Foundations of Reading: Objective IX

90. According to evidence-based practices, which of the following resources in a first-grade classroom best supports phonics instruction as a major component of reading instruction?

• decodable texts tied directly to the instructional scope and sequence of skills

• leveled texts considered to be at students' most accessible reading level

• predictable-patterned texts that are well supported by pictures

• themed alphabet books that accurately represent letter-sound relationships

91. A teacher is planning reading instruction for a small group of students who exhibit the following characteristics.

-The students can point accurately to words in predictable texts after listening to and following the teacher reading aloud and tracking the text several times using a big book format.

-The students can identify the beginning and final sounds of simple three-phoneme words presented orally and can sometimes identify a word's medial sound.

-The students have developed sound-symbols associations for the majority of consonant sounds and some vowel sounds.

-The students can read several high-frequency words in simple texts.

-The students can spell words with an accurate beginning consonant sound and

sometimes an accurate final consonant sound.

Given these characteristics, the students are most likely beginning to transition to which of the following phases of word reading?

• partial alphabetic

• full alphabet

• consolidated alphabetic

• consolidated grapho-syllabic

92. Early in the school year, a fifth-grade teacher analyzes the results of a developmental spelling survey to identify students' strengths and needs as spellers. Using this information, the teacher plans whole-group instruction for spelling elements and patterns the majority of students need to learn (e.g., fifth-grade-level prefixes and suffixes). However, some students have not yet mastered earlier spelling elements or patterns, while other students are ready to learn elements that are beyond the scope of the fifth-grade spelling curriculum. Which of the following approaches to spelling instruction would best address this diversity of skills?

• expanding the number of spelling elements addressed in whole-group instruction

• creating individual spelling lists for each student in the class

• providing differentiated spelling homework to the students who vary from the norm

• planning differentiated instruction using flexible grouping

93. A second-grade teacher works several times a week with a Tier 2 intervention group. At the beginning of the intervention, all the students in the group had strengths in oral reading fluency and challenges in text comprehension. As instruction proceeds, which of the following actions best aligns with key principles of a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) model of instruction?

• providing reading materials written at the most accessible level for the students

• adjusting instruction for individual students according to their responses to the intervention

• changing materials and resources frequently according to students' interests

• following a scripted intervention program verbatim with the students from beginning to end

94. Which of the following statements describes the most important reason for a fourth-grade teacher to assign a variety of high-quality trade books as a component of reading instruction?

• The themes typical of children's literature tend to reinforce students' development of literal comprehension skills.

• Reading across genres contributes to students' developing understanding of the structures and features of different texts.

• Simplified syntax and controlled vocabulary provide necessary scaffolding for students who are not skilled readers.

• Reading diverse texts promotes students' development of phonological and phonemic awareness skills.

95. A fifth-grade class silently reads an informational text. In subsequent informal assessments, several students are able to read the text orally with fluency, but they demonstrate poor overall comprehension of the text. The teacher could most appropriately address these students' needs by adjusting future instruction in which of the following ways?

• using informational texts that are written at the students' independent reading level

• providing the students with explicit instruction in grade-level-appropriate test-taking strategies

• introducing a text's key vocabulary and supporting the students in close reading of key passages

• emphasizing reading skill-building activities that focus primarily on narrative texts

96. A fifth-grade teacher is planning a literature study focused on how various elements of an author's craft are used to convey a poem's theme. The class includes students with a wide range of reading and language skills, including several advanced readers.

In an early lesson, the teacher distributes a simple short poem and a printed copy of the graphic organizer shown.

The teacher has students read the poem twice. First, they read it silently. Then, they follow along as the teacher reads the poem aloud. In keeping with evidence-based best practices in reading instruction, which of the following steps would be most effective for the teacher to implement next in this lesson?

• asking students to complete the portions of the graphic organizer that they understand and then correcting any misunderstandings

• having students work with a classmate to discuss the poem's theme before they complete the graphic organizer

• using think-aloud and questioning to complete the graphic organizer on the board with students' support

• providing students with a copy of a completed graphic organizer for them to use as an example

97. Over the course of the unit, the class reads and analyzes the themes of several, increasingly complex, grade-level poems. Near the end of the unit, the teacher will have students practice literary analysis skills on an unfamiliar grade-level poem. According to evidence-based best practices, which of the following differentiation strategies would be most appropriate for the teacher to use with advanced readers during this lesson?

• having advanced readers work independently at their own pace while other students work in small, heterogeneous groups to analyze a poem

• having all students work in small heterogeneous groups to analyze a poem, with advanced readers assigned a leadership role

• having all students work in small, homogeneous groups to analyze a poem at an appropriate level of complexity for the group

• having students work independently to analyze a poem, and having students who complete their work early analyze a second poem

98. A third-grade class includes students with delays in foundational reading skills. Two students also have delays in language expression and comprehension. The teacher is considering ways to best support the students' reading development. The teacher would also like to provide appropriate supports for the students during the planned biweekly whole-class close-reading routine, in which the teacher will engage the students in reading and rereading a variety of complex literary and informational passages.

The teacher wants to support the students with literacy delays in developing self-confidence and self-efficacy as readers. Which of the following strategies would be most appropriate for this purpose?

• instructing the students explicitly in how to use various word-reading and comprehension- repair strategies to solve reading challenges

• requiring the students to engage in more independent reading in the classroom and at home

• evaluating texts that will be used in reading instruction with the students for text complexity to ensure that the texts are always easily accessible

• balancing the students' exposure to authentic literary and informational texts in a diversity of genres

99. Which of the following guidelines for planning effective reading instruction for these students best addresses the evidence-based recommendation that foundational reading skills should be taught in conjunction with building a foundation for reading comprehension?

• providing sufficient time for the students to engage in sustained silent reading with self- selected texts in class to practice new skills and strategies independently

• using decodable texts to promote the students' ability to read a text with fluency while also selecting complex, grade-level texts for read alouds and text analysis

• utilizing state standards from lower grade levels in order to address gaps in the students' reading skills and accommodate their limited reading comprehension

• focusing more on modeling oral reading of texts with adequate expression to facilitate the students' comprehension than on developing their decoding or fluency skills