TEXES 293 Science of Teaching Reading
UPDATED ACTUAL Exam Questions and
CORRECT Answers
A first-grade teacher uses the video/recording feature of an iPad device to record her students
retelling stories that they have read. After the students retells the story, the student and teacher
listen to the retelling and discuss the content. Which of the following best describes this practice?
A. The teacher was assessing listening comprehension
B. The teacher was teaching the story elements
C. The teacher was promoting prosody
D. The teacher was using technology to support students' motivation to read - CORRECT
ANSWER - D. The teacher was using technology to support students' motivation to read
Mrs. Smythe's kindergarten class is working on phonological awareness. Which of the following
skills should she emphasize FIRST with her students?
A. Recognizing and counting syllables in a word
B. Recognizing the initial sound of a spoken word
C. Making up a story while looking at pictures
D. Learning that the English language is read from left to right - CORRECT ANSWER -
A. Recognizing and counting syllables in a word
A second grade teacher points to the word "grain" on the board, underlines the letters "ai" in the
middle of the word, and pronounces the word /grraaan/, emphasizing the long "a" sound. She
explains to the class that when two vowels appear between two consonants, readers should
pronounce the long vowel sound in the first vowel. Then she repeats the steps with other similar
words providing multiple opportunities for students to practice. Which of the following concepts
is the teacher primarily addressing?
A. Phonemic awareness
,B. Alphabetic principle
C. Fluency
D. Schema - CORRECT ANSWER - B. Alphabetic principle
Based on current research, which of the following is NOT important in the selection of materials
for teaching the alphabetic principle?
A. Are more frequent used letter-sound correspondences taught before less frequently used
letters?
B. Does the order of letter sound introduction lead to the blending and decoding of words
quickly?
C. Are auditorily and visually similar letter sounds introduced separately?
D. Does the program limit the number of letter-sound correspondences taught to one per week? -
CORRECT ANSWER - D. Does the program limit the number of letter-sound
correspondences taught to one per week?
Being able to connect speech sounds with the printed letters they represent us a description of -
A. Phonemic awareness
B. Structural analysis
C. Phonics
D. Comprehension - CORRECT ANSWER - C. Phonics
Which of the following instructional activities does NOT encourage development of print
awareness in school children?
A. Teaching a lesson about the parts of a book (cover, title page, author, illustrator)
B. Using a "big book" to read a story aloud
C. Demonstrating the motions to the song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
,D. Helping a student write his name - CORRECT ANSWER - C. Demonstrating the
motions to the song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
A preschool teacher wants to assess a child's concept of print. The teacher begins by allowing the
child to examine a children's book and then asks the child some simple questions. Which of the
following teacher questions would be MOST appropriate in this context?
A. What do you think this book is about?
B. Can you tell me what sound any of these letters make?
C. What can you tell me about how books work?
D. Can you show me where to start reading? - CORRECT ANSWER - D. Can you show
me where to start reading?
A teacher is creating a list of high-frequency, irregular sight words. Which of the following sets
of words would be appropriate to include in the list?
A. Jump, sale, moon
B. Thank, mine, seen
C. Have, mother, been
D. Back, store, down - CORRECT ANSWER - C. Have, mother, been
In general, the BEST strategy for helping beginning readers identify function words such as "to",
"the", and "of" would be to -
A. Encourage students to apply phonic analysis to such words
B. Provide instruction in the use of context clues
C. Develop students' structural analysis skills
D. Teach such words as sight vocabulary - CORRECT ANSWER - D. Teach such words
as sight vocabulary
, A third-grade teacher wants to broaden students' understanding of their own culture and the
cultures of others through the reading of literary texts. Which of the following strategies would
MOST effectively address this goal?
A. Students research a well-known author from a different culture and write a report about the
author's life and works
B. The teacher reads aloud and discusses passages selected from a variety of literary texts written
by authors who have diverse cultural backgrounds
C. Students read folk tales and other literature from various cultures and discuss the similarities
and differences
D. The teacher includes a variety of texts by diverse authors in the classroom library and
provides frequent opportunities for students to read independently - CORRECT
ANSWER - C. Students read folk tales and other literature from various cultures and
discuss the similarities and differences
Which of the following instructional activities for fourth graders would BEST prepare students
to understand the concept of literary theme?
A. Students work in small groups to prepare a dramatic enactment of a meaningful scene from a
story students have read
B. Students read familiar fables and fairy tales and the teacher guides students to discuss the
moral or meaning of each story
C. Students read an age-appropriate story and then work with a partner to list meaningful events
and central characters in the story
D. Students read the first half of a story, outline the sequence of events, and then predict what the
moral of the story will be - CORRECT ANSWER - B. Students read familiar fables and
fairy tales and the teacher guides students to discuss the moral or meaning of each story
A prekindergarten teacher is preparing an introductory lesson focusing on isolating/identifying
the initial sound in spoken words for a small group of children whose informal assessments
indicate 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?
UPDATED ACTUAL Exam Questions and
CORRECT Answers
A first-grade teacher uses the video/recording feature of an iPad device to record her students
retelling stories that they have read. After the students retells the story, the student and teacher
listen to the retelling and discuss the content. Which of the following best describes this practice?
A. The teacher was assessing listening comprehension
B. The teacher was teaching the story elements
C. The teacher was promoting prosody
D. The teacher was using technology to support students' motivation to read - CORRECT
ANSWER - D. The teacher was using technology to support students' motivation to read
Mrs. Smythe's kindergarten class is working on phonological awareness. Which of the following
skills should she emphasize FIRST with her students?
A. Recognizing and counting syllables in a word
B. Recognizing the initial sound of a spoken word
C. Making up a story while looking at pictures
D. Learning that the English language is read from left to right - CORRECT ANSWER -
A. Recognizing and counting syllables in a word
A second grade teacher points to the word "grain" on the board, underlines the letters "ai" in the
middle of the word, and pronounces the word /grraaan/, emphasizing the long "a" sound. She
explains to the class that when two vowels appear between two consonants, readers should
pronounce the long vowel sound in the first vowel. Then she repeats the steps with other similar
words providing multiple opportunities for students to practice. Which of the following concepts
is the teacher primarily addressing?
A. Phonemic awareness
,B. Alphabetic principle
C. Fluency
D. Schema - CORRECT ANSWER - B. Alphabetic principle
Based on current research, which of the following is NOT important in the selection of materials
for teaching the alphabetic principle?
A. Are more frequent used letter-sound correspondences taught before less frequently used
letters?
B. Does the order of letter sound introduction lead to the blending and decoding of words
quickly?
C. Are auditorily and visually similar letter sounds introduced separately?
D. Does the program limit the number of letter-sound correspondences taught to one per week? -
CORRECT ANSWER - D. Does the program limit the number of letter-sound
correspondences taught to one per week?
Being able to connect speech sounds with the printed letters they represent us a description of -
A. Phonemic awareness
B. Structural analysis
C. Phonics
D. Comprehension - CORRECT ANSWER - C. Phonics
Which of the following instructional activities does NOT encourage development of print
awareness in school children?
A. Teaching a lesson about the parts of a book (cover, title page, author, illustrator)
B. Using a "big book" to read a story aloud
C. Demonstrating the motions to the song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
,D. Helping a student write his name - CORRECT ANSWER - C. Demonstrating the
motions to the song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
A preschool teacher wants to assess a child's concept of print. The teacher begins by allowing the
child to examine a children's book and then asks the child some simple questions. Which of the
following teacher questions would be MOST appropriate in this context?
A. What do you think this book is about?
B. Can you tell me what sound any of these letters make?
C. What can you tell me about how books work?
D. Can you show me where to start reading? - CORRECT ANSWER - D. Can you show
me where to start reading?
A teacher is creating a list of high-frequency, irregular sight words. Which of the following sets
of words would be appropriate to include in the list?
A. Jump, sale, moon
B. Thank, mine, seen
C. Have, mother, been
D. Back, store, down - CORRECT ANSWER - C. Have, mother, been
In general, the BEST strategy for helping beginning readers identify function words such as "to",
"the", and "of" would be to -
A. Encourage students to apply phonic analysis to such words
B. Provide instruction in the use of context clues
C. Develop students' structural analysis skills
D. Teach such words as sight vocabulary - CORRECT ANSWER - D. Teach such words
as sight vocabulary
, A third-grade teacher wants to broaden students' understanding of their own culture and the
cultures of others through the reading of literary texts. Which of the following strategies would
MOST effectively address this goal?
A. Students research a well-known author from a different culture and write a report about the
author's life and works
B. The teacher reads aloud and discusses passages selected from a variety of literary texts written
by authors who have diverse cultural backgrounds
C. Students read folk tales and other literature from various cultures and discuss the similarities
and differences
D. The teacher includes a variety of texts by diverse authors in the classroom library and
provides frequent opportunities for students to read independently - CORRECT
ANSWER - C. Students read folk tales and other literature from various cultures and
discuss the similarities and differences
Which of the following instructional activities for fourth graders would BEST prepare students
to understand the concept of literary theme?
A. Students work in small groups to prepare a dramatic enactment of a meaningful scene from a
story students have read
B. Students read familiar fables and fairy tales and the teacher guides students to discuss the
moral or meaning of each story
C. Students read an age-appropriate story and then work with a partner to list meaningful events
and central characters in the story
D. Students read the first half of a story, outline the sequence of events, and then predict what the
moral of the story will be - CORRECT ANSWER - B. Students read familiar fables and
fairy tales and the teacher guides students to discuss the moral or meaning of each story
A prekindergarten teacher is preparing an introductory lesson focusing on isolating/identifying
the initial sound in spoken words for a small group of children whose informal assessments
indicate 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?
