MTTC TEST (LOWER ELEMENTARY
TEST #118) EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT ANSWERS
First-grade students work in small groups using letter tiles to sound out and build
decodable, high-frequency words that the teacher taught in a whole-group lesson.
Which of the following areas of early literacy is most directly supported by this activity?
A. invented spelling
B. phoneme segmenting
C. basic concepts of print
D. letter-sound correspondence - Answer-A. Invented spelling is when students use the
sounds they hear to write words phonetically.
B. Phoneme segmenting is separating words into their individual sounds.
C. Concepts of print is the knowledge that print carries meaning and the understanding
that print is organized in a specific way.
D. CORRECT. Letter-sound correspondence is the relationship of letters and the
sounds they produce, and this activity has students using their letter-sound knowledge
to build words with letter tiles.
A small group of second-grade students is able to read a list of teacher-provided words
(e.g., bookend, contest, market, paper) that will be included in an assigned text. The
students are likely in which of the following stages of word recognition according to
Ehri's model?
A. consolidated alphabetic
B. partial alphabetic
C. pre-alphabetic
D. full alphabetic - Answer-A. CORRECT. In the consolidated alphabetic stage, students
use chunks of words to decode, and they understand larger units (e.g., word families,
affixes) that recur in words while they continue to develop automaticity with sight-word
vocabulary.
,B. In the partial alphabetic stage, students recognize some letters of the alphabet and
demonstrate early phonological and phonemic awareness skills (e.g., syllables, onset-
rime, initial sound match).
C. In the pre-alphabetic stage, students know general print concepts and can recognize
incidental visual features of words, but they do not possess letter-sound
correspondence skills.
D. In the full alphabetic stage, students have a working knowledge of most letter-sound
correspondence and phonemic awareness: they can use decoding skills to read
unfamiliar words with three to four sounds and begin to recognize sight words
automatically.
During reading groups, a third-grade teacher notices that a number of students have
difficulty understanding the words evolution and biodiversity found in a life science text.
Which of the following strategies is most likely to support the students in their ability to
make meaning out of these complex content-specific vocabulary words?
A. asking the students to use prior knowledge of the topic they are learning about to
determine the words' meanings
B. providing instruction to the students on how to use dictionaries and online sources to
look up the words' definitions
C. having the students do a think-pair-share in which they discuss possible definitions
for the words using context clues
D. conducting a mini-lesson with the students on ways to use their knowledge of roots
and affixes to construct meaning - Answer-A. Prior knowledge is the information that
students already have before the activity; since the students do not understand the
target words, they do not appear to have prior knowledge.
B. While students can use dictionaries and other online sources to look up definitions, it
is more effective to help them learn the target words' roots so they can transfer this
knowledge to other similar words in the future.
C. Think-pair-share is used to give students opportunities to share their thoughts and
understandings while fostering social skills; however, it is not the most effective way to
learn accurate word definitions.
D. CORRECT. The target words have clear Greek and Latin roots and affixes, so
teaching these word parts will support students in understanding many words beyond
the target words.
10. A third-grade teacher reviews a student's composition for errors. Which of the
following sentences from the student's composition demonstrates an error in syntax?
, A. With my friend my vacation I went to the beach on.
B. I swam to the beach and so did my best friend.
C. In the sun we ate soft ice cream at the beach.
D. I had fun swimming with the beach. - Answer-A. CORRECT. Syntax refers to the
rules that determine the order or arrangement of words and phrases to form proper
sentences, and the order of the words in this sentence is not grammatically correct
(e.g., I went with my friend to the beach on my vacation).
B. The syntax in this sentence is correct; this is an example of a compound sentence.
C. The syntax of this sentence is correct, even though the phrases in the sentence are
not in the order in which they would normally be spoken.
D. This sentence has a preposition error rather than a syntactical error; at should
replace with in the sentence.
A third-grade teacher wants to improve the fluency of students as they read grade-level
passages that are part of the curriculum. Which of the following student activities would
likely be most effective in helping the students become more fluent readers?
A. using flash cards to increase students' recognition of words from the passages
B. reading passages that are just above students' independent reading levels
C. discussing the readings in small groups to better understand the content
D. reflecting on reading performance after repeated readings of passages - Answer-A.
Flash cards will increase the number of words recognized; however, that does not mean
students will become more fluent readers.
B. To build fluency, students should read at, rather than above, independent level and
know most of the words in the passages, so that they do not have to stop to decode
words as they read.
C. While an understanding of content may be necessary for developing strong fluency,
the teacher's primary goal is to improve students' speed, accuracy, and proper
expression as they read.
D. CORRECT. Rereading a text is a strategy to build fluency, and the teacher's practice
of having students reflect on how their reading improved after repeated readings helps
them use metacognitive strategies to increase their fluency.
TEST #118) EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT ANSWERS
First-grade students work in small groups using letter tiles to sound out and build
decodable, high-frequency words that the teacher taught in a whole-group lesson.
Which of the following areas of early literacy is most directly supported by this activity?
A. invented spelling
B. phoneme segmenting
C. basic concepts of print
D. letter-sound correspondence - Answer-A. Invented spelling is when students use the
sounds they hear to write words phonetically.
B. Phoneme segmenting is separating words into their individual sounds.
C. Concepts of print is the knowledge that print carries meaning and the understanding
that print is organized in a specific way.
D. CORRECT. Letter-sound correspondence is the relationship of letters and the
sounds they produce, and this activity has students using their letter-sound knowledge
to build words with letter tiles.
A small group of second-grade students is able to read a list of teacher-provided words
(e.g., bookend, contest, market, paper) that will be included in an assigned text. The
students are likely in which of the following stages of word recognition according to
Ehri's model?
A. consolidated alphabetic
B. partial alphabetic
C. pre-alphabetic
D. full alphabetic - Answer-A. CORRECT. In the consolidated alphabetic stage, students
use chunks of words to decode, and they understand larger units (e.g., word families,
affixes) that recur in words while they continue to develop automaticity with sight-word
vocabulary.
,B. In the partial alphabetic stage, students recognize some letters of the alphabet and
demonstrate early phonological and phonemic awareness skills (e.g., syllables, onset-
rime, initial sound match).
C. In the pre-alphabetic stage, students know general print concepts and can recognize
incidental visual features of words, but they do not possess letter-sound
correspondence skills.
D. In the full alphabetic stage, students have a working knowledge of most letter-sound
correspondence and phonemic awareness: they can use decoding skills to read
unfamiliar words with three to four sounds and begin to recognize sight words
automatically.
During reading groups, a third-grade teacher notices that a number of students have
difficulty understanding the words evolution and biodiversity found in a life science text.
Which of the following strategies is most likely to support the students in their ability to
make meaning out of these complex content-specific vocabulary words?
A. asking the students to use prior knowledge of the topic they are learning about to
determine the words' meanings
B. providing instruction to the students on how to use dictionaries and online sources to
look up the words' definitions
C. having the students do a think-pair-share in which they discuss possible definitions
for the words using context clues
D. conducting a mini-lesson with the students on ways to use their knowledge of roots
and affixes to construct meaning - Answer-A. Prior knowledge is the information that
students already have before the activity; since the students do not understand the
target words, they do not appear to have prior knowledge.
B. While students can use dictionaries and other online sources to look up definitions, it
is more effective to help them learn the target words' roots so they can transfer this
knowledge to other similar words in the future.
C. Think-pair-share is used to give students opportunities to share their thoughts and
understandings while fostering social skills; however, it is not the most effective way to
learn accurate word definitions.
D. CORRECT. The target words have clear Greek and Latin roots and affixes, so
teaching these word parts will support students in understanding many words beyond
the target words.
10. A third-grade teacher reviews a student's composition for errors. Which of the
following sentences from the student's composition demonstrates an error in syntax?
, A. With my friend my vacation I went to the beach on.
B. I swam to the beach and so did my best friend.
C. In the sun we ate soft ice cream at the beach.
D. I had fun swimming with the beach. - Answer-A. CORRECT. Syntax refers to the
rules that determine the order or arrangement of words and phrases to form proper
sentences, and the order of the words in this sentence is not grammatically correct
(e.g., I went with my friend to the beach on my vacation).
B. The syntax in this sentence is correct; this is an example of a compound sentence.
C. The syntax of this sentence is correct, even though the phrases in the sentence are
not in the order in which they would normally be spoken.
D. This sentence has a preposition error rather than a syntactical error; at should
replace with in the sentence.
A third-grade teacher wants to improve the fluency of students as they read grade-level
passages that are part of the curriculum. Which of the following student activities would
likely be most effective in helping the students become more fluent readers?
A. using flash cards to increase students' recognition of words from the passages
B. reading passages that are just above students' independent reading levels
C. discussing the readings in small groups to better understand the content
D. reflecting on reading performance after repeated readings of passages - Answer-A.
Flash cards will increase the number of words recognized; however, that does not mean
students will become more fluent readers.
B. To build fluency, students should read at, rather than above, independent level and
know most of the words in the passages, so that they do not have to stop to decode
words as they read.
C. While an understanding of content may be necessary for developing strong fluency,
the teacher's primary goal is to improve students' speed, accuracy, and proper
expression as they read.
D. CORRECT. Rereading a text is a strategy to build fluency, and the teacher's practice
of having students reflect on how their reading improved after repeated readings helps
them use metacognitive strategies to increase their fluency.
