helping students learn to use
categories to organize their thinking about the topic. |
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Use the information below to answer the question that follows.
A fourth-grade class is beginning a unit on deserts. The teacher starts the unit by having the students form small groups and list everything they know about deserts. Then the whole class meets to share their lists, and the teacher helps the students arrange their ideas into a web. The class's partially completed web is shown below. [Partial web of "Deserts" with categories of CLIMATE, PEOPLE, PLANTS, LANDFORMS, ANIMALS] [CLIMATE] dry hot thunderstorms sandstorms [PLANTS] cactus [LANDFORMS] sand dunes big boulders [ANIMALS] snakes scorpions camels [PEOPLE] nomads food water shelter tents 60. After giving each student a copy of the web developed by the class, the teacher could best help students make use of the web to learn and retain facts from their reading by asking them to: A. add continuously to the web as they encounter and analyze new information in their reading. B. compare the content of this web to the content of webs on other topics. C. review each category on the web to ensure that it is an appropriate one to have included. D. memorize the information on the web before they begin their reading. |
A. add continuously to the web as
they encounter and analyze new information in their reading. |
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ASSIGNMENT A
The length of your response is limited to the lined space available on the one-page Assignment A Response Sheet. You are to prepare a written response of approximately 75–125 words to Assignment A. Use the information below to complete the exercise that follows. A second-grade teacher frequently uses the following strategy when working with struggling readers who are performing below the second-grade fluency benchmark. The teacher selects a variety of supplementary texts that use a controlled vocabulary (i.e., nearly all the words are high-frequency sight words or easily decodable words). The teacher then has the students read these texts aloud quietly to themselves over a period of days as the teacher monitors their reading. Examinee Task Using your knowledge of reading fluency, write a response in which you: • identify what aspect of fluency (i.e., accuracy, reading rate, or prosody) this instructional strategy primarily develops; and • explain how this instructional strategy promotes development of the aspect you identified. Be sure to relate your response to specific features of the instructional strategy described above. |
Sample Response for Assignment
A—Domain 3 This instructional strategy primarily helps develop students' reading rate. The selected texts help support development of reading rate because they use controlled vocabulary (i.e., primarily easily decodable words and high-frequency sight words). Research shows that reading texts with a high readability is more effective in enhancing reading rate than when readability is not controlled. The strategy also promotes reading rate because the teacher selects "a variety" of these texts and has the students read them "over a period of days." This provides the students with repeated practice reading the same words in a variety of contexts, which helps build their automatic recognition of the words. Automaticity in word recognition is essential for developing reading rate, which enhances fluency. Evaluation of Sample Response This assignment assesses competencies in Domain 3. The response fulfills the purpose of the assignment by identifying the aspect of fluency (i.e., reading rate) that this instructional strategy primarily develops and explaining how the strategy promotes this aspect of fluency. The response reflects an accurate understanding of fluency through its discussion of the role of appropriate texts in supporting development of reading rate and the importance of building automaticity to enhance reading rate and fluency. Support for the writer's argument is found in a clear explanation of factors that enhance reading rate (e.g., automaticity of word recognition). |
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ASSIGNMENT B
Record your written response to Assignment B on the Assignment B Response Sheet on page 5 of the Answer Document. The length of your response is limited to the lined space available on the one-page Assignment B Response Sheet. You are to prepare a written response of approximately 75–125 words to Assignment B. Use the information below to complete the exercise that follows. Prior to having students read a textbook chapter on tree classification, a fifth-grade teacher divides students into small groups and gives each group a set of labeled photographs and diagrams of a particular type of tree (e.g., pines), with each group focusing on a different type of tree. The students examine their photographs and diagrams, write down as many characteristics as they can about their assigned tree, and then present their findings to the whole class. As students share their ideas, the teacher writes key words and phrases on the board (e.g., pine trees = have cones, have needles, the needles grow in clusters, the needles are green in both the summer and winter photographs) and also introduces new terminology (e.g., trees that have cones are called conifers). The teacher then conducts a guided whole-class discussion during which students identify characteristics shared by more than one type of tree (e.g., having cones) and sort the trees by these characteristics (e.g., conifers = pines, firs, hemlocks, spruces, cedars, and larches). Examinee Task Using your knowledge of reading instruction, write a response in which you: • describe how the teacher can effectively differentiate instruction with respect to this activity in order to address the needs of students in the class who are English Learners; and • explain why the instructional strategy you described would be effective in addressing the needs of these students and promoting their development of vocabulary, academic language, and/or background knowledge. Be sure to relate your response directly to the activity described above. |
ASSIGNMENT B/DOMAIN 4
Sample Response for Assignment B—Domain 4 Since the activity and textbook chapter require knowledge of vocabulary that's not often used in everyday speech (e.g., cones, needles, clustered) and will likely be unfamiliar to English Learners, the teacher should lead a discussion with them beforehand in which the teacher uses the visuals (i.e., photographs, diagrams) to (1) identify and activate their related background knowledge and (2) explicitly teach the more basic but essential academic vocabulary they'll need to complete the activity and comprehend the textbook chapter successfully. The teacher should reinforce new vocabulary by having the English Learners enter the words in their science notebooks along with notes and drawings about the words' meanings. This strategy would be effective in addressing the needs of English Learners because it uses visuals to support their understanding and activate their background knowledge, explicitly teaches essential vocabulary to support their learning and reading, and reinforces new vocabulary through discussion and writing. Evaluation of Sample Response This assignment assesses competencies in Domain 4. The response fulfills the purpose of the assignment by describing an effective strategy for differentiating instruction for the target students and explaining why the strategy would be effective in addressing their needs. The response reflects an accurate understanding of vocabulary development and effective strategies for differentiating vocabulary instruction for English Learners. Support for the writer's argument is found in a clear explanation of the types of words that should be the focus of the differentiated lesson and how best to teach these words in order to support the students' reading and learning. Important Notes About Assignment B (Domain 4) The Examinee Task in Assignment B may ask candidates to describe a strategy for differentiating the given activity for students in the class who are advanced learners*, struggling readers*, English Learners, OR students with special needs (e.g., a student with a learning disability). A successful response to Assignment B will reflect an understanding of strategies that are appropriate for differentiating reading instruction for the specific group of students identified in the Examinee Task. *Since Assignment B assesses competencies in Domain 4, the term advanced learners in this Examinee Task refers to students who are advanced in vocabulary, academic language, and/or background knowledge, while the term struggling readers refers to students who are experiencing difficulty learning to read because they lack prerequisite knowledge and skills in vocabulary, academic language, and/or background knowledge. |
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ASSIGNMENT C
Record your written response to Assignment C on the Assignment C Response Sheet on pages 7 and 8 of the Answer Document. The length of your response is limited to the lined space available on the two-page Assignment C Response Sheet. You are to prepare a written response of approximately 150–300 words to Assignment C. Use the information below to complete the exercise that follows. At the beginning of the year, a fourth-grade teacher uses the following procedure as part of an informal assessment of students' word analysis skills. In this assessment, the teacher asks individual students to read aloud from a list of 50 words. As students read, the teacher makes a record of their performance on a separate copy of the list, using check marks to indicate words a student reads easily and accurately and using simplified phonetic transcription to record any errors. Below are some of the words used in the assessment, followed by the teacher's record of one student's reading performance. stretch _________ recess _________ drape _________ settlement [sĕt' lĕm ĕnt'] safety [săf' ət ē'] deadline _________ begin _________ influenced [ ĭn flŭnkt'] opposite [ō' pō sīt'] disagreement [dī' săg' rē mĕnt] Examinee Task Based on your analysis of the assessment evidence provided, write a response in which you: 1. identify one important need demonstrated by this student in the area of word analysis; 2. describe an instructional strategy or activity to address this need; and 3. explain why the instructional strategy or activity you described would be effective for this purpose, citing evidence from the student's performance to support your response. |
ASSIGNMENT C/DOMAIN 2
Sample Response for Assignment C—Domain 2 One need demonstrated by this student is difficulty using structural analysis to decode multisyllabic words. For example, the student doesn't seem to recognize roots (e.g., safe, settle, agree) and affixes (e.g., -ty, -ment, dis-) in words that contain multiple morphemes, so the student makes syllable breaks in the middle of morphemes (e.g., pronouncing "safety" as [săf-ət-ē]. One strategy that would help the student would be using explicit instruction to promote the student's automatic recognition of common affixes. For example, to build automatic recognition of the prefix dis-, the teacher should have the student practice reading it in isolation in short lists, in which several instances of dis- appear with affixes the student has already mastered. Next, the student practices reading dis- in word-reading exercises using short, decodable words (e.g., dislike, discard). The teacher gradually introduces increasingly complex words and short passage-reading exercises containing the target affix. The teacher repeats this strategy to teach other affixes the student doesn't recognize automatically and to reinforce affixes recently taught by including them among the mastered affixes in the exercises. This strategy would be effective in addressing the student's need because automatic recognition of affixes will help the student decode multisyllabic words that contain multiple morphemes, including helping the student distinguish a word's root. The strategy provides ample practice and reinforcement reading target affixes in increasingly complex contexts. Evaluation of Sample Response This assignment assesses one or more competencies in Domain 2. The response fulfills the purpose of the assignment by accurately identifying a need demonstrated by the student in word analysis, describing an effective strategy for addressing this need, and explaining why the strategy would be effective. The writer demonstrates an accurate understanding of structural analysis and related terminology (e.g., morphemes) and also describes effective procedures for promoting automatic recognition of a target affix. The writer offers strong support for the response by providing appropriate, accurate details and an accurate rationale explaining why the described instructional strategy would be effective. |
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ASSIGNMENT D
Record your written response to Assignment D on the Assignment D Response Sheet on pages 9 and 10 of the Answer Document. The length of your response is limited to the lined space available on the two-page Assignment D Response Sheet. You are to prepare a written response of approximately 150–300 words to Assignment D. Use the information below to complete the exercise that follows. A first-grade teacher is assessing a student's reading comprehension of a story that he reads fluently and accurately by having the student retell the story. The story is printed below. Pam is at school. She plays a new game called "Red Light Green Light." A girl tells her how to play the game. First, Pam has to run as fast as she can. She likes to run. When she runs fast she can feel the wind on her face. Next, the girl says, "Red light!" Pam has to stop. She must stand still. Then the girl says, "Green light!" Now, Pam can run again. She runs fast. Pam likes the new game. She wants to play it with her friend Rosa after school. After the student reads the story, the teacher asks him to "tell me the story in your own words." Printed below is the student's oral response. It's a story about some girls. One girl is named Pam. She doesn't know how to cross the street. The teacher then asks a targeted question to try to prompt the student to elaborate on his response. Below is the student's response to the question, "How do you know that Pam needs to learn about crossing the street? Tell me as much as you can remember." Because she doesn't even know about red lights and green lights. How red is for stop and green is for go. I think she's a little kid. And this other girl bosses her around. Pam wants to run in the wind, but the other girl makes her stop. She yells, "Red light!" and then Pam stops. I think the other girl tells her about crossing the street when the cars stop. So, she learns about it. The teacher completes the assessment by asking the student, "What else do you think Pam will do?" The student responds: Maybe Pam will tell the girl to stop bossing her around. Examinee Task Using your knowledge of reading comprehension, write a response in which you: 1. identify one reading comprehension need demonstrated by this student; 2. describe an instructional strategy or activity to help address this need; and 3. explain why the strategy or activity you described would be effective for this purpose. |
ASSIGNMENT D/DOMAIN 5
Sample Response for Assignment D—Domain 5 The student demonstrated difficulty with literal comprehension, which led to his making incorrect inferences. Since the student read the story aloud “fluently and accurately,” his difficulty is probably not caused by inaccurate decoding or lack of fluency but rather by a lack of attention to what he was reading. Therefore, the first thing I would do is have the student reread the story. If after rereading the student still misses the main idea (that the girls are playing a game), I would use think-aloud and modeling to teach self-questioning as a comprehension strategy. To begin, I'd read aloud the first couple lines of the story, pausing periodically to ask a few questions, which I'd answer myself. Since the student's primary difficulty is with literal comprehension, I would focus on literal questions (e.g., Where is Pam? What is she doing? Who is she with?). Then, as I continue reading and questioning, I’d have the student answer my questions. Finally, I’d encourage him to continue reading while I help him ask and answer his own questions. As a follow-up, I’d have him practice this selfquestioning strategy out loud with other passages while I monitored him. This strategy would be effective in improving the student's literal comprehension because it models and reinforces a technique he can use to monitor his own literal understanding as he reads. Evaluation of Sample Response This assignment assesses one or more competencies in Domain 5. The response fulfills the purpose of the assignment by discussing the student's reading need in literal comprehension, describing an effective strategy for addressing the student's need by promoting his use of self-questioning during reading, and explaining why this approach would enhance the student's comprehension. The writer accurately identifies the student's literal comprehension need, as well as consequences of that need (incorrect inferences). The writer also demonstrates understanding of the interrelationships between decoding, fluency, and comprehension and that rereading a text enhances a student's fluency and comprehension with respect to that text. The writer then goes on to demonstrate knowledge of an effective strategy for enhancing the student's literal comprehension by using think-aloud and guided practice to promote his use of self-questioning. The writer supports the response with relevant, accurate details (e.g., regarding types of questions to use when modeling self-questioning for literal comprehension, the importance of giving the student follow-up activities for practice) and a clear rationale explaining why the strategy described can be expected to improve the student's literal comprehension. |
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ASSIGNMENT E
CASE STUDY Record your written response to the case study in the Case Study Response Booklet. Your response is limited to the lined space available in the four-page Case Study Response Booklet. You are to prepare a written response of approximately 300–600 words to Assignment E. This case study focuses on a student named Isabel, who is eight years old. Her primary language is English. The documents on the following pages describe Isabel's reading performance at the beginning of third grade. Using these materials, write a response in which you apply your knowledge of reading assessment and instruction to analyze this case study. Your response should include three parts: 1. identify three of Isabel's important reading strengths and/or needs at this point in the school year, citing evidence from the documents to support your observations; 2. describe two specific instructional strategies and/or activities designed to foster Isabel's literacy development for the remainder of the school year by addressing the needs and/or building on the strengths you identified; and 3. explain how each strategy/activity you describe would promote Isabel's reading proficiency. |
ASSIGNMENT E/CASE STUDY
Sample Response for Assignment E—Case Study Isabel's most important reading strength is that she appears to be a good decoder, as indicated by her performance on the Informal Reading Assessment (IRA) and the oral reading fluency (ORF) assessment, which was mentioned in the Teacher Notes. She accurately decoded all the words in the IRA, making only one minor deletion, and her accuracy on the ORF was 97%. She made short pauses on both assessments before highfrequency irregular words (e.g., thought) and low-frequency words (e.g., quilt, climbed, prairie, Oregon); however, her oral reading rate of 70 wcpm suggests that her fluency (at least in terms of accuracy and rate), is not an issue at this time. Isabel's lack of understanding of Sarah's sadness suggests a weakness in inferential comprehension. While she demonstrates good literal recall (e.g., Sarah's family came from New York and was going to Oregon, Sarah had a little sister, Sarah was tired), Isabel needs to consider details more carefully so that she can better understand why characters in stories behave and think as they do. On her reading survey, she indicated that she "sometimes" enjoys reading and that she doesn't often read for fun. This may be because she is not inferring much meaning. Isabel also needs to increase her vocabulary and understanding of multiple-meaning words. She was able to think of an additional meaning for only two of six words on the informal skill assessment. A general weakness in vocabulary knowledge could be another factor contributing to her minimal enjoyment in reading, which has led to the limited amount and breadth of her independent reading. Unfortunately, if her independent reading continues to be so limited, this will only continue to inhibit her vocabulary growth. One instructional strategy to improve Isabel's comprehension would be to teach her to use information from the text to better understand character motives. I would teach her to refer to the text for details to analyze a character's actions and to better understand their motives and feelings. For example, when Isabel bases her inference about why Sarah's crying on a personal experience (Isabel's brother cries when he's tired) rather than on something she read in the story, I would urge her to go back to the text to look for evidence and, if necessary, I'd direct her to the lines in which Sarah talks about the picnics under the maple with her grandma and wonders if she'll ever see that tree again. By teaching Isabel to refer to the text to find support for her answers, I would be developing her inferential comprehension skills. She would learn to base inferences on evidence from the text. A second strategy would be to help Isabel increase her understanding of vocabulary, focusing first on words with multiple meanings. Beginning with the words that Isabel had difficulty with on the Informal Skill Assessment (i.e., rose, rock, play, and beat), I would show her sentences that illustrated other meanings of each word (e.g., The man beat the rug with a stick. Beat it! I beat two eggs into the cake batter.). I'd have her read the sentences and determine the word's meaning in each sentence. After analyzing a given sentence, I'd ask her to think of her own sentence that used the word in the same way. These activities would expand Isabel's vocabulary knowledge, which would increase her comprehension of text. Evaluation of Sample Response This assignment assesses content related to the five domains of the RICA Content Specifications. The response fulfills the purpose of the assignment by identifying one of Isabel's reading strengths (i.e., decoding accuracy) and two reading needs (i.e., inferential comprehension and vocabulary), discussing two strategies that should enhance Isabel's literacy development in light of her current performance (i.e., instruction in inferential comprehension and understanding multiple-meaning words), and explaining how these strategies can be expected to benefit Isabel. The writer accurately interprets Isabel's performance (as indicated in various case study documents) and demonstrates a solid grasp of current reading pedagogy by describing instructional strategies that are likely to improve Isabel's reading skills. Strong supporting evidence is found in the response's inclusion of accurate and appropriate details and explanations and in the inclusion of an accurate rationale explaining the probable benefits of each of the two strategies described. |
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Define: Fictional Narrative
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More narrowly defined, it is the fiction-writing mode whereby the narrator communicates directly to the reader.
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Define: Language Structure
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Language Structure:
Linguists study the semantics and the grammar of languages to gain an understanding of the structure. Phonemes are the basic sounds that all languages are built on. The next level of language structure is morphemes which are the smallest units of meaning in a language.Phonological rules allow only certain combinations of phonemes to be used in word construction. Each language has a set of rules for making words and sentences. Sentence structure is studied by looking at noun and verb phrases seperately and then dividing the phrases further. |