Subway to Highway 1

A first grade teacher considers ways to help a new student who is beginning English learner development skills, phonemic awareness, and knowledge of English sounds. Which of the following steps will be most important for the teacher to take first?

• Collecting a set of simple rhyming poems in English to practice reciting with the student.

• Preparing a list of simple English words with different vowel sounds for the student to study.

• Gaining some familiarity with the sound system of the student's primary "native" language

• Making a study tape for the student by recording an oral reading of high-frequency English words.

A first-grade teacher leads a small group of beginning readers in a lesson focused on decoding simple words composed of letters that students have learned to sound out in isolation. The teacher begins by writing the word "sat" on the board. In keeping the research-based practices, the most appropriate step for the teacher to take next in this lesson would be to:

• Teach the student to blend the sounds in the word 'sat' slowly and continuously without pausing.

• Ask the students to suggest words they know that rhyme with sat and write these words on the board.

• Teach students to first silently scan all the letters in the word sat and then pronounce the word aloud.

• Have the students practice identifying the word sat in a variety of texts.

Which of the following strategies would best help a kindergarten teacher assess a student's ability to blend phonemes?

• Say the words set, pet, and mp, then ask the child which one sounds different.

• Say the words /s/, /e/, and /t/ separately, then ask the child to say them as one word.

• Say the words sat, set, and sit then ask the child to say them with /m/ in place of /s/.

• Say the word set, then ask the child to tap once for each sound the word contains.

Which of the following informal assessments would be most appropriate to use to assess an individual student's phonemic awareness?

• Asking the student to identify the sound at the beginning, middle, and end of a spoken word (e.g., "What sound do you hear at the end of step?"

• Having the student listen to a tape-recorded story while looking at the book and then answer several simple questions.

• Asking the student to identify letters in the alphabet that correspond to the initial consonant sounds of several familiar spoken words.

• Having the students 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.

• Have students segment the sounds in the word 'cat'

  /c/ /a/ /t/ in order.

What strategy is best used to teach phonemic awareness?

• Saying the alphabet aloud

• Sing "Old McDonald"

• Say the individual sounds of a word.

A student who joins a first-grade classroom in October performs poorly on a phonemic-awareness activity. To address this student's reading needs, which of the following steps would be most important for the teacher to take first?

• Engaging the student in a variety of beginning phonics games and activities.

• Consulting informally with the special education teacher to see if the student might benefit from an individualized education program.

• Conducting formal phonemic awareness assessments with the student.

• Making immediate plans for a sequence of differentiated instruction for the student in phonemic -awareness skills.

Which of the following statements best explain why students continue to need systematic, explicit instruction to support and promote fluency even after they have achieve automaticity?

• Vocabulary and academic language continues to be significant factors that disrupt students' fluency.

• Students need continued guided practice in basic phonic patters and elements.

• Students need continued guided practice in basic word identification skills.

• High frequency irregular sight words continue to be significant factors that disrupt students fluency.

A third grade teacher develops a word list from a small group of students that includes words representing complex phonics patterns. After reviewing the list with students, the teacher allowed a different set of words that follow the same pattern and the student wrote down the word. This activity demonstrates the teachers awareness of the importance of which of the following:

• Developing students recognition of common syllable patterns to support accurate reading and writing

• Helping students understand use of invented spelling to reinforce their phonic skills and foster self expression.

• Using writing activities to apply phonics knowledge to new words.

A first grade teacher provides students with explicit, systematic phonics instruction to promote their reading development. When designing activities to teach letter-sound correspondence, the teacher should:

• Provide opportunities for students to practice sounds in context after studying the sounds in isolation.

• Make certain that students have mastered vowel sounds before focusing on consonants.

• Ensure that students master the spelling of practice words using the target sound before teaching a new sound.

• Provide reading opportunity for student to whisper read.

• Include instruction in related consonant blends when introducing individual consonants.

Prosody has which of the following characteristics:

• Reading with excitement and correct intonation like teachers do. A good strategy is choral reading.

• Variation in pitch and intonation.

• Pronunciation of phonemes

• Reading at a rapid rate

• Co-articulation of word boundaries.