STR Exam Terminology Questions With 100%
Correct Answers
A first-grade teacher conducts a brief screening assessment in which the teacher asks small
groups of students to spell four CVC words and one word with a consonant blend (e.g., bag, hen,
sit, mop, slug).
In addition to providing the teacher with information about students' knowledge of letter-sound
correspondences, this type of assessment would also provide information about students'
development in which of the following other areas related to emergent reading? - ✔️✔️Phonemic
Awareness because in this assessment students are representing phonemes (sounds) with
graphemes (letters). The number of graphemes a student writes and the sequence of the
graphemes provides insight into the students' phonemic awareness, specifically their phonemic
segmentation skills. If a student spells a CVC word with one letter that represents the beginning
sound, it indicates that the student most likely perceives only the initial or most salient sound in a
word. If the student spells a CVC word with both the beginning and ending consonants, this
suggests that the student can perceive the initial and final phoneme of a word. If the student
spells a target word with a beginning and an ending consonant along with a vowel in the middle,
even if it is the wrong vowel, this indicates the ability to perceive three sounds. Likewise, if a
student spells a target word that contains a blend (e.g., slug) using only three letters (e.g., sug),
this suggests that the student likely can perceive words with up to three phonemes but not four
phonemes. Thus, by analyzing students' spellings in this brief screening assessment, a teacher
can draw some conclusions about a student's ability to perceive phonemes in words (i.e.,
phonemic awareness). This information can help inform instruction in phonemic awareness to
support students' spelling and decoding development.
A prekindergarten teacher is preparing an introductory lesson focused on isolating/identifying
the initial sound in spoken words for a small group of children whose informal assessments
indicate that they are ready to learn this skill. The group includes an English learner.
Which of the following instructional supports would best promote the English learner's success
in achieving the instructional goal of this lesson? - ✔️✔️A. Selecting stimulus words for the lesson
that have sounds common to both English and the English learner's home language.
Option A is correct because when focusing on the skill of isolating/identifying phonemes
(sounds) in spoken words, English learners benefit from stimulus words that contain familiar
sounds. Research has shown that babies as young as ten months stop attending to and producing
speech sounds that do not occur in their home language(s). By the time children are school age,
they may require explicit instruction to be able to perceive phonemes that are not present in the
home language(s). By selecting words for instruction that have initial sounds that the English
learner can perceive and produce already, the teacher ensures that the English learner is on the
same footing as the English-speaking peers in the group; that is, the child has the same potential
to benefit from instruction.
, at => a/t
men => m/en
gum => g/um
Given the information provided, which of the following student activities would be most
appropriate for the teacher to include when planning differentiated instruction to promote the
students' growth in phonemic awareness? - ✔️✔️A. identifying and matching the initial, medial,
and final sounds of words represented by pictures
Option A is correct because the task described in this scenario-asking students to say each sound
in a word in the correct order—is an example of a phoneme-segmentation task. An analysis of
the students' responses to the target words suggest that the students can segment words into onset
and rime (e.g., g/um) but not into individual phonemes. The teacher needs to promote the
students' ability to perceive individual sounds in words at a skill level that is in between
onset/rime segmentation and phoneme segmentation. Having the students practice identifying the
initial, medial, and final sounds of words represented by pictures builds on what they can do to
move them to the next skill level along the phonological and phonemic awareness continuum.
A kindergarten teacher is planning instruction for a small group of students who have mastered
the letter-sound relationships for the consonants m, s, t, and p and for the short-vowel sound of
the letter a. The students also consistently spell words using both initial and final consonant
sounds in their daily writing.
Given this information, which of the following instructional activities would be most appropriate
for the teacher to use with these students to promote their transition to the next step along the
continuum of development of knowledge and skills related to the alphabetic principle? - ✔️✔️B.
introducing the students to early decodable texts featuring known letter-sound relationships and
modeling how to sound out the words
Option B is correct because the kindergarten students described in the scenario are able to spell
words with the letter-sound relationships they know. This suggests that they understand the
alphabetic principle and can perceive at least two phonemes in words. Because of the reciprocity
between encoding and decoding, the students are ready to begin reading early decodable texts
that feature the letter-sound relationships they know. They will benefit from teacher support
(e.g., modeling how to sound out words) to reinforce their understanding of the decoding
process. Typically, early decodable texts are designed so that students have the opportunity to
learn and apply one short-vowel sound at a time, with additional short vowels added into
successive texts systematically.
A prekindergarten teacher is planning instruction in letter-sound relationships for a group of
beginning-level English learners who have begun identifying and naming the letters of the
alphabet.
Which of the following strategies would likely be most effective to apply with this group of
children? - ✔️✔️C. employing articulatory feedback to help the children discover English letter-
sounds that are not in their home language and learn how to pronounce them
Correct Answers
A first-grade teacher conducts a brief screening assessment in which the teacher asks small
groups of students to spell four CVC words and one word with a consonant blend (e.g., bag, hen,
sit, mop, slug).
In addition to providing the teacher with information about students' knowledge of letter-sound
correspondences, this type of assessment would also provide information about students'
development in which of the following other areas related to emergent reading? - ✔️✔️Phonemic
Awareness because in this assessment students are representing phonemes (sounds) with
graphemes (letters). The number of graphemes a student writes and the sequence of the
graphemes provides insight into the students' phonemic awareness, specifically their phonemic
segmentation skills. If a student spells a CVC word with one letter that represents the beginning
sound, it indicates that the student most likely perceives only the initial or most salient sound in a
word. If the student spells a CVC word with both the beginning and ending consonants, this
suggests that the student can perceive the initial and final phoneme of a word. If the student
spells a target word with a beginning and an ending consonant along with a vowel in the middle,
even if it is the wrong vowel, this indicates the ability to perceive three sounds. Likewise, if a
student spells a target word that contains a blend (e.g., slug) using only three letters (e.g., sug),
this suggests that the student likely can perceive words with up to three phonemes but not four
phonemes. Thus, by analyzing students' spellings in this brief screening assessment, a teacher
can draw some conclusions about a student's ability to perceive phonemes in words (i.e.,
phonemic awareness). This information can help inform instruction in phonemic awareness to
support students' spelling and decoding development.
A prekindergarten teacher is preparing an introductory lesson focused on isolating/identifying
the initial sound in spoken words for a small group of children whose informal assessments
indicate that they are ready to learn this skill. The group includes an English learner.
Which of the following instructional supports would best promote the English learner's success
in achieving the instructional goal of this lesson? - ✔️✔️A. Selecting stimulus words for the lesson
that have sounds common to both English and the English learner's home language.
Option A is correct because when focusing on the skill of isolating/identifying phonemes
(sounds) in spoken words, English learners benefit from stimulus words that contain familiar
sounds. Research has shown that babies as young as ten months stop attending to and producing
speech sounds that do not occur in their home language(s). By the time children are school age,
they may require explicit instruction to be able to perceive phonemes that are not present in the
home language(s). By selecting words for instruction that have initial sounds that the English
learner can perceive and produce already, the teacher ensures that the English learner is on the
same footing as the English-speaking peers in the group; that is, the child has the same potential
to benefit from instruction.
, at => a/t
men => m/en
gum => g/um
Given the information provided, which of the following student activities would be most
appropriate for the teacher to include when planning differentiated instruction to promote the
students' growth in phonemic awareness? - ✔️✔️A. identifying and matching the initial, medial,
and final sounds of words represented by pictures
Option A is correct because the task described in this scenario-asking students to say each sound
in a word in the correct order—is an example of a phoneme-segmentation task. An analysis of
the students' responses to the target words suggest that the students can segment words into onset
and rime (e.g., g/um) but not into individual phonemes. The teacher needs to promote the
students' ability to perceive individual sounds in words at a skill level that is in between
onset/rime segmentation and phoneme segmentation. Having the students practice identifying the
initial, medial, and final sounds of words represented by pictures builds on what they can do to
move them to the next skill level along the phonological and phonemic awareness continuum.
A kindergarten teacher is planning instruction for a small group of students who have mastered
the letter-sound relationships for the consonants m, s, t, and p and for the short-vowel sound of
the letter a. The students also consistently spell words using both initial and final consonant
sounds in their daily writing.
Given this information, which of the following instructional activities would be most appropriate
for the teacher to use with these students to promote their transition to the next step along the
continuum of development of knowledge and skills related to the alphabetic principle? - ✔️✔️B.
introducing the students to early decodable texts featuring known letter-sound relationships and
modeling how to sound out the words
Option B is correct because the kindergarten students described in the scenario are able to spell
words with the letter-sound relationships they know. This suggests that they understand the
alphabetic principle and can perceive at least two phonemes in words. Because of the reciprocity
between encoding and decoding, the students are ready to begin reading early decodable texts
that feature the letter-sound relationships they know. They will benefit from teacher support
(e.g., modeling how to sound out words) to reinforce their understanding of the decoding
process. Typically, early decodable texts are designed so that students have the opportunity to
learn and apply one short-vowel sound at a time, with additional short vowels added into
successive texts systematically.
A prekindergarten teacher is planning instruction in letter-sound relationships for a group of
beginning-level English learners who have begun identifying and naming the letters of the
alphabet.
Which of the following strategies would likely be most effective to apply with this group of
children? - ✔️✔️C. employing articulatory feedback to help the children discover English letter-
sounds that are not in their home language and learn how to pronounce them
