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

• a) Provide the student with a list of common English words to memorize
• b) Gain some basic familiarity with the sound system of the student’s primary language
• c) Ask the student to copy English sentences from the board
• d) Have the student listen to English stories every day

2) 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 with research-based practices, the most appropriate step for the teacher to take next in this lesson would be to:

• A. Ask students to identify other words that rhyme with "sat" and write them down.
• B. Teach the students to blend the sounds in the word "sat" slowly and continuously without pausing.
• C. Have students take turns reading the word aloud and use it in a sentence.
• D. Encourage students to look at the word and guess its meaning based on prior knowledge

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

• a) Ask the child to repeat a list of common words after hearing them.
• b) Say the sounds /s/, /e/, and /t/ separately, then ask the child to say them as one word.
• c) Have the child identify rhyming words in a nursery rhyme.
• d) Show the child a picture and ask them to name it.

4) Which of the following informal assessments would be most appropriate and effective to administer at the beginning of the school year to assess first grade students understanding of letter- sound correspondence

• a) Asking students to match uppercase and lowercase letters.
• b) Asking individual students to say the sound a letter makes as the teacher points to individual letters in a randomly organized list of letters.
• c) Having students write letters from memory
• d) Reading a short passage to students and asking them to identify familiar words.

5) 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 tape-recorded 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

6) 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?

• a) Assigning the student extra phonics homework.
• b) Having the student practice reading aloud daily.
• c) Conducting formal phonemic-awareness assessments with the student.
• d) Pairing the student with a more advanced peer for reading practice.

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

• A. Vocabulary and academic language continue to be significant factors that disrupt students' fluency.
• B. Students need ongoing practice to ensure they do not revert to decoding individual words.
• C. Developing fluency in reading aloud is more important than comprehension skills.
• D. Fluency only applies to fiction texts, so students need explicit instruction for nonfiction.

8. 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 does a dictation activity with a different set of words that follow the same pattern, and the students write down the words. This activity demonstrates the teacher’s awareness of the importance of:

• A. Encouraging students to memorize spelling patterns before applying them.
• B. Using writing activities to give students opportunities to apply phonics knowledge to new words.
• C. Having students use familiar words in creative writing assignments.
• D. Providing students with frequent opportunities to copy correctly spelled words.

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.

9. Prosody has which of these characteristics?

• a) Speed and pacing.
• b) Silent reading skills.
• c) sounds of natural speech.
• d) The ability to recognize sight words.