STR Exam Questions and Answers
A third-grade teacher wants to provide some enrichment activities for a small group of
students who have already mastered identifying the plot, main idea, and main
characters in short stories. Which skill below would be the best to study next while still
staying in line with TEKS identified appropriate skills for third-grade students?
Identify plot points as part of the rising or falling action.
Analyze nonfiction texts for the use of chronological text structure.
Identify and interpret literary devices such as metaphors or personification.
Compare and contrast the characteristics of two stories. - Answers -Compare and
contrast the characteristics of two stories.
When should students learn how to decode? - Answers -Decoding depends on
understanding of letter-sound relationships. AS soon as a child understands enough
letters and their correspondent sounds to read a few words, decoding should be
introduced
Working with a small group of kindergarteners, a teacher reads aloud a short book that
is written using repetitive language and mostly decodable CVC words. Next, the teacher
writes down the following examples of rhyming words that were in the book.
cat
hat
sat
Using this set as an example, the teacher explains that the reader can use the pattern
established by the rhymes from the book to decode the words "pat" and "mat." She then
writes the word, "rat" and asks for a volunteer to read the word aloud.
Which of the following elements could the teacher add to the lesson in order to support
student understanding of print concepts?
After reading the text aloud, the teacher asks the students what they noticed about the
words or sounds in the story.
Holding the book up so that it is visible to the students, the teacher points to the words
as she reads them aloud.
,Before beginning to read, the teacher asks students what - Answers -Holding the book
up so that it is visible to the students, the teacher points to the words as she reads them
aloud.
Working with a small group of kindergarteners, a teacher reads aloud a short book that
is written using repetitive language and mostly decodable CVC words. Next, the teacher
writes down the following examples of rhyming words that were in the book.
cat
hat
sat
Using this set as an example, the teacher explains that the reader can use the pattern
established by the rhymes from the book to decode the words "pat" and "mat." She then
writes the word, "rat" and asks for a volunteer to read the word aloud.
Which of the following best describes this type of phonics lesson?
A) Sight word approach
B) Analogy-Based Phonics Approach
C) Synthetic Phonics Approach
D) Spelling-Based Phonics Approach - Answers -B) Analogy-Based Phonics Approach
Working with a small group of kindergarteners, a teacher reads aloud a short book that
is written using repetitive language and mostly decodable CVC words. Next, the teacher
writes down the following examples of rhyming words that were in the book.
cat
hat
sat
Using this set as an example, the teacher explains that the reader can use the pattern
established by the rhymes from the book to decode the words "pat" and "mat." She then
writes the word, "rat" and asks for a volunteer to read the word aloud.
The students in the scenario most likely have already demonstrated proficiency in:
Structural Analysis
Syllable Segmentation
Alphabetic Principle
Decoding Skills - Answers -Alphabetic Principle
A third-grade teacher is planning a lesson on themes using a book about a little girl that
wants to be an engineer. She will anchor the lesson with a read aloud and facilitate
various activities that relate back to the story. In the story, the young girl faces a mixture
of obstacles that involve inventions that fail, perceived lack of support from those
around her, and not feeling confident in herself, before ultimately realizing that failures
are all a part of learning.
After reading the book aloud, the teacher will use the story to introduce the concept of
theme. Together, the class will discuss what message the author was trying to help the
students learn.
,In order to support their comprehension of the text, the teacher plans to pre-teach some
words from the text that may be unfamiliar to some students. She includes the following
words:
perplexed
engineer
dismayed
eaves
Which of the following activities would best - Answers -Working with a partner, the
students will look up the definition of each word, discuss the meaning, use it in a
sentence, and represent it with a picture.
A third-grade teacher is planning a lesson on themes using a book about a little girl that
wants to be an engineer. She will anchor the lesson with a read aloud and facilitate
various activities that relate back to the story. In the story, the young girl faces a mixture
of obstacles that involve inventions that fail, perceived lack of support from those
around her, and not feeling confident in herself, before ultimately realizing that failures
are all a part of learning.
After reading the book aloud, the teacher will use the story to introduce the concept of
theme. Together, the class will discuss what message the author was trying to help the
students learn.
The teacher is concerned that the students will struggle to jump directly from the read
aloud to theme analysis. Which of the following activities would best help scaffold this
process?
providing the students with a list of mood words and asking them to circle - Answers -
using a graphic organizer to facilitate the identification of conflicts in the story and
descriptions of how the conflicts turned out
Themes are very often related to the main conflict and its resolution. In this case, the
question prompt suggests that a main theme relates to learning from failure, so
recognizing the failed inventions as a conflict will support their conversation about the
theme.
A third-grade teacher is planning a lesson on themes using a book about a little girl that
wants to be an engineer. She will anchor the lesson with a read aloud and facilitate
various activities that relate back to the story. In the story, the young girl faces a mixture
of obstacles that involve inventions that fail, perceived lack of support from those
around her, and not feeling confident in herself, before ultimately realizing that failures
are all a part of learning.
After reading the book aloud, the teacher will use the story to introduce the concept of
theme. Together, the class will discuss what message the author was trying to help the
students learn.
In addition to the theme, the teacher would like to incorporate another literary analysis
skill into their discussion of the book. Based on TEKS for English Language Arts and
Reading, which of the following represents a characteristic or structure of literature -
Answers -How does the setting influence the plot of the story?
, A third-grade student reads with accuracy and prosody but still struggles to comprehend
much of what is read. While the teacher supports this student within the classroom,
which of the following would be the most beneficial way that the parents could support
reading comprehension at home?
discuss the genre and purpose for reading with their child before reading together
reduce the child's anxiety and stress around reading by decreasing the amount of time
spent reading outside of school
encourage her to reread books instead of reading new stories
primarily focus on opportunities for the child to read aloud instead of being read to or
reading silently - Answers -discuss the genre and purpose for reading with their child
before reading together
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?
Pair these students with a student who has already demonstrated proficiency to explain
the concept to the struggling student.
Combine direct instruction over text directionality with frequent modeling through read
alouds.
Provide the struggling students with a list of these concepts and their definitions.
Schedule a conference with the parents to discuss increasing how often the student is
read to at - Answers -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.
A third-grade student is struggling with reading comprehension. In an attempt to
determine the root cause, the teacher assesses their reading fluency, noticing that the
student reads choppily, lacking prosody and automaticity. Based on the student's
fluency assessment, what other skills should the teacher assess to better inform future
intervention?
alphabetic knowledge
vocabulary
A third-grade teacher wants to provide some enrichment activities for a small group of
students who have already mastered identifying the plot, main idea, and main
characters in short stories. Which skill below would be the best to study next while still
staying in line with TEKS identified appropriate skills for third-grade students?
Identify plot points as part of the rising or falling action.
Analyze nonfiction texts for the use of chronological text structure.
Identify and interpret literary devices such as metaphors or personification.
Compare and contrast the characteristics of two stories. - Answers -Compare and
contrast the characteristics of two stories.
When should students learn how to decode? - Answers -Decoding depends on
understanding of letter-sound relationships. AS soon as a child understands enough
letters and their correspondent sounds to read a few words, decoding should be
introduced
Working with a small group of kindergarteners, a teacher reads aloud a short book that
is written using repetitive language and mostly decodable CVC words. Next, the teacher
writes down the following examples of rhyming words that were in the book.
cat
hat
sat
Using this set as an example, the teacher explains that the reader can use the pattern
established by the rhymes from the book to decode the words "pat" and "mat." She then
writes the word, "rat" and asks for a volunteer to read the word aloud.
Which of the following elements could the teacher add to the lesson in order to support
student understanding of print concepts?
After reading the text aloud, the teacher asks the students what they noticed about the
words or sounds in the story.
Holding the book up so that it is visible to the students, the teacher points to the words
as she reads them aloud.
,Before beginning to read, the teacher asks students what - Answers -Holding the book
up so that it is visible to the students, the teacher points to the words as she reads them
aloud.
Working with a small group of kindergarteners, a teacher reads aloud a short book that
is written using repetitive language and mostly decodable CVC words. Next, the teacher
writes down the following examples of rhyming words that were in the book.
cat
hat
sat
Using this set as an example, the teacher explains that the reader can use the pattern
established by the rhymes from the book to decode the words "pat" and "mat." She then
writes the word, "rat" and asks for a volunteer to read the word aloud.
Which of the following best describes this type of phonics lesson?
A) Sight word approach
B) Analogy-Based Phonics Approach
C) Synthetic Phonics Approach
D) Spelling-Based Phonics Approach - Answers -B) Analogy-Based Phonics Approach
Working with a small group of kindergarteners, a teacher reads aloud a short book that
is written using repetitive language and mostly decodable CVC words. Next, the teacher
writes down the following examples of rhyming words that were in the book.
cat
hat
sat
Using this set as an example, the teacher explains that the reader can use the pattern
established by the rhymes from the book to decode the words "pat" and "mat." She then
writes the word, "rat" and asks for a volunteer to read the word aloud.
The students in the scenario most likely have already demonstrated proficiency in:
Structural Analysis
Syllable Segmentation
Alphabetic Principle
Decoding Skills - Answers -Alphabetic Principle
A third-grade teacher is planning a lesson on themes using a book about a little girl that
wants to be an engineer. She will anchor the lesson with a read aloud and facilitate
various activities that relate back to the story. In the story, the young girl faces a mixture
of obstacles that involve inventions that fail, perceived lack of support from those
around her, and not feeling confident in herself, before ultimately realizing that failures
are all a part of learning.
After reading the book aloud, the teacher will use the story to introduce the concept of
theme. Together, the class will discuss what message the author was trying to help the
students learn.
,In order to support their comprehension of the text, the teacher plans to pre-teach some
words from the text that may be unfamiliar to some students. She includes the following
words:
perplexed
engineer
dismayed
eaves
Which of the following activities would best - Answers -Working with a partner, the
students will look up the definition of each word, discuss the meaning, use it in a
sentence, and represent it with a picture.
A third-grade teacher is planning a lesson on themes using a book about a little girl that
wants to be an engineer. She will anchor the lesson with a read aloud and facilitate
various activities that relate back to the story. In the story, the young girl faces a mixture
of obstacles that involve inventions that fail, perceived lack of support from those
around her, and not feeling confident in herself, before ultimately realizing that failures
are all a part of learning.
After reading the book aloud, the teacher will use the story to introduce the concept of
theme. Together, the class will discuss what message the author was trying to help the
students learn.
The teacher is concerned that the students will struggle to jump directly from the read
aloud to theme analysis. Which of the following activities would best help scaffold this
process?
providing the students with a list of mood words and asking them to circle - Answers -
using a graphic organizer to facilitate the identification of conflicts in the story and
descriptions of how the conflicts turned out
Themes are very often related to the main conflict and its resolution. In this case, the
question prompt suggests that a main theme relates to learning from failure, so
recognizing the failed inventions as a conflict will support their conversation about the
theme.
A third-grade teacher is planning a lesson on themes using a book about a little girl that
wants to be an engineer. She will anchor the lesson with a read aloud and facilitate
various activities that relate back to the story. In the story, the young girl faces a mixture
of obstacles that involve inventions that fail, perceived lack of support from those
around her, and not feeling confident in herself, before ultimately realizing that failures
are all a part of learning.
After reading the book aloud, the teacher will use the story to introduce the concept of
theme. Together, the class will discuss what message the author was trying to help the
students learn.
In addition to the theme, the teacher would like to incorporate another literary analysis
skill into their discussion of the book. Based on TEKS for English Language Arts and
Reading, which of the following represents a characteristic or structure of literature -
Answers -How does the setting influence the plot of the story?
, A third-grade student reads with accuracy and prosody but still struggles to comprehend
much of what is read. While the teacher supports this student within the classroom,
which of the following would be the most beneficial way that the parents could support
reading comprehension at home?
discuss the genre and purpose for reading with their child before reading together
reduce the child's anxiety and stress around reading by decreasing the amount of time
spent reading outside of school
encourage her to reread books instead of reading new stories
primarily focus on opportunities for the child to read aloud instead of being read to or
reading silently - Answers -discuss the genre and purpose for reading with their child
before reading together
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?
Pair these students with a student who has already demonstrated proficiency to explain
the concept to the struggling student.
Combine direct instruction over text directionality with frequent modeling through read
alouds.
Provide the struggling students with a list of these concepts and their definitions.
Schedule a conference with the parents to discuss increasing how often the student is
read to at - Answers -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.
A third-grade student is struggling with reading comprehension. In an attempt to
determine the root cause, the teacher assesses their reading fluency, noticing that the
student reads choppily, lacking prosody and automaticity. Based on the student's
fluency assessment, what other skills should the teacher assess to better inform future
intervention?
alphabetic knowledge
vocabulary
