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WorksheetsTExES CORE Subjects 4-8 (211): ELAR (For Jan 2021 and beyond)
Total questions: 65
Worksheet time: 34mins
When addressing a large audience in a large auditorium, a teacher should encourage a student to:
speak more loudly and faster than normal.
end with a joke so the audience remembers the presentation.
over-articulate and emphasize key points in the presentation.
speak more loudly and more slowly than normal.
Transitional words and phrases are helpful in both spoken and written communication because they:
Select all answers that apply.
link ideas to each other.
join two sentence together
state the suthor's purpose clearly
indicate the flow of time nd events.
Mrs. Gosh is making a rubric for an oral presentation. She wants to ensure students have adjusted their communication to meet their audience. She could include appropriate gestures, tone, volume, and:
posture
word choice
topics
main point
An eighth-grade teacher writes two sentences on the board and asks students to combine them in the most coherent, logical way possible.
Combine:
The automobile raced down the road with little regard to those passing.
The well-mannered Great Dane sat calmly in the passenger seat.
Single Sentence:
The automobile raced down the road with little regard to those passing, but the well-mannered Great Dane sat calmly in the passenger seat.
This activity is likely to help
improve the students' ability to write and comprehend complex sentences.
improve the students ability to retain a sentence's meaning when combined.
improve the students ability to write qand comprehend compound sentence
improve the students' ability to make inferences about that comes next
What is a benefit of providing a rubric for self-evaluation of an oral presentation?
Students can understand what they could have done to earn the next level.
Grading goes more quickly, because all the content and areas are laid out with a corresponding grade.
The teacher can take a break from assessment and allow the student to grade himself.
Students are able to compare themselves to their peers.
Mr. Rick's classroom just received a new student from China. She speaks some English but her main language is Chinese. Her parents speak both Chinese and English in the home. Which accommodation would help her build her English oral language skills and ease the transition into an English-only classroom?
Bring material into the classroom that relates to her Chinese heritage.
Exclusively teach in English.
Allow her to read material that is written in Chinese.
Ask her parents to translate the assignments.
A middle-school teacher is preparing an oral language assessment for her students in which she plans to listen to and analyze students' oral language to assess strengths and weaknesses and the next steps to support growth. Which of the following skills would be appropriate to include in her rubric?
Select all answers that apply.
modifies speech, inflection and volume as approprite
understands and follows written directions
reads fluently and with correct pronunciation
uses a variety of sentence types and structures.
Johnny is a new student in Mrs. Clark's class. She notices that he is struggling to complete his assignments. After assessing his oral language skills, she places Johnny in the beginning level of language proficiency. Which activity could she ask Johnny to complete and expect him to do with success?
follow 3 step directions
use technical language while speaking
write sentences with varying grammatical
draw a picture to answer questions
Mr. Rockwell is a middle school teacher and has many ELL students in his class. He divides the ELL students into three separate heterogeneous groups with non-ELL students in each group and then gives each group a problem to solve. Which of the following is the greatest benefit to this exercise?
The students can divide up the problem and each one can do his part in a shorter time.
The ELL students can quietly learn proper sentence structure from the non-ELL students.
The students must talk and interact with each other to figure out the problem.
Each student can do his research on the Internet and complete his section.
An eighth-grade teacher reads her students Emily Dickinson's poem "Success," seen here:
Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of victory,
As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Break, agonized and clear!
The teacher asks which words in the poem are verbs. One of the students says success is a verb because the speaker succeeds in making a point. Another student says that success is a noun because it is simply an idea and the word comprehend is a verb. The class then discusses the points made by each student. This discussion could help students realize that:
recognizing roots and common affixes of words can help with decoding.
being cognizant of a text's narrative structure can help a student determine theme.
understanding the structure of language can assist with text comprehension.
determining a text's genre can help decipher the author's purpose.
An eighth-grade teacher reads her students Emily Dickinson's poem "Success," seen here:
Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of victory,
As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Break, agonized and clear!
The teacher highlights the lines "The distant strains of triumph / Break, agonized and clear" and asks students what Dickinson meant by this. A student says, "Sometimes it hurts to see others succeed, like to the point it breaks you." The student's answer shows an understanding of which of the following reading comprehension skills?
deciphering poems with a problem/solution text structure
analyzing unexpected syntax and sentence construction
applying knowledge from other content areas
recognizing the many failures the author has experienced
Maria, an English language learner, tells the teacher she is concerned the class will not understand her presentation because of her inability to pronounce words perfectly. Which of the following would be the most appropriate recommendation for the teacher to make?
Have Maria distribute a transcription of her speech to the class prior to the presentation.
Have Maria write out notes that indicate the correct pronunciation of the words.
Have Maria use images rather than notes so she can provide the class a visual representation of the topic.
Have Maria translate the speech into multiple languages.
Which of the following is a morpheme?
singing
write
girlfriend
unhappy
Which of the following activities would best allow students to practice expressive and clear speaking in front of an audience?
watch other students practice their speeches.
practice reading aloud in front of a mirror
read aloud in front of a small group
memorize a speech before presenting
In the context of an English Language Arts classroom, which of the following are examples of differentiated instruction?
Select all answers that apply.
whole class mini-lessons with built in time for questions at the end
consistent use of small-group instruction with lessons dependent on student need
literature circles with book options available at various reading levels
multiple-choice assessments with the opportunity to make corrections
The English and social studies teachers at Calhoun Middle School developed an interdisciplinary instructional unit where students will create a multimedia presentation on literary works by wartime soldiers. The teachers are concerned that many students will focus on the aesthetics of the presentation and not the quality of its content. The most effective strategy to address the concern would be to:
allow students to use a limited number of pictures and graphics in their presentation.
collaborate with the students to design a rubric of expectations upon which the students will be graded that defines the weight of the design in the grading process.
allow the students to submit a rough draft of their presentation and then provide feedback on the quality of the content within the submitted presentation.
create a list of websites for students to use as resources for their research.
When a speaker speeds up or slows their speaking speed to best fit their message and audience, they are adjusting their speaking:
rate
pitch
fluency
articulation
Jefferson had worked hard preparing for the speech he would be making at the NJHS Induction, in front of many parents, teachers, and peers. It was his last responsibility as NJHS President, and he was excited to welcome the new inductees who would take over the following school year. Prior to his speech, Jefferson had a slideshow playing on the projector that included picture of current NJHS students participating in community service projects throughout the year. Dressed for the occasion, he took the podium, speaking clearly and eloquently regarding the hard work put forth by these students in order to become new members. He went on to explain that the honor of being inducted came with a responsibility to positively represent the school and serve the community through their various services projects. At the end of his speech, one of his friends jumped up, clapping and hollering for him. At first, Jefferson laughed uncomfortably, but then took a couple celebratory bows, laughing as he waved off his friends.
In what way did Jefferson fail to meet the guidelines of good public speaking?
failure to make eye contact with audience members
demonstrating knowledge of the subject matter
inappropriate use of media
consistently presenting himself in a credible manner
Sally has an extensive oral vocabulary but is having difficulty in learning how to read, due to a reading disability. How is Sally's extensive oral vocabulary most likely going to help her as she learns decoding techniques for reading?
using syntax clues to determine the meaning of a word
using prefix and suffix clues to determine the meaning of a word
relating compound words to simple words already known
recognizing the meaning of a word after sounding out the word
Which of the following activities best promotes students' understanding of how oral language relates to literacy?
modeling the writing of words or phrases
utilizing ongoing assessments of vocabulary lists
practicing the development of a schema before stories are read
listening to a CD or a person reading orally
Mrs. Cates has assigned a group project that requires students to create multimedia presentations about a historical event that was an effect of the Civil War. The students' presentations contain many graphics and large fonts but lack quality content. Mrs. Cates decides that for future projects she will need to make an adjustment to the project requirements and expectations. Of the following, which would be the most effective strategy to promote quality content among student projects?
Allow students to choose the members of their group.
Engage the class in a discussion of how best to research historical events.
Provide a rubric with clear expectations and requirements.
Allow students to choose their project topic and the medium through which they present the material to the class.
Mr. Daniels has assigned his class a group project and wants to ensure the students understand the project as they complete it. Which of the following would be the best strategy to monitor student understanding during the project?
Observe the students from the front of the class.
Assign one group member to observe and report on the group members' understanding.
Provide a self-assessment questionnaire for students to complete after the group project is finished.
Walk from group to group while observing the students.
Which of the following is not an important element of effective oral presentations?
determining what you want the audience to know/learn
changing the rate, pitch, and rhythm when showing excitement, urgency, and/or strong emotion
reading a script for the oral presentation in order to ensure that you include all information
understanding exactly who is the audience
In a tenth-grade cross-curricular science/English project, students are asked to present a scientific concept from their recent studies to third-grade students from the local elementary school. These presentations will take place as a "science fair." Students are expected to first research and summarize the important information about their topic before creating their entries for the fair.
In order for the third-grade students to learn as much as possible, the tenth-grade students will need to accurately demonstrate which of the following speech benchmarks?
accurately use complex grammatical constructions
adjust language for context and audience
correctly use complex figurative language devices
use and form analogies
Students are presenting oral reports on books that they read over the summer. Which of the following would be most appropriate for students to include at the conclusion of their oral presentation?
an outline and explanation of the thesis statement
an open-ended question to get the audience's attention
a joke to build rapport with the audience
a summary of the main points
A candidate for class president begins his speech by sharing a short story of his first week at their school. What element of effective oral communication is the student incorporating into his speech?
articulating a clear purpose
establishing an effective tone
using anecdotes relevant to the audience
using audience appropriate language
Ms. Sanders is frustrated by students consistently using "u" instead of "you" and other shorthand in their writing. Which of the following would be the most effective way to encourage change in her classroom?
Take off points for each occurance of the error.
Accept that language changes over time and the use of "u" will likely become more and more common.
Teach a lesson about formal and informal writing, comparing academic writing to text message writing.
Call parents individually to discuss the frequency of this mistake.
Based on current research, what is the best way for ELL students to be grouped in a content area class for a discussion activity?
homogenous English-language levels and content-area knowledge
homogenous English-language levels and heterogenous content-area knowledge
heterogenous English-language levels and content-area knowledge
heterogenous English-language levels and homogenous content-area knowledge
Self-evaluation of oral presentations can be more effective and informative when combined with:
parent assessment of the same item
peer assessment of the same item
teacher assessment of the same item
a separate assignment that reviews the same topic
Mr. Michaels is working to improve the quality of discussions in his class. While he can usually count on having plenty of student share their ideas on a topic, they tend to simply share their answer instead of responding to or building on the ideas of other students. Which of the following strategies would help develop this skill?
Select all answers that apply.
Organize the room in a way that allows students to see each other while speaking, like a circle.
Provide direct instruction on appropriate ways to disagree with a classmate's comments.
Have students take notes on each other's comments.
Provide sentence stems that promote a summary of the previous speaker's thoughts.
Which of the following descriptions best describes the linguistic term language acquisition?
learning a first or second language as a process, either piece by piece, or through a total immersive experience
studying the construction of human sounds, such as those made through speech articulation, or those heard auditorily
studying the rules of a language, such as the way words combine to make sentences and longer phrases
learning about how languages gain meaning by studying grammar and the history behind certain words and phrases
When ELL students hear phrases such as, "It's raining cats and dogs outside," or "This is just a drop in the bucket," they may be confused, as they probably need to have specific instruction in:
semantics
phonetic strategies
segmentation
scaffolding
Which of the following is the greatest educational benefit of using collaborative learning groups and active learning activities in the classroom?
These methods address a variety of learning styles and allow students to take ownership of their learning.
These methods are easier and more exciting to teach.
These methods save paper and prevent the teacher from printing worksheets and notes.
These methods allow students to socialize and minimize disruptions during class.
What resource would be best for a teacher to use to help students interpreting body language in preparation for delivering a speech in class?
an article that explains variations in body language by age
a script from a familiar movie that includes cues for actors
a recorded scene from a musical that is played without audio
a radio recording of a well-known DJ during an interview
To enhance sixth-grade students' abilities in the area of oral communication and literacy development, a teacher might do all of the following EXCEPT:
have students engage in a debate using research supplied by students.
have students engage in a computer game that reads aloud and assesses comprehension.
have students engage in "reader's theater" after providing modeling and practice.
have students listen to audio of the correct phonetic pronunciations for new words while reading a text and then repeat the correct pronunciations for the teacher/class.
Ms. Johnson has implemented small, homogeneous, intervention groups in her class to provide instruction to students who have similar needs. This allows Ms. Johnson to invite individual students to join the group to work on a specific set of skills. Which of the following would be the best use of these intervention groups by Ms. Johnson?
to assess a specific group's content knowledge
to provide instruction to a minority of students who have not demonstrated mastery of a specific content objective
to assess the content mastery of the high-achieving students to ensure the instructional units do not progress faster than the students' capacity
to provide instruction to a minority of students who exhibit a noticeable lack of interest during instruction
Which of the following is the biggest benefit of requiring oral presentations for students?
providing practice in using morphemes, phonemes, and pragmatics
demonstrating how effective they are at literal and inferential comprehension
providing practice in pronouncing clearly, controlling grammar, and clarifying information
demonstrating their use of segmentation and syntax
Which of these abilities is the weakest connection between strong oral language skills and strong writing abilities?
the ability to use grammatical structures correctly
the ability to understand organization and text structure
the ability to decode new words in a text
the ability to write longer paragraphs about a topic
Pragmatics is:
the study of a word or symbol meaning
the study of language is its use
the smallest individual sound in a word
a term indicating the importance of ongoing assessment
Mrs. White has planned a field trip to a nearby history museum at the end of the month. Her sixth-grade class is made up of about 40% English Language Learners (ELLs), and the majority of the class will not have visited a museum before this trip. In order to best prepare her students for the trip and success with navigating the museum, which activity should she incorporate into her classroom activities?
buddy system for the museum
illustrating museum displays
role-playing activities
vocabulary flash cards
A tenth-grade English teacher is teaching her class some effective speech delivery techniques. Which of the following should she include?
Select all answers that apply.
use filler words to avoid silence
use formal, professional language
vary the cadence
pause to emphasize words.
Mr. Duke wants to break up his class into small groups for a discussion after a multimedia presentation. Mr. Duke has multiple English language learners in his class. Which of the following is the most important criteria for placing English language learners into groups?
Make sure the English language learners are placed in the same group so they are comfortable speaking and sharing ideas.
Make sure the English language learners are placed into various groups to promote vocabulary development.
Create homogeneous groups of similar academic abilities.
Create heterogeneous groups of similar academic abilities.
The smallest individual sounds in a word are called:
morphemes
pragmatics
phonemes
segments
Of the following, which is the most likely group structure for promoting English proficiency among English Language Learners?
homogeneous in English proficiency
Heterogenous in English proficiency
Heterogeneous in the home languages spoken
Group members consider one another as friends
Mr. Jameson notices that one of his English learners almost always adds the suffix "ion" when he wants to change a word to a noun, often resulting in made-up words. This student could use some extra practice with:
Language function
morphology
phonology
language register
In explaining a group problem-solving task, the teacher should always be sure to motivate and encourage students to be risk takers and use their creative thinking abilities. Which of the following lesson elements would be the most effective in achieving this goal?
The teacher states that in this scenario, there may be many good answers. There would not be one specific correct answer, but each group's creative response to the scenario must be grounded in facts as well as evaluated with the rubric by the whole team.
After stating and referring to the written assignment on the board, assigned teams will be expected to have solved the problem in a provided scenario when the set timer goes off after sixteen minutes.
Expectations are stated by confirming that the class will hopefully perform to a high standard due to their past performances in problem-solving.
Students are expected to complete a provided rubric to self-evaluate and defend their work as a group before the teacher provides the grade.
Precise language usage is generally more important for written communication than verbal communication. Which of the following is NOT a reason why?
The listener can use visual cues to determine the tone and meaning of a speaker.
The author's tone must be interpreted in written text, which could confuse a reader's perception of meaning.
Visual cues are available to help the reader determine tone and meaning with written text.
The reader can't ask clarifying questions in written text.
A middle school ESL teacher gives students the following worksheet
Instructions: Choose the correct form of the word.
1. If you are having trouble, Mary is very _______ (help).
2. Science is the most _______ (interest) subject.
3. You need to use your _______ (imagine).
The primary purpose of the worksheet is to provide instruction on:
stress
morphology
intonation
syntax
An author who has strong skills in clarity of writing will be able to do which of the following?
Select all answers that apply.
vary his sentence structure
use precise language specific to his audience
correctly cite sources when necessary
organize information and use transitional words
Ms. Smith is planning to incorporate active listening instructions and expectations into her daily routine. Which of the following would best reinforce actively listening in class?
At the beginning of class, have students complete a quick assessment to see what they remember from the previous day's lesson.
Include a specific, unusual instruction in the written instruction for an activity to see how many students are reading carefully.
After giving instructions for an activity or assignment, have each student summarize or paraphrase the instructions for their neighbor.
Provide purposefully contradicting information in verbal instructions and wait for a student to notice and ask for clarification.
Mrs. Kwasny is ready to begin a unit on public speaking. What way could she most effectively demonstrate and introduce good presentation skills?
Show short videos on topics the students are interested in where the speaker demonstrates good presentation skills.
Show short videos on topics the students are interested in that demonstrate good speaking and presentation skills, and then follow up with a discussion on what the speaker did well.
Show short videos where the speaker demonstrates volume, eye contact, and gesturing.
Give a lesson where the teacher demonstrates good and bad presentation skills.
Mrs. Lewis is a bilingual teacher and frequently encourages her students' parents to talk a lot with their children at home whether during chores, daily tasks, or shopping to help build their children's vocabulary. A parent contacts Mrs. Lewis wondering how increased conversation will help their child read. Which of the following would be the most appropriate response by Mrs. Lewis?
The development of a student's language skills are intertwined, and increasing the student's vocabulary will allow students to recognize more words while reading
It is the responsibility of the parent to incorporate reading skills with everyday activities
The student's reading skills will not be benefited by the parent's increased conversation with the student
As students are able to become more fluent and increase their vocabulary, they will naturally be inclined to read to use and exercise their knowledge
Mr. Sanchez's sixth-grade class is currently working on a research project about world cultures. Each student has been assigned a different culture to research and present their findings to the class. Mr. Sanchez notices many of his students, who are classified as English language learners, are nervous about their upcoming presentations because they are uncomfortable speaking in front of the class. Which of the following recommendations would be most appropriate for Mr. Sanchez to the students?
Each student practices in a small group and uses the feedback from the small group to improve their presentation.
Each student writes down their presentation and has a peer proofread it for grammatical errors.
Each student practices their presentation in front of a mirror to monitor their performance.
Each student records themselves and listens to their pronunciation.
When introducing new material and scaffolding for student's oral presentation skills, a teacher should be sure to:
model skills throughout the unit and lessons.
start with the easiest skill and build up to the most difficult.
allow for self-reflection and peer review.
build review into each lesson to ensure students are retaining previous skills.
A middle school teacher is designing a rubric to use when evaluating students' oral presentations. She is planning to focus the rubric on a few different categories. Which category would the following question fit into? Are the words spoken clearly and correctly?
volume
articulation
tone
rate
An English teacher is assessing the effectiveness of a class discussion on a recent reading topic. Of the following features, which should be cause for the most concern?
Students were not responding to other students' comments but rather repeating their own.
Students did not wait for other students to finish their ideas.
The teacher was not involved in the discussion, as students were addressing each other directly.
There was little agreement between the students on various topics.
Which of the following would most likely enhance the delivery of an oral presentation?
Give a strong introduction so that you won't need a strong conclusion.
Vary the rate of speaking, the pitch of your voice, the tone/quality of your voice, and the volume of your voice.
Use as many audiovisuals as possible in order to keep your audience attentive and entertained.
Ensure the inclusion of key points by reading from a script during the entire presentation.
An eighth-grade teacher would like her students to engage in small group discussions after reading each chapter in a novel. The teacher assigns students to groups, writes a list of topics on the board, and writes a list of roles for each group. After 15 minutes of group work, she discovers that only one group has selected roles and addressed the topics on the board. One group is still assigning roles, another group is discussing other aspects of the novel, and the last group is having an off-topic discussion.
Which of the following aspects of personal conduct expectations did the teacher fail to fully address prior to starting this activity?
questioning
respect
mutual intent
student to setudent discussion
Mr. Martin provides all of his students with a wide variety of listening and speaking activities and provides purposes for each of these activities. Which of the following would be an appropriate speaking activity for the entire class, including ELL students?
Listening to a story on a CD or DVD
Reading to a small group or a partner
Giving an oral report followed by the teacher or other students critiquing the report and presentation.
Participating in a dramatic play that emphasizes complex and unfamiliar vocabulary.
An eighth-grade teacher wants to improve how the students function in small groups. What is the best strategy for improving the functionality of the small groups?
After the students have completed the small group activity, the teacher should conduct an evaluation with the group to review their performance and identify ways to improve their collaboration in the future.
Have each student create their own idea of success for the group before the instructional activity begins, and the teacher can check the group work to see if the ideas of success are being met.
Have students choose their own groups.
Designate the most vocal student in the group to be the leader of the group.
What is the most important reason a speaker needs to plan for his specific audience before giving a presentation?
to use appropriate volume and tone during his speech
the skills used in a presentation are the same for any audience; this is not important
to ensure that subject matter is explained using terms and details the audience will understand
to ensure that he will not be nervous before or during his speech
When teaching a lesson on including direct quotes in student writing, Mr. Keating reminds students to include a dialogue tag when incorporating direct quotes. Which of the following describes a dialogue tag?
the colon or comma used between he said and the first quotation mark
the quotation marks placed around a quote
either italics or quotation marks to identify direct quotes
a phrase, like he said or she said
As a culminating activity for their literature circles, the teacher has asked her students to record short videos of themselves that introduce and recommend their books to next year's class. Once everyone has completed the scripts for their video, which of the following is the most important step before recording?
ensure their clothing is appropriate and professional
collect visual aides
practicing reading the script aloud
review their scripts to ensure they have not included too many details
A teacher wants to informally assess the speaking skills of her English learners (ELs). Which of the following activities would best achieve this?
Select all answers that apply.
Pulling aside each student individually to assess if they can correctly identify phonemes in a written text.
Asking students to record responses to a series of prompts that will later be analyzed and scored.
Asking each student to read part of a text aloud to the class.
Observing student speech, inflection, and volume as they converse with peers in small groups.
The use of technology can promote the development of communication skills in all of the following ways EXCEPT:
typing and allowing the computer to suggest grammatical and spelling mistake corrections.
allowing students to see or hear themselves presenting to understand strengths and weaknesses.
working as an effective intervention strategy for students struggling to use words and sentences.
modeling proper communication techniques for students through watching videos of others.
