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SCIENCE OF TEACHING AND READING (STR)
FINAL Newest Exam Preparation With Complete
Questions And Correct Answers With Rationales
Already Graded A+ Brand New Version!!
1. A kindergarten teacher notices that a student struggles to distinguish
between the /b/ and /p/ sounds in spoken words. This skill is best
described as:
A) Phonemic awareness
B) Phonics
C) Morphology
D) Syntax
Answer: A) Phonemic awareness
Explanation: Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and
manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. The
difficulty in distinguishing between /b/ and /p/ is a phonemic awareness
issue, as it involves the auditory discrimination of distinct phonemes.
Phonics refers to the relationship between letters and sounds,
morphology to word structure, and syntax to sentence structure. The
student's struggle is purely with sound discrimination, not with the
application of letter-sound rules or grammatical structures.
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2. A first-grade teacher leads a small group in a task where students are
asked to say the word "cat" and then say it without the /k/ sound. This
activity is designed to develop:
A) Phoneme segmentation
B) Phoneme deletion
C) Phoneme blending
D) Phoneme substitution
Answer: B) Phoneme deletion
Explanation: Phoneme deletion is a phonemic awareness skill that
requires a student to identify a specific sound in a word and then say
the word without that sound. The prompt to say "cat" without the /k/
sound directly describes this. Segmentation is the act of breaking a word
into its individual sounds, blending is combining sounds to make a word,
and substitution is changing one sound to another. The core of this task
is the removal of a phoneme, which is the definition of deletion.
3. Which of the following is the most important predictor of later
reading success in kindergarten?
A) Knowledge of the alphabet song
B) Ability to recognize environmental print
C) Phonological awareness, specifically phonemic awareness
D) Vocabulary size
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Answer: C) Phonological awareness, specifically phonemic awareness
Explanation: Extensive research, including the National Reading Panel
report, identifies phonological awareness, and particularly phonemic
awareness, as one of the strongest predictors of future reading
achievement. While alphabet knowledge, print awareness, and
vocabulary are all important, phonemic awareness is a foundational
skill that enables the mapping of sounds to letters, which is essential for
decoding. Without this skill, students will struggle to apply phonics
rules, impeding their reading development.
4. A preschool teacher reads a picture book aloud and periodically asks
students to point to the picture of the "dog" or the "ball." This activity
most directly supports the development of:
A) Phonology
B) Semantics
C) Pragmatics
D) Syntax
Answer: B) Semantics
Explanation: Semantics is the study of word meanings and how they
relate to concepts. The teacher's activity of asking students to point to a
picture corresponding to a spoken word directly assesses and reinforces
the student's understanding of vocabulary and meaning, which is the
core of semantics. Phonology is the sound system, pragmatics is the
social use of language, and syntax is the arrangement of words in
sentences.
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5. A student says, "I go to the store yesterday." This error is an example
of a difficulty with:
A) Phonology
B) Morphology
C) Syntax
D) Pragmatics
Answer: C) Syntax
Explanation: Syntax refers to the rules for forming grammatically
correct sentences. The error in tense marking ("go" instead of "went") is
a violation of syntactic rules for verb conjugation and tense agreement.
Morphology deals with the structure of words (e.g., adding "-ed" to
show past tense), but the core issue here is the arrangement and
grammatical function of words in a sentence. The student's error is a
syntactical one.
6. A teacher asks a student to repeat a sentence: "The big, fluffy dog
chased the small, quick cat." The student repeats, "The dog chased the
cat." This simplification is an example of a difficulty with:
A) Semantics
B) Syntax
C) Morphology
D) Phonological working memory
SCIENCE OF TEACHING AND READING (STR)
FINAL Newest Exam Preparation With Complete
Questions And Correct Answers With Rationales
Already Graded A+ Brand New Version!!
1. A kindergarten teacher notices that a student struggles to distinguish
between the /b/ and /p/ sounds in spoken words. This skill is best
described as:
A) Phonemic awareness
B) Phonics
C) Morphology
D) Syntax
Answer: A) Phonemic awareness
Explanation: Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and
manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. The
difficulty in distinguishing between /b/ and /p/ is a phonemic awareness
issue, as it involves the auditory discrimination of distinct phonemes.
Phonics refers to the relationship between letters and sounds,
morphology to word structure, and syntax to sentence structure. The
student's struggle is purely with sound discrimination, not with the
application of letter-sound rules or grammatical structures.
,2|Page
2. A first-grade teacher leads a small group in a task where students are
asked to say the word "cat" and then say it without the /k/ sound. This
activity is designed to develop:
A) Phoneme segmentation
B) Phoneme deletion
C) Phoneme blending
D) Phoneme substitution
Answer: B) Phoneme deletion
Explanation: Phoneme deletion is a phonemic awareness skill that
requires a student to identify a specific sound in a word and then say
the word without that sound. The prompt to say "cat" without the /k/
sound directly describes this. Segmentation is the act of breaking a word
into its individual sounds, blending is combining sounds to make a word,
and substitution is changing one sound to another. The core of this task
is the removal of a phoneme, which is the definition of deletion.
3. Which of the following is the most important predictor of later
reading success in kindergarten?
A) Knowledge of the alphabet song
B) Ability to recognize environmental print
C) Phonological awareness, specifically phonemic awareness
D) Vocabulary size
,3|Page
Answer: C) Phonological awareness, specifically phonemic awareness
Explanation: Extensive research, including the National Reading Panel
report, identifies phonological awareness, and particularly phonemic
awareness, as one of the strongest predictors of future reading
achievement. While alphabet knowledge, print awareness, and
vocabulary are all important, phonemic awareness is a foundational
skill that enables the mapping of sounds to letters, which is essential for
decoding. Without this skill, students will struggle to apply phonics
rules, impeding their reading development.
4. A preschool teacher reads a picture book aloud and periodically asks
students to point to the picture of the "dog" or the "ball." This activity
most directly supports the development of:
A) Phonology
B) Semantics
C) Pragmatics
D) Syntax
Answer: B) Semantics
Explanation: Semantics is the study of word meanings and how they
relate to concepts. The teacher's activity of asking students to point to a
picture corresponding to a spoken word directly assesses and reinforces
the student's understanding of vocabulary and meaning, which is the
core of semantics. Phonology is the sound system, pragmatics is the
social use of language, and syntax is the arrangement of words in
sentences.
, 4|Page
5. A student says, "I go to the store yesterday." This error is an example
of a difficulty with:
A) Phonology
B) Morphology
C) Syntax
D) Pragmatics
Answer: C) Syntax
Explanation: Syntax refers to the rules for forming grammatically
correct sentences. The error in tense marking ("go" instead of "went") is
a violation of syntactic rules for verb conjugation and tense agreement.
Morphology deals with the structure of words (e.g., adding "-ed" to
show past tense), but the core issue here is the arrangement and
grammatical function of words in a sentence. The student's error is a
syntactical one.
6. A teacher asks a student to repeat a sentence: "The big, fluffy dog
chased the small, quick cat." The student repeats, "The dog chased the
cat." This simplification is an example of a difficulty with:
A) Semantics
B) Syntax
C) Morphology
D) Phonological working memory
