Practice test (102) Reading and Literacy

Reading and Literacy

A third-grade teacher notices that Mia, an English language learner, has been silent during class discussions for the first three months of school but is now beginning to use simple phrases and short sentences. According to language acquisition research, this behavior most likely represents:

The silent period of language acquisition, where learners take time to absorb the new language before speaking.

When comparing Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories regarding language development, which statement is most accurate?

Vygotsky emphasized the social nature of language acquisition, while Piaget viewed language as a reflection of cognitive development.

A first-grade teacher is designing instruction for phonemic awareness. Based on research about language acquisition, which instructional sequence would be most developmentally appropriate?

Starting with rhyming activities, then syllable awareness, followed by phoneme manipulation.

An elementary teacher is analyzing this writing sample from a 6-year-old student: “I LIK MI DOG. HE IS FUN.” Which language acquisition theory best explains this developmental writing stage?

Constructivist theory of active meaning-making.

A school district is debating language acquisition approaches for their dual language program. The curriculum director argues for a program that emphasizes comprehensible input with minimal explicit grammar instruction, while the literacy coordinator advocates for systematic grammer lessons and error correction. these positions most directly reflect the debate between:

Acquisition versus learning perspectives (Krashen)

A kindergarten teacher observes that her students learn new vocabulary words more effectivly when she uses pictures, gestures, and simplified language during instruction. Which language acquisition theory best explains this observation?

Krashen’s comprehensible input hypothesis

According to Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis, which of the following classroom practices would most effectively lower students’ affective filters?

Creating a supportive environment where mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities

Ms. Rivera is designing a language-rich kindergarten classroom. Based on social interactionist theories of language acquisition, which of the following practices would LEAST align with promoting effective language development?

Designing “silent work time” for most of the morning academic block

A fourth-grade teacher is working with several English language learners who appear to understand most classroom content but make consistent grammatical errors when speaking and writing. According to Krashen’s theories, which instructional approach would best address this situation?

Creating immersive content-based learning experiences with integrated language supports

During a professional development session, teachers are analyzing this interaction between a teacher and a 5-year-old student:

Teacher: “What did you do this weekend?”

Student: “Go park.”

Teacher: “You went to the park? What did you do at the park?”

Student: “Play swing and slide.”

Teacher: “You played on the swings and the slide! That sounds fun. Did anyone go with you?”

This interaction best exemplifies which language acquisition strategy?

Recasting and expansion

A kindergarten teacher places a label on the classroom door that reads “Welcome” and points it out to students each morning as the enter. This practive most directly supports which aspect of emergent literacy?

Concepts of print

During a shared reading session, a teacher runs her finger under each word as she reads aloud. This instructional strategy most directly supports students’ understanding of:

Directionality of print

A teacher presents students with a morning message on chart paper and encourages them to identify known letters and sounds within the message. This activity supports which early literacy development goal?

Enhancing phoneme-grapheme correspondence

Which of the following would be the most developmentally apporopiate strategy to introduce print awareness in preschoolers?

Read predictable pattern books and engage students in choral reading

A teacher displays a poster showing the alphabet in both uppercase and lowercase letters and sings the alphabet song while pointing ot each letter. This activity best promotes students’ understanding of:

Letter recognition

A student correctly identifies that the letter “m” makes the /m/ sound in multiple words during shared reading. This indicated development in which area of emergent literacy?

Phonics

Which of the following is the most appropriate activity to develop environmental print awareness in young learners?

Identifying brand logos and reading accompanyin text in the classroom

A teacher helps students sound out and blend the phonemes /s/ , /a/ , and /t/ to form the word “sat.” This activity supports which emergent literacy skill?

Phoneme blending

A student reads a familiar story by reciting the memorized text while looking at the pictures. The teacher notes that the child points randomly to words on the page. What concept of print does this student need further development in?

One-to-one word matching

Which instructional strategy would best help students differentiate between similar-looking letters, such as “b” and “d”?

Using multi-sensory approaches like tracing letters in sand or air

A first-grade teacher claps out syllables with students while saying words like “elephant” and “umbrella.” What type of skill is the teacher developing?

Phonological awareness

During an intervention. A teacher asks a student to isolate the final sound in the word “ship.” The students correctly says /p/. Which specific component of phonemic awareness is being targeted?

Phoneme isolation

A student can rhyme, blend syllables, and segment onset and rime but struggles with identifying individual phonemes in words like “cat or “dog.” What is the most likely instructional next step?

Introduce phoneme isolation and segmentation

A teacher asks students to change the /m/ in “mat” to /s/ and say the new word. What phonemic awareness skill is being addressed?

Phoneme substitution

Which of the following tasks best represents the most advanced level of phonemic awareness development?

Deleting the medial sound in a three-phoneme word

A kindergarten student struggles with blending individual phonemes into whole words (e.g., hearing /s/ /u/ /n/ but not recognizing “sun”). What is the most appropriate instructional strategy to support this student?

Provide scaffolded practice with continuous sounds

A literacy coach explains to new teachers that phonological awareness differs from phonics primarily in which way?

Phonological awareness focuses on sounds without print; phonics links sounds to letters

Which of the following instructional practices best supports phoneme segmentation in early literacy instruction?

Elkonin boxes with counters for each phoneme

A teacher uses a puppet activity where the puppet only “eats” words that start witht he same initial sound. What phonological awareness skill is being reinforced?

Alliteration and sound categorization

Which of the following best describes the instructional purpose of having students orally manipulate individual phonemes in a word (e.g., replace /t/ in “tap” with /n/ to make “nap”)?

To enhance phonemic awareness and word recognition flexibility

A beginning reader consistently struggles to blend sounds together when reading simple CVC words. Which instructional technique would be most appropriate to address this specific difficulty?

Sound-by-sound blending with connected sounds

When comparing synthetic and analytic phonics approaches, which statement is accurate?

Analytic phonics starts with known words and analyzes them to identify sound patterns

A second-grade teacher is planning systematic phonics instruction for the CVCE pattern. Which instructional sequesnce would be most effective?

Beginning with silent e words and comparing them to CVC words with the same initial letters

Mrs. Rivera’s first-grade class has been working on short vowel sounds in CVC words. Several assessment results indicate they’re ready to progress to more complex phonics patterns. Based on research about sytematic phonics instruction, which pattern would be most appropriate to introduce next?

Consonant digraphs (e.g., ship, thin, whip)

A third-grade teacher notices that several students can decode multisyllabic words accurately but slowly, affecting their reading fluency and comprehension. Which instructional approach would most efficiently address this issue?

Returning to basic phonics drills with single-syllable words

During systematic phonics instruction for the vowel team syllable type, a student reads the word “team” as /tem/ but pronounces “head” as /hed/. This error most likely indicates:

The student is overgeneralizing the “ea” vowel team pattern

Which instructional approach best exemplifies analytic phonic teaching?

The class examines several words that begin with “tr” and discovers the sound this blend makes in words like tree, truck, and train

A second-grade teacher wants to design the most effective word sort activity for teaching the six syllable types. Which approach would best develop students’ ability to recognize and categorize syllable patterns?

Having students separate words into open and closed syllable categories based on whether vowels are followed by consonants

When teaching the consonant-le syllable pattern, a fourth-grade teacher notices several students consistently mispronouncing words like”puzzle” (/pu-zul/ instead of pu-zel/. Which instructional approach would most effectively address this misconception?

Explicitly teaching that the final -le represents a syllable with a schwa sound plus /l/

A literacy specialist is consulting with a first-grade team about their phonics instructions. The teachers show a lesson plan that inroduces short a, then short i, then short o, then consonants b, f, m, p and t all within the first two weeks of school. Which recommendation would best align wiht research on effective systematic phonics instruction?

Slow the pace and select high-utility letters that allow students to decode and write simple words quickly

A student encounters the unfamiliar word “reconsideration” during independent reading. Which word analysis strategy would be most effective in helping the student derive the meaning of the word?

Breaking the word into root and affixes

A teacher presents the word “unbelievable” to students and asks them to identify the prefix, root word, and suffix. Which instructional goal is this activity best aligned with?

Developing students’ morphological analysis skills

A fourth-grade student encounters the word “microscope” and attempts to decode it by identifying known morphemes. Which of the following best reflects this student’s application of word analysis skills?

Using structural analysis of Greek roots to determine meaning

Which of the following best exemplifies a compound word that has retained the semantic transparency of its individual parts?

Butterfly

Understand

Moonlight

Breakfast

Moonlight - reflects the meaning of its two parts

A teacher notices that several students can decode multisyllabic words but fail to comprehend them. Which strategy would best support vocabulary development in this scenario?

Teaching morpheme-based word study

Which of the following examples demonstrates a correct application of structural analysis to determine word meaning?

Breaking down “transportation” into base work, prefix and suffix to understand its meaning

Which of the following instructional activities would most effectively support students’ knowledge of Greek and Latin roots?

Playing a root word matching game using word parts and definitions

A student reads the word “discontent” and interprets it as “the opposite of content.” This understanding demonstrates the student’s ability to:

Apply knowledge of common prefixes to determine meaning

Which of the following words contains both a Greek root and a Latin suffix?

Biology

Constructive

Chronological

Audiology

Audiology

A student struggles to distinguish between compound words and multisyllabic words with affixes. Which instructional approach would best help clarify the difference?

Provide side-by-side examples of both words types and guide analysis

A first-grade student writes “KR” for the word “car.” According to Gentry’s stages of spelling development, which stage is this student most likely demonstrating?

Semi-phonetic

A second-grade teacher analyzes spelling inventories and notes that several students are using correct beginning and ending consonants but struggle with vowel patterns. What is the most appropriate instructional focus for these students?

Instruction in common long and short vowel patterns

A student writes “hed’ for “head” and “sed” for “said.” According to Gentry’s stages, what is the most appropriate classification of the this spelling development?

Phonetic

A fourth-grade teacher student writes “enuf” instead of “enough” and “thot” instead of “thought.” This suggests the student is in which developmental stage of spelling?

Transitional

Which of the following best describes key features of the conventional stage of spelling development?

Accurate use of high-frequency irregular words

A third-grade teacher uses a spelling inventory to identify students’ spelling stages. One student shows correct spelling of blends and short vowels but inconsistent spelling of r-controlled vowels (e.g., spelling “bird” as “berd”). What instructional implication follows?

The student needs targeted instruction in r-controlled vowel patterns

During word study, a teacher introduces spelling patterns using word sorts (e.g., long e: “seat,” “feet,” “meat”). What is the primary instructional benefit of this strategy?

It supports orthographic pattern recognition

Which of the following words would be most appropriate for instruction in the phonetic stage of spelling development?

Ship, map, bat

A first-grade teacher wants to help students build fluency with irregular sight words like “said,” “was,” and “come.” Which instructional method would be most effective?

Visual word mapping and repeated exposure

A student consistently spells “come” as “kum” and “was” as “wuz” even after repeated exposure. What additional instructional strategy could support mastery of these sight words?

Using sentence frames and multi-sensory spelling practice

A second-grade teacher introduces students to the word”habitat” and guides them in creating a semantic map by connecting related terms such as “shelter,” and “environment.” This instructional strategy primarily supports which vocabulary development goal?

Deepening conceptual understanding through word associations

A teacher models how to determine the meaning of the word “reluctant” by examining the surrounding sentence: “Maria was reluctant to join the game, even though her friends were cheering her on.” Which type of context clue in being used in this example?

Contrast clue

A fourth-grade teacher explicitly teaches the word “evaporation” within a science unit and explains its role in the water cyle. The word in best classified as:

Tier 3 vocabulary

A student encounters the unfamiliar word “transportation” and uses knowledge of the prefix “trans-” and the root “port” to infer the meaning. This strategy reflects which vocabulary development approach?

Morphological analysis

A teacher uses the Frayer Model to introduce the word “democracy,” including sections for definition, characteristics, examples, and non-examples. What is the primary instructional advantage of using the Frayer Model for vocabulary instruction?

It promotes multiple dimensions of word knowledge

A student reads the sentence, “The lake was placid, without a single ripple disturbing its surface,” and determines that “placid” likely means calm. Which word-learning strategy is the student demonstrating?

Context clue analysis

A fifth-grade class is studying morphological word families. The teacher lists “construct, construction, reconstruct, destructive” on the board. What is the best instructional goal for this activity?

Demonstrating how meaning changes with affixes in a word family

Which of the following best characterizes Tier 2 vocabulary words?

High-utility academic words that appear across disciplines

A teacher designs a vocabulary lesson in which students sort a list of adjectives (e.g., furious, annoyed, calm, enraged) along a semantic gradient from mild to intense emotion. What is the purpose of this activity?

Building awareness of word connotation and nuance

A vocabulary assessment asks students to define the word “generous,” use it in a sentence, identify a synonym, and describe a non-example. This assessment most closely aligns with which instructional framework?

Frayer Model vocabulary assessment

A teacher asks students to determine whether a question requires them to find information directly in the text or think beyond it using their background knowledge. Which comprehension strategy is being applied?

Question-answer relationship (Q&R)

A teacher stops during reading and says aloud, “Hmm, I wonder what will happen next now that the main character lost the map.” What strategy is being modeled?

Predicting

Students are taught to place a symbols as “?” for confusing sections or “I” for surprising moments while reading. What strategy does this represent?

Text coding with metacognitive markers

A student reads, “The sky turned black, the wind howled, and the trees bent sideways,” and says, “it sounds like a storm is coming.” What comprehension skill is being used?

Inferencing

A fourth-grade students reads a passage fluently but struggles to explain what happened in their own words. Which comprehension skill should the teacher target next?

Summarizing techniques

A teacher uses the gradual release model to teach students how to articulate their thought process while reading, modeling strategies like clarifying, questioning, and summarizing. What method is being used?

Think-aloud

After reading, a student is asked to identify the author’s message and evaluate how it was conveyed through tone and structure. Which level of comprehension is this assessing?

Evaluative comprehension

During a reading lesson, students are prompted to jot down what they already know about a topic before reading and compare it with new information afterward. What strategy is this an example of?

KWL chart strategy

A student reads, “Marcus didn’t eat breakfast. He kept looking at the clock. His stomach growled.”The student concludes Marcus is waiting for lunch. What comprehension skill is this an example of?

Inferencing

Which of the following instructional strategies would best support students in identifying key ideas and summarizing informational text?

Close reading and annotation

What are the three main components of reading fluency as defined by the National Reading Panel?

Rate, Accuracy, and Prosody

A teacher notices that a third-grade student reads accurately but in a word-by-word manner with little expression. Which aspect of fluency does this student most need to develop?

Prosody

During a timed fluency check, a fourth-grade student reads 85 words correct per minute (WCPM) with 94% accuracy. Based on typical fourth-grade benchmarks, this student’s fluency is:

Significantly below grade-level expectations

A fifth-grade teacher wants to implement reader’s theater to improve fluency. Which classroom practice would MOST enhance the effectiveness of this approach?

Providing multiple practice opportunities with specific feedback on expression

Ms. Johnson implements repeated reading in her classroom but notices minimal improvement in several student’s fluency. Which modification would most likely enhance the effectiveness of her repeated reading instruction?

Adding modeling and feedback components to the practice

A second-grade teacher is analyzing fluency assessment data. Which pattern of results would most strongly indicate a need for intervention focused specifically on decoding skills rather than other aspects of fluency?

Low rate, low accuracy, moderate prosody

Which instructional technique would be most appropriate for developing reading fluency in students who can decode accurately but read very slowly?

Assisted reading with simultaneous oral reading support

A literacy coach is observing a third-grade classroom during fluency instruction. Which teacher practice demonstrates the LEAST alignment with research-based fluency instruction?

Using a stopwatch to time students as they read individually in front of the whole class

When implementing a repeated reading intervention for fourth graders, which text selection guideline is most appropriate?

Materials should be at the student’s instructional level with 90-95% accuracy

Based on current research, which statement most accurately describes the relationship between reading fluency and comprehension?

Fluency and comprehension have a reciprocal relationship, with each supporting the development of the other

A second-grade teacher reads aloud a folktale featuring talking animals who solve a conflict through cooperation. This type of story is most accurately categorized under which literary genre?

Traditional literature

A student reads a poem and identifies repetition, onomatopoeia, and alliteration. These features best reflect the poem’s use of:

Figurative language

A teacher presents students with a scene in a play that includes character stage directions and dialogue. What instructional focus is most appropriate for helping students understand this text type?

Examining dramatic elements such as dialogue and staging

During a literature discussion, a student states, “I think the character changed from selfish to generous after she realized how others felt.” This comments shows an understanding of:

Character analysis

A fourth-grade class reads a realistic fiction story about a child facing peer pressure at school. Which element most clearly distinguishes realistic fiction from other genres?

Believable characters in true-to-life situations

Which of the following most accurately describes the central theme of a literary text?

The underlying message or lesson conveyed by the author

A teacher reads a fable to her class in which a small character overcomes a large obstacle using clever thinking. She. asks students, “What is the lesson the author wants us to learn?” This instructional prompt targets which reading comprehension skill?

Inferring theme

A student says, “The story takes place in a dark forest, and everything feels eerie and tense.” This observation indicates the student is analyzing which two literary elemants?

Setting and mood

A teacher assigns a short story and asks students to identify rising action, climax, and resolution. This activity helps students understand:

Structure of narrative plot

A poem contains the lines: “Her voice was silk, soft in the wind / Her words, petals scattered in the dusk.” These lines demonstrate which literary device?

Metaphor