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Section 4: Sample Selected-Response Questions
Core Subjects EC–6 Subject Exam I—English Language Arts and Reading (901)

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This section presents some sample exam questions for you to review as part of your preparation for this Subject Exam. To demonstrate how a competency may be assessed, sample questions are accompanied by the competency that they measure. While studying, you may wish to read the competency before and after you consider each sample question. Please note that the competency statements do not appear on the actual exam.

For each sample exam question, there is a correct answer and a rationale for each answer option. The sample questions are included to illustrate the formats and types of questions you will see on the Subject Exam; however, your performance on the sample questions should not be viewed as a predictor of your performance on the actual exam.

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Subject Exam I Sample Questions

Competency 001—(Oral Language): The teacher understands the importance of oral language, knows the developmental processes of oral language, and provides students with varied opportunities to develop listening and speaking skills.

1. A fourth-grade teacher notices several students who are shy and reluctant to speak in class. What strategy would be most effective in motivating students' participation in class while enhancing their listening and speaking skills?

  1. Allowing students regular opportunities to read aloud in front of the class
  2. Giving students opportunities to share and listen to stories in a small-group setting
  3. Encouraging students to orally respond to higher-level thinking questions during class
  4. Permitting students to choose which groups of students they feel comfortable speaking to
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option B is correct because telling personal stories, listening to others' stories, and providing feedback and questions help build students' linguistic fluency, meaningful oral expression, confidence, receptive language skills, and listening comprehension skills. In addition, being in a small-group setting will put the students more at ease. Option A is incorrect because some students may feel frustrated or embarrassed about their limited speaking and reading abilities and will be too intimidated to participate. Option C is incorrect because some students may fear being ridiculed by others because of their limited speaking abilities or incorrect responses to questioning. Option D is incorrect because students should experience speaking in front of others who are not necessarily part of their preferred peer groups.

2. A fifth-grade teacher includes a read-aloud as part of the language arts block. Which of the following steps would be most appropriate for the teacher to take to help develop students' oral language skills and support students' comprehension of the read-aloud texts?

  1. Grouping students by reading level to complete differentiated activities related to the read-aloud texts
  2. Giving students multiple-choice questions about the main ideas and key details of the read-aloud texts
  3. Providing students with opportunities to use a think-pair-share strategy to discuss the read-aloud texts
  4. Determining students' language development levels before choosing the read-aloud texts
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option C is correct because engaging students in meaningful discourse about the text will develop their oral language skills as well as support their comprehension skills. Option A is incorrect because assigning various activities to students in homogenous groups will only support their current level of oral language skills. Option B is incorrect because this strategy targets textual elements that would support reading comprehension but does not allow for the development of oral language. Option D is incorrect because choosing an appropriate read-aloud text based on students' language development levels supports their reading comprehension but not their oral language skills.

3. A fourth-grade teacher has students write about a specific topic from the current social studies unit and discuss their written response with a group of classmates. The primary purpose for this type of activity is to develop the students'

  1. short-term memory.
  2. oral language skills.
  3. writing skills.
  4. comprehension.
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option B is correct because this activity prompts the students to discuss social studies topics orally which promotes their oral language skill development. Option A is incorrect because discussing a social studies topic that the students have already written about would support their long-term memory rather than their short-term memory. Option C is incorrect because the students are not discussing their writing skills; they are discussing the content of their written responses. Option D is incorrect because the activity focuses on discussing the students' written responses and the students' ability to synthesize the information. This activity would not measure comprehension at the depth-level required for the teacher to determine mastery.

Competency 003—(Reading Fluency): The teacher understands the importance of fluency for reading comprehension and provides many opportunities for students to improve their reading fluency.

4. Which of the following silent reading practices provides the best conditions for students' individual reading improvement?

  1. Engaging in sustained silent reading for an hour once a week while the teacher reads a book to model engaged reading behaviors
  2. Dropping everything and reading several times a week for 30 minutes while the teacher grades papers or prepares instructional materials
  3. Reading silently any time independent work has been completed early while the teacher keeps anecdotal records of student behaviors
  4. Participating in scaffolded silent reading for 20 minutes every day while the teacher confers with students individually about their reading
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option D is correct because students are receiving support through scaffolding. This could be in the form of mini-lessons, conferencing, dialogue journaling or other supports. Option A is incorrect because participating in sustained silent reading for an hour a week is not optimal. Furthermore, when the teacher provides little direction to the students in terms of reading material, there is no way to guarantee student success and participation. Option B is incorrect because there is no student accountability in this situation. The teacher may or may not model good reading behaviors, and the students are not expected to do anything but read. There is no way for the teacher to know if students are actually reading or just pretending. Option C is incorrect because while this is a good use of time if students finish early, it does not guarantee that every student will have the opportunity to read. Silent reading cannot be assigned haphazardly in school.

Competency 004—(Reading Comprehension and Applications): The teacher understands the importance of reading for understanding, knows the components and processes of reading comprehension, and teaches students strategies for improving their comprehension, including using a variety of texts and contexts.

5. During a unit on propaganda, a sixth-grade teacher asks students to evaluate short statements made in advertising materials and to attempt to detect any faulty reasoning. Which of the following levels of reading comprehension is primarily being targeted in the lesson?

  1. Literal
  2. Inferential
  3. Evaluative
  4. Appreciative
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option C is correct because evaluative comprehension includes the skill of detecting faulty reasoning. Students must apply what they have read to their own lives and knowledge of the world to make judgments about text. Option A is incorrect because literal comprehension requires students to understand plot elements and details about the text. Option B is incorrect because inferential comprehension requires students to read between the lines of the text to make inferences about cause and effect, moral lessons, and themes and to predict what may happen next. Option D is incorrect because appreciative comprehension requires students to develop their own feelings and opinions about a piece of text.

6. Fifth-grade students are preparing to read a short story about two children's visit to a New York City zoo. Which of the following activities is the best way to introduce the text to promote reading comprehension?

  1. Completing a KWL chart
  2. Listening to the story on audio
  3. Writing about their own experiences in New York City
  4. Identifying New York City on a map
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option A is correct because having students complete a KWL chart before and after reading the text helps build and activate background knowledge, which promotes reading comprehension. Option B is incorrect because while listening to a story on tape may help increase reading fluency, it does not tap into the students' schema to activate the necessary background knowledge needed to assist with reading comprehension. Option C is incorrect because many of the students may have not gone to New York City. Option D is incorrect because merely identifying the city on the map does nothing to build or activate prior or new knowledge, which is critical to reading comprehension.

Competency 005—(Vocabulary Development): The teacher knows the importance of vocabulary development and applies that knowledge to teach reading, listening, speaking, and writing.

7. When selecting vocabulary from magazine or newspaper articles used in instruction, which of the following methods is most effective?

  1. Selecting vocabulary based on the teacher's experience from previous years of instruction
  2. Asking students to identify words for further study when they read an article for the first time
  3. Using newspapers and magazines specifically made for school use, with bolded vocabulary terms
  4. Cross-referencing articles taught in class with district vocabulary lists to identify key words
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option B is correct because student selection of words for further study is the best way to ensure that the class is studying words that students will find useful and memorable. Option A is incorrect because the teacher may not select the best words based on hypothesis. As a teacher, one can determine some of the words students will struggle with, but there may be more common words that students do not understand. These are more important to study because they occur in written and spoken language more frequently. Option C is incorrect because it is not practical to only use magazines and newspapers created for school use. They can be expensive. Furthermore, truly authentic reading can be found in regular magazines and newspapers. Option D is incorrect because articles should not be selected simply because of their vocabulary. This process does not lend itself to selecting thought-provoking material that applies to whatever else is being studied in class. Rather, it requires the teacher to find sets of prescribed words regardless of the article's content.

8. As part of a unit in which students explore the most significant scientific discoveries in the last hundred years, a fifth-grade teacher wants to include activities that expand students' understanding of new vocabulary learned in the unit. Which of the following activities would likely be most effective for this purpose?

  1. Sorting newly learned words into labeled categories
  2. Working with a peer to memorize word meanings
  3. Recording definitions of unknown words in a journal
  4. Writing authentic responses that include the new words
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option D is correct because this approach allows students to use new vocabulary words to reflect upon relevant scientific content and enhances their ability to use the new words in context. Option A is incorrect because sorting newly learned vocabulary words into categories does not expand students' understanding of the words in scientific contexts. Option B is incorrect because memorizing word meanings does not allow students to understand the words' proper application within a scientific context. Option C is incorrect because recording definitions of unknown words in a journal does not provide students with an applicable context in which to use the new vocabulary words, and it limits their understanding to the definition level only.

Competency 006—(Reading, Inquiry, and Research): The teacher understands the importance of inquiry and research skills to students' academic success and provides instruction that promotes students' acquisition and effective use of these skills in the content areas.

9. Which of the following actions best represents the first step in the process students should use to interpret graphs and charts containing numerical information?

  1. Looking at the title, axes, headings, and legends to develop a sense of the content of the graph or chart
  2. Analyzing whether the type of graph or chart used is the best method of presenting the information given
  3. Determining the largest and smallest values represented on the graph or chart to get an impression of the data
  4. Comparing and contrasting the various areas of the graph or chart to determine high and low points of the data
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option A is correct because this is the previewing phase. Before analyzing any of the numerical data, students must be familiar with the content of the graph or chart. Option B is incorrect because this skill requires students to make a judgment about the graph or chart in question. Students cannot adequately do this until they have thoroughly analyzed the graphic. Option C is incorrect because before delving into the numbers represented by the graph or chart, students must understand the data being presented. Option D is incorrect because analyzing the numbers presented in the graph goes hand in hand with the option presented in choice C. Students cannot be expected to look at numbers in-depth until they understand the overall content of the graph or chart.

Competency 008—(Written Communication): The teacher understands that writing to communicate is a developmental process and provides instruction that promotes students' competence in written communication.

10. Third-grade students are assigned to write about their city after reading various texts about it. Which of the following types of writing will best allow the students to include academic vocabulary they learned from the reading?

  1. Rhyming poetry
  2. Autobiography
  3. Expository essay
  4. Fictional story
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option C is correct because the expository essay is the only writing example given that is not creative in nature. It is nonfiction that easily lends itself to the inclusion of academic vocabulary words. Option A is incorrect because rhyming poetry already includes restraints because of the rhyme scheme. It is difficult to incorporate given vocabulary words into this framework. Option B is incorrect because an autobiography is a retelling of something that happened in a student's life. It may be forced or difficult to integrate the required vocabulary words. Option D is incorrect because a fictional story would not lend itself to the inclusion of the assigned vocabulary words.

11. A teacher works with third-grade students to teach them the steps of the writing process. Currently, the students are writing sentences and paragraphs. Which THREE of the following steps of the writing process remain for the students to complete?

  1. Sharing or displaying the finished product
  2. Taking out or adding words or sentences
  3. Rewriting text to correct any mechanical errors
  4. Brainstorming ideas on a topic
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Options A, B and C are correct because these steps of the writing process all take place after a draft of writing is completed. Option D is incorrect because this step of the writing process takes place before writing sentences and paragraphs.

Competency 009—(Viewing and Representing): The teacher understands skills for interpreting, analyzing, evaluating, and producing visual images and messages in various types of media, including electronic media, and provides students with opportunities to develop skills in this area.

12. During a back-to-school night, an elementary teacher discusses the use of media in the classroom and at home. Which of the following suggestions is best for the teacher to make to parents regarding students' television viewing and Internet use at home?

  1. Viewing media with their children and discussing what they see and hear
  2. Preventing children from having any media exposure at home, since most of it will be of little academic value to children
  3. Trusting children to make their own choices about media but asking them to discuss these choices with the parents
  4. Requiring children to watch certain educational programs recommended by the teacher before they watch any other programs
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option A is correct because in this way, parents are helping their children develop their media literacy skills instead of merely dictating what children may or may not watch or listen to. Option B is incorrect because preventing children from exposure to any media will not teach children the skills that they need, nor is it realistic. Option C is incorrect because this represents too much freedom for most children. Furthermore, the older children get, the less likely they are to discuss what they view and hear with their parents, and this can lead to problematic behavior or ideas. Option D is incorrect because the media consumed at home should not be dictated by a teacher or anyone outside of the home. Families need to make decisions about media consumption for themselves.

13. A first-grade class studies animals and categorizes them as either sea animals, pets, zoo animals, or farm animals. The teacher wants students to create a visual to display their categories. Which of the following will best display the information?

  1. A flow chart
  2. A concept map
  3. A line graph
  4. A bar graph
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option B is correct because a concept map will allow students to categorize the animals more easily. Option A is incorrect because a flow chart is designed more to show the connection of ideas or a sequence of events. Option C is incorrect because a line graph would not be appropriate to display classifications or categories. Option D is incorrect because a bar graph would not be appropriate to display classifications or categories.

Competency 010—(Assessment of Developing Literacy): The teacher understands the basic principles of literacy assessment and uses a variety of assessments to guide literacy instruction.

14. Which of the following assignments best assesses students' use of quotation marks in writing?

  1. A journal entry describing the outcome of a science experiment
  2. A compare and contrast essay about two battles reviewed in social studies class
  3. A persuasive letter to the school board about the school dress code
  4. A personal narrative about a time that students disagreed with a friend
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option D is correct because this assignment lends itself to the use of dialogue, and therefore to the use of quotation marks. Option A is incorrect because this is an expository type of writing in which students must explain the steps they took and the outcome in a science lab. There is no need for quotation marks in this assignment. Option B is incorrect because students are listing facts about two battles and stating their similarities and differences. This does not require students to use quoted material, because this type of writing includes common knowledge that is available in any source. Option C is incorrect because there is no quoting necessary in this type of assignment. Students are giving their opinion, supported with various rationales from their own experience.

15. A fourth-grade teacher wants to help students become more aware of their literacy development and better monitor their progress in reading and writing. To best help students track their own development, the teacher should have students

  1. write as many grade-level vocabulary words by memory as they can within five minutes.
  2. complete a daily journal entry reflecting on what they have learned that day.
  3. set specific and individual goals regarding improvements they want to make.
  4. work with a partner to complete weekly running records.
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option C is correct because setting specific and individual goals will help students become more invested in their own learning and will provide them with a way to hold themselves accountable. Option A is incorrect because recording vocabulary words in a set period of time does not address literacy development, nor does it involve the students in their learning. Option B is incorrect because although a daily journal entry would help students reflect on what they have learned in a day, it does not allow them to keep track of their own learning. Option D is incorrect because a running record assesses decoding strategies only and requires detailed training to effectively utilize.

Clustered Questions

Use the information below to answer questions 16 and 17.

A first-grade teacher plans to use the following passage from a nonfiction text as the introduction for a series of literacy lessons about tigers. As part of the unit, students will use the nonfiction excerpt and other research to create their own stories about a tiger.

Passage
The tiger is a large cat found in Asia and parts of Russia. Most tigers are black, white and orange, although some are only white and black. They can run at speeds of 35 miles per hour, even though they are the largest species of cat.
Tigers can weigh 400–675 pounds, and their bodies can be up to nine feet long. Is your body as long as a tiger? Tigers are endangered in the wild, because people often destroy their forest homes. In the United States, tigers can be seen in zoos and wildlife preserves. Have you ever seen a tiger?

The following is the fictional story written by Jack.

Sammy the baby tiger lives at a zoo in Texas.
He like to play with his toy ball.
He also like to play with his bruther and sistur.

Competency 008—(Written Communication): The teacher understands that writing to communicate is a developmental process and provides instruction that promotes students' competence in written communication.

16. Which of the following text elements is most appropriate for the teacher to introduce in preparation for the writing assignment?

  1. Inclusion of illustrations
  2. Plot development
  3. Incorporation of facts
  4. Conflict resolution
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option B is correct because plot development is a characteristic of fiction text. Option A is incorrect because both fiction and nonfiction texts can have illustrations. Option C is incorrect because both fiction and nonfiction texts can include facts. Option D is incorrect because both nonfiction and fiction can have conflicts with resolutions. In addition, this text element would be inappropriate as a focus for this grade level.

Competency 008—(Written Communication): The teacher understands that writing to communicate is a developmental process and provides instruction that promotes students' competence in written communication.

17. Which of the following comments from the teacher best addresses the strengths and weaknesses of Jack's writing?

  1. You need to add an illustration to help the reader picture what the tiger cub is doing.
  2. You did a great job using punctuation at the end of each sentence to organize your thoughts.
  3. Have you considered using a dictionary to help you identify misspelled words?
  4. Have you considered adding more details to describe the tiger cub to complement the complete sentences you created?
Answer. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Option D is correct because it addresses the strengths and needs of Jack's writing. Option A is incorrect because it only focuses on a need. Option B is incorrect because it only focuses on a strength. Option C is incorrect because it only focuses on a need.
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