Foundations of Reading Practice Questions

Which of the following students is demonstrating the specific type of phonological awareness known as phonemic awareness?

a. A student who, after being shown a letter of the alphabet, can orally identify its corresponding sound(s).

b. A student who listens to the words sting, ring, fling, and hang and can identify that hang is different.

c. A student who, after hearing the word hat, can orally identify that it ends with the /t/ sound.

d. A student who listens to the word magazine and can determine that it contains 3 syllables.

c. A student who, after hearing the word hat, can orally identify that it ends with the /t/ sound.

A kindergarten teacher could best determine if a child has begun to develop phonemic awareness by asking the child to:

a. Count the number of words the child hears in a sentence as the teacher says the sentence.

b. Say the word cat and then say the first sound the child hears in the word.

c. Point to the correct letter on an alphabet chart as the teacher names specific letters.

d. Listen to the teacher say boat and coat and then identify whether the two words rhyme.

b. Say the word cat and then say the first sound the child hears in the word.

As students begin to read, the ability to blend phonemes orally contributes to their reading development primarily because it helps students…

a. Recognize and understand sight words in a text.

b. Use knowledge of letter-sound correspondence to decode words.

c. Guess the meaning of unfamiliar words from their context.

d. Divide written words into onset and rime.

b. Use knowledge of letter-sound correspondence to decode words.

A teacher holds up a series of familiar objects, asking students to name each object and isolate the final sound they hear. This type of activity would be most appropriate for a student who:

A. Needs help developing phonemic segmentation skills.

B. Is performing below grade-level benchmarks in reading fluency.

C. Lacks automaticity in word recognition.

D. Has difficulty sounding out phonetically regular one-syllable words.

A. Needs help developing phonemic segmentation skills.

Phonemic awareness contributes most to the development of phonics skills in beginning readers by helping them:

A. Recognize different ways in which one sound can be represented in print.

B. Count the number of syllables in a written word.

C. Identify in spoken language separate sounds that can be mapped to letters.

D. Understand the concept of a silent letter.

C. Identify in spoken language separate sounds that can be mapped to letters.

Which of the following first-grade students has attained the highest level of phonemic awareness?

A. A student who, after hearing the word “hot” and the sound /i/, can substitute /i/ for /o/ to make the word “hit.”

B. A student who can orally segment the word “wonderful” into won-der-ful.

C. A student who, after hearing the words “fish” and “fun,” can identify that they both begin with the same phoneme, /f/.

D. A student who can orally segment the word “train” into its onset and rime (tr- and -ain).

A. A student who, after hearing the word "hot" and the sound /i/, can substitute /i/ for /o/ to make the word "hit."

Asking students to listen to a word and then tell the teacher all the sounds in the word is an exercise that would be most appropriate for students who:

A. Have a relatively low level of phonological awareness.

B. Are beginning to develop systematic phonics skills.

C. Have a relatively high level of phonemic awareness.

D. Are beginning to master the alphabetic principle.

C. Have a relatively high level of phonemic awareness.

A kindergarten teacher asks a small group of students to repeat after her. First, she says the word “grape” and then pronounces it as gr- and -ape. Next, she says the
word “take” and then pronounces it as t- and -ake. This activity is likely to promote the students' phonemic awareness primarily by:

A. Helping them recognize distinct syllables in oral language.

B. Encouraging them to divide words into onsets and rimes.

C. Teaching them how to distinguish between consonants and vowels.

D. Promoting their awareness of letter- sound correspondence.

B. Encouraging them to divide words into onsets and rimes.

A teacher shows a student pictures of familiar objects. As the teacher points to the first picture, she asks the student to name the object in the picture. Next, she asks the student to count on his fingers the number of sounds he makes as he says the word again. This activity is most likely to promote which of the following?

A. Understanding of the alphabetic principle.

B. Phonemic awareness skills.

C. Development of letter-sound correspondence.

D. Word identification skills.

B. Phonemic awareness skills.

A beginner-level English Language Learner can consistently blend individual phonemes to make simple English words composed of two or three phonemes but is having difficulty blending the sounds of familiar single-syllable words composed of four phonemes (e.g., clip, trap, spin). Which of the following questions would be most important for the first-grade teacher to consider when addressing the needs of this student?

A. Are the target words in the student's oral vocabulary in English?

B. Does the student's primary language have consonant blends?

C. Can the student distinguish between short and long vowel sounds in English?

D. Do the target words have cognates in the student's primary language?

B. Does the student’s primary language have consonant blends?

A fourth-grade student reads on grade level and consistently scores very high on spelling tests that are part of weekly word study activities. However, the student often misspells the same words, and other familiar words, in everyday writings. The following table shows examples of typical errors the student makes on class writing assignments and in informal notes to friends.
GIRL- GRIL
INSTEAD- INTEAD
DECIDED- DECIDEDED
INDEPENDENT- INDEPEDNENT
INTERUPTED- INTERRUTED

The student's overall spelling performance suggests that the student most likely has a weakness in which of the following foundational skills?

A. Detecting syllable boundaries in words

B. Sounding out and blending letter- sounds to make words

C. Discriminating between a word's root morpheme and affixes

D. Segmenting and sequencing phonemes in words

D. Segmenting and sequencing phonemes in words

A preschool child picks up an unfamiliar book, opens it to the end, points to the text, and begins to "pretend read" the story. These behaviors suggest that the child most likely…

A. Has well-developed book-handling skills.

B. Knows where individual words begin and end.

C. Has developed an understanding that print carries meaning.

D. Understands the concept of print directionality.

C. Has developed an understanding that print carries meaning.

A preschool child draws a stick figure and makes some unintelligible scribbles around it. When she shows it to her teacher, she points to the scribbles and says, "This says 'I love mommy.'" This behavior suggests that the child most likely…

A. Is ready to learn the concept of letter-sound correspondence.

B. Is beginning to develop awareness that words are made of distinct phonemes.

C. Has a basic understanding of the alphabetic principle.

D. Has grasped the idea that the function of print is distinct from that of pictures.

D. Has grasped the idea that the function of print is distinct from that of pictures.

At the end of each school day, a preschool teacher encourages the children to talk about the day's events. As the children describe each event, the teacher writes it on large block paper. Afterward, the teacher reads the list back to the class. This activity would contribute to the children's literacy development primarily by promoting their:

A. Basic understanding of the alphabetic principle.

B. Awareness that speech can be represented by writing.

C. Basic understanding of word boundaries.

D. Awareness of the relationship between syllables and the spoken word.

B. Awareness that speech can be represented by writing.

A kindergarten teacher hangs labels on key objects in the classroom, puts up posters that include words and captions, and always has a big book on display for the children's use. This kind of classroom environment is most likely to help promote children’s…

A. Recognition that words are composed of separate sounds.

B. Recognition of high-frequency sight words.

C. Development of automaticity in word recognition.

D. Development of an awareness of print.

D. Development of an awareness of print.

A preschool teacher is reading a story to his class. As he reads, he holds the book so the children can see the words and pictures while his finger follows the line of print. This activity would contribute to the children's reading development primarily by:

A. Promoting their development of letter recognition skills.

B. Helping them recognize phonemes that occur frequently in print.

C. Developing their awareness of left- to-right directionality.

D. Promoting their understanding of letter-sound correspondence.

C. Developing their awareness of left-to-right directionality.

Pointing out the title, beginning, middle, and end of a book to a group of preschool children before reading the book aloud to them contributes to their reading development primarily by promoting their:

A. Understanding of text directionality.

B. Development of book-handling skills.

C. Understanding of the concept of schema.

D. Development of literal comprehension strategies.

B. Development of book-handling skills.

Which of the following strategies would be most effective in promoting kindergarten children's ability to recognize and name letters of the alphabet?

A. The teacher says the name of a letter while the children each trace its shape on a cutout letter.

B. The teacher posts the entire alphabet around the room in several different formats.

C. The teacher reads aloud to the children from books that contain mostly words that follow regular phonics patterns.

D. The teacher emphasizes the initial sounds of words when reading to the children.

A. The teacher says the name of a letter while the children each trace its shape on a cutout letter.

Having kindergarten children practice tracing the letters of the alphabet in sand is most appropriate for children who are having difficulty:

A. Internalizing the alphabetic principle.

B. Recognizing that print carries meaning.

C. Understanding the relationship between spoken and written language.

D. Developing letter formation skills.

D. Developing letter formation skills.

A preschool teacher shows a group of children pictures of everyday objects. Below each picture is printed the letter of the alphabet that corresponds to the word's initial sound. As the teacher points to each picture, she names the object, then she points to the letter underneath it and says the sound it makes. The teacher invites the children to repeat the sound with her. This activity is likely to contribute to the children's reading development primarily by…

A. Illustrating the concept of word boundaries.

B. Focusing on auditory discrimination skills.

C. Introducing the concept of onset and rime.

D. Demonstrating that phonemes are represented by letters.

D. Demonstrating that phonemes are represented by letters.

A kindergarten teacher wants to promote students’ understanding of the alphabetic principle. Which of the following would be the most effective first step in a sequence of instruction designed to achieve this goal?

A. Talk with students about selected consonants using a series of posters that each feature one consonant and contain pictures of items whose initial phoneme demonstrates that consonant’s sound.

B. Have students trace both lowercase and uppercase letters of the alphabet and then practice reproducing the letters on their own.

C. Talk with students about the title, beginning, middle, and end of a story and point to these parts while reading the story aloud from a big book.

D. Put labels on several familiar objects in the classroom and regularly read the labels aloud to students.

A. Talk with students about selected consonants using a series of posters that each feature one consonant and contain pictures of items whose initial phoneme demonstrates that consonant’s sound.