STR Exam Questions and Correct Answers
Updated
Question 1
A science teacher is selecting a vocabulary list of tier two words to cover in their first
unit of the school year. Which set of words is most likely to be included on that list?
Correct Answer
analyze, describe, identify
Tier two words are high-frequency academic words. Analyze, describe, and identify
are all words that are common to the academic world but not specific to only one
subject.
Question 2
With the goal of improving her student's vocabulary and reading comprehension, a
second-grade teacher is planning a lesson to teach her students about the
relationships between words. She writes the words enormous, huge, and large on the
board. What type of word relationship is she going to cover first?
Correct Answer
synonyms
Synonyms are words with the same or similar meaning. Since the examples she
writes are all synonyms for "big," it's most likely that she will be starting the lesson
by discussing synonyms.
Page 1 of 155
,Question 3
At the beginning of the school year, a kindergarten teacher informally assesses
students' awareness of print concepts, specifically text directionality. Children often
naturally develop an understanding of this concept as they are read to by parents or
other caretakers even before beginning traditional schooling, but she determines that
some of her students have not yet grasped this concept.
Which of the following demonstrates the best way for her to differentiate in order to
support their development of this skill?
Correct Answer
Combine direct instruction over text directionality with frequent modeling through
read alouds.
Combining direct instruction with modeling is the best way to differentiate for these
students.
Question 4
A teacher is planning a phonics lesson for her class of third graders. Based on the
TEKS for English Language Arts and Reading, which of the following skills is most
likely to be the focus of this phonics lesson?
Correct Answer
the sound-spelling pattern that occurs in words like, thought, tough, through,
cough, and bought
Question 5
A kindergarten teacher wants students to apply new alphabetic knowledge to decode
words in books as promptly as possible. Therefore, as they learn new consonants and
vowels, the teacher will begin activities that allow students to use the new knowledge
even before completing the entire alphabet. Which of the following activities would
be the most logical initial application of new alphabetic knowledge?
Correct Answer
reading short books that contain single-syllable words made up of the newly
learned letters
This is an effective way for students to apply the new letters and sounds promptly
and see how learning the sounds will help them read. It's also a good way to
increase motivation to learn the rest of the sounds as students are often excited to
begin reading.
Page 2 of 155
,Question 6
A kindergarten teacher has spent time each day working with her students to explore
many of the word families common in the English language. Before moving on to new
skills, the teacher individually assesses each student by holding up a series of words
and asking the student to read them aloud.
While most of the students were proficient at decoding these CVC words, some of the
students continued to struggle. The following depicts the teacher's notes on one
student's assessment:
Word List Student Response
cat ✓
met /m/ /ĭ/ /t/
bat /b/ /ŏ/ /t/
pot /p/ /ŭ/ /t/
wet /w/ /ī/ /t/
fit No answer
Which of the following is most likely to be the next phonics skill that the teacher will
cover with the kindergarten class?
Correct Answer
CCVC words
It would be reasonable to expect that the teacher would now cover CCVC words
because they will build on the word family knowledge already discussed by adding
consonant blends to the beginning of the word.
Question 7
A second-grade teacher is introducing a new multifaceted class project. The teacher
uses the projector to introduce each component and allows students to ask
questions. During the project roll-out, the teacher notices that Simon, an ELL student,
appears confused. Simon has been identified as being in the intermediate stage of
listening, according to the TELPAS Proficiency Level Descriptors. What should the
teacher do to be sure Simon is clear about the project's expectations?
Correct Answer
Repeat instructions in a simplified way and provide a written copy of the
expectations with key words broken down.
Intermediate level students may need instructions repeated, repeated more slowly,
and or simplified instructions.
Page 3 of 155
, Question 8
A third-grade teacher's class is made of students from many different cultures and
includes several English language learners. While choosing texts for the class, she is
careful to choose materials that are culturally responsive and expose students to a
diverse selection of texts. Which of the following represents a positive way to
incorporate culturally responsive reading instruction into her classroom?
Correct Answer
Choose texts with universal themes that are common to many cultures.
This is an effective way to provide culturally responsive instruction.
Question 9
Every Monday students in a first-grade class are asked to write about a topic of their
choice. The teacher informally reviews these journals as a way to assess her student's
progress with certain orthographic or grammatical concepts. A student writes the
following sentence.
We got ice creem and spended time at the bech.
Based on this writing sample, this student is most likely in which stage of spelling
development?
-transitional
-semiphonetic
-conventional
-precommunicative
Correct Answer
transitional
Transitional students can spell many words correctly, but still struggle with irregular
spellings. Based on this student's errors, he is likely in the transitional stage.
Page 4 of 155
Updated
Question 1
A science teacher is selecting a vocabulary list of tier two words to cover in their first
unit of the school year. Which set of words is most likely to be included on that list?
Correct Answer
analyze, describe, identify
Tier two words are high-frequency academic words. Analyze, describe, and identify
are all words that are common to the academic world but not specific to only one
subject.
Question 2
With the goal of improving her student's vocabulary and reading comprehension, a
second-grade teacher is planning a lesson to teach her students about the
relationships between words. She writes the words enormous, huge, and large on the
board. What type of word relationship is she going to cover first?
Correct Answer
synonyms
Synonyms are words with the same or similar meaning. Since the examples she
writes are all synonyms for "big," it's most likely that she will be starting the lesson
by discussing synonyms.
Page 1 of 155
,Question 3
At the beginning of the school year, a kindergarten teacher informally assesses
students' awareness of print concepts, specifically text directionality. Children often
naturally develop an understanding of this concept as they are read to by parents or
other caretakers even before beginning traditional schooling, but she determines that
some of her students have not yet grasped this concept.
Which of the following demonstrates the best way for her to differentiate in order to
support their development of this skill?
Correct Answer
Combine direct instruction over text directionality with frequent modeling through
read alouds.
Combining direct instruction with modeling is the best way to differentiate for these
students.
Question 4
A teacher is planning a phonics lesson for her class of third graders. Based on the
TEKS for English Language Arts and Reading, which of the following skills is most
likely to be the focus of this phonics lesson?
Correct Answer
the sound-spelling pattern that occurs in words like, thought, tough, through,
cough, and bought
Question 5
A kindergarten teacher wants students to apply new alphabetic knowledge to decode
words in books as promptly as possible. Therefore, as they learn new consonants and
vowels, the teacher will begin activities that allow students to use the new knowledge
even before completing the entire alphabet. Which of the following activities would
be the most logical initial application of new alphabetic knowledge?
Correct Answer
reading short books that contain single-syllable words made up of the newly
learned letters
This is an effective way for students to apply the new letters and sounds promptly
and see how learning the sounds will help them read. It's also a good way to
increase motivation to learn the rest of the sounds as students are often excited to
begin reading.
Page 2 of 155
,Question 6
A kindergarten teacher has spent time each day working with her students to explore
many of the word families common in the English language. Before moving on to new
skills, the teacher individually assesses each student by holding up a series of words
and asking the student to read them aloud.
While most of the students were proficient at decoding these CVC words, some of the
students continued to struggle. The following depicts the teacher's notes on one
student's assessment:
Word List Student Response
cat ✓
met /m/ /ĭ/ /t/
bat /b/ /ŏ/ /t/
pot /p/ /ŭ/ /t/
wet /w/ /ī/ /t/
fit No answer
Which of the following is most likely to be the next phonics skill that the teacher will
cover with the kindergarten class?
Correct Answer
CCVC words
It would be reasonable to expect that the teacher would now cover CCVC words
because they will build on the word family knowledge already discussed by adding
consonant blends to the beginning of the word.
Question 7
A second-grade teacher is introducing a new multifaceted class project. The teacher
uses the projector to introduce each component and allows students to ask
questions. During the project roll-out, the teacher notices that Simon, an ELL student,
appears confused. Simon has been identified as being in the intermediate stage of
listening, according to the TELPAS Proficiency Level Descriptors. What should the
teacher do to be sure Simon is clear about the project's expectations?
Correct Answer
Repeat instructions in a simplified way and provide a written copy of the
expectations with key words broken down.
Intermediate level students may need instructions repeated, repeated more slowly,
and or simplified instructions.
Page 3 of 155
, Question 8
A third-grade teacher's class is made of students from many different cultures and
includes several English language learners. While choosing texts for the class, she is
careful to choose materials that are culturally responsive and expose students to a
diverse selection of texts. Which of the following represents a positive way to
incorporate culturally responsive reading instruction into her classroom?
Correct Answer
Choose texts with universal themes that are common to many cultures.
This is an effective way to provide culturally responsive instruction.
Question 9
Every Monday students in a first-grade class are asked to write about a topic of their
choice. The teacher informally reviews these journals as a way to assess her student's
progress with certain orthographic or grammatical concepts. A student writes the
following sentence.
We got ice creem and spended time at the bech.
Based on this writing sample, this student is most likely in which stage of spelling
development?
-transitional
-semiphonetic
-conventional
-precommunicative
Correct Answer
transitional
Transitional students can spell many words correctly, but still struggle with irregular
spellings. Based on this student's errors, he is likely in the transitional stage.
Page 4 of 155
