STR PRACTICE EXAM QUESTIONS
CORRECTLY ANSWERED.
A first-grade class has recently finished reading the story The Three Little Pigs. After reading, the teacher
asks students to complete the organizer below with their table partners (Somebody, wanted, but, so,
then, complete sentence).After completing the organizer, the teacher asks several students to share the
sentence they wrote.
One student shares the following sentence: "The pigs wanted to build houses but the wolf wanted to
blow them down."
The teacher then says, "So, then what happened?"
By asking this follow-up question, the teacher is furthering the student's oral language development by:
A.)requiring the student to use the specific conjunctions "so" and "then" in a verbal response.
B.) prompting the student to support an opinion with textual evidence.
C.) asking the student to verbally articulate a concise summary of the story.
D.) showing the student how to form a more grammatically complex sentence. - CORRECT ANSWER c
After completing the organizer, the teacher asks several students to share the sentence they wrote.
One student shares the following sentence: "The pigs wanted to build houses but the wolf wanted to
blow them down."
The teacher then says, "So, then what happened?"
The teacher brings in several building materials (toothpicks, marshmallows, tape, toilet paper rolls) for
the students to use to construct their own mini-houses. Students then put their mini-houses in front of a
fan to see how they would hold up against a "big bad wolf." After their house goes in front of the fan,
students use a chart to record what they used to build their house and how the materials behaved in
front of the fan. After every student has participated, the teacher holds a class discussion comparing and
contrasting which materials built the best house and why. These class activities help the students:
A.)develop their metacognitive skills as - CORRECT ANSWER c
A kindergarten teacher is planning to read the book Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins, by James Dean,
to the class and ask some text-dependent questions. The teacher has several English Language Learners
in the classroom and wants to ask developmentally appropriate questions. In the book, five pumpkins sit
,on a gate, fly in the air, and trick or treat, among other fall activities. The book talks about each
pumpkin, from number one to number five, and each one's unique characteristics. At the end of the
story, the pumpkins are shown walking away from the reader, ready to have fun.
The teacher turns to the page in the book where the pumpkins are flying and says, "What are the
pumpkins doing?" When calling on students, the teacher should expect a student with a beginning level
of oral language proficiency to respond by:
A.)offering a complete sentence as well as an explanation of the events on the page.
B.) pointing t - CORRECT ANSWER B
A kindergarten teacher is planning to read the book Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins, by James Dean,
to the class and ask some text-dependent questions. The teacher has several English Language Learners
in the classroom and wants to ask developmentally appropriate questions. In the book, five pumpkins sit
on a gate, fly in the air, and trick or treat, among other fall activities. The book talks about each
pumpkin, from number one to number five, and each one's unique characteristics. At the end of the
story, the pumpkins are shown walking away from the reader, ready to have fun.
On one page of the text, the pumpkins are scared because the wind has blown out the candles. The
picture in the book shows just the pumpkins' scared eyes and the lights out all around them. The
teacher says, "All we can see are the pumpkins' eyes. How do you think they are feeling right now?" A
student answers, "Sad. It dark." This response - CORRECT ANSWER B
Which list of words would best be described as tier one vocabulary words?
A.)car, chair, boat
B.)curve, calm, rhyme
C.) surprise, worried, uncomfortable
D.) decimal, horizontal, exponent - CORRECT ANSWER A
A prekindergarten teacher meets with small groups of students on a regular basis. During one small
group lesson, the teacher reads an alphabet book focused on the letter p. Then, the teacher shows a set
of flashcards of words that begin with the letter p. The teacher shows the first card, which has the letter
p written in the upper left hand corner, a picture of a pig in the center, and the word pig written at the
bottom. The teacher says "p," makes the /p/ sound, and says "pig" while pointing to the picture. Then,
each student is invited to repeat the same sounds individually while looking at the card. This activity
helps students learn which of the following developmental reading concepts?
, A.) the alphabetic principle
B.) how to utilize text features
C.) the directionality of print
D.) how to memorize sight words - CORRECT ANSWER A
A group of second-grade students has moved from the full alphabetic phase to the consolidated
alphabetic phase. To help students read words accurately in this new phase, the teacher should focus on
which of the following?
A.) helping students take their knowledge of grapheme-phoneme blends and use them to read larger
units of language
B.) helping students automatically recognize high-frequency words they did not master in earlier phases
C.) helping students sound out unfamiliar words using the phonemic awareness skills they have learned
D.) helping students use context clues to determine how to pronounce and define words they do not
recognize - CORRECT ANSWER A
A third-grade teacher is introducing a unit on plants. Part of the unit plan calls for students to read
complex texts on the topic, many of which contain unfamiliar vocabulary words. The teacher takes the
students on a nature walk to sketch several types of plants and talk about their favorite ones. The
teacher also takes the class out to the school vegetable garden to discuss the differences and similarities
between the different plants. These pre-reading activities will help the students:
A.) determine what they know, would like to know, and what they learned about plants.
B.) identify expository text structures as they read.
C.) gain additional background knowledge before reading the texts.
D.) write more complete summaries of the texts after reading. - CORRECT ANSWER C
A group of second-grade students has recently mastered identifying and decoding words containing VC
patterns, such as -ow and -ar. The teacher would like to provide enrichment in the next area of phonics
instruction while other students in the class continue working on VC patterns. Which of the following
skills would come next on the continuum of word-reading skills described in the second grade Texas
Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR)?
CORRECTLY ANSWERED.
A first-grade class has recently finished reading the story The Three Little Pigs. After reading, the teacher
asks students to complete the organizer below with their table partners (Somebody, wanted, but, so,
then, complete sentence).After completing the organizer, the teacher asks several students to share the
sentence they wrote.
One student shares the following sentence: "The pigs wanted to build houses but the wolf wanted to
blow them down."
The teacher then says, "So, then what happened?"
By asking this follow-up question, the teacher is furthering the student's oral language development by:
A.)requiring the student to use the specific conjunctions "so" and "then" in a verbal response.
B.) prompting the student to support an opinion with textual evidence.
C.) asking the student to verbally articulate a concise summary of the story.
D.) showing the student how to form a more grammatically complex sentence. - CORRECT ANSWER c
After completing the organizer, the teacher asks several students to share the sentence they wrote.
One student shares the following sentence: "The pigs wanted to build houses but the wolf wanted to
blow them down."
The teacher then says, "So, then what happened?"
The teacher brings in several building materials (toothpicks, marshmallows, tape, toilet paper rolls) for
the students to use to construct their own mini-houses. Students then put their mini-houses in front of a
fan to see how they would hold up against a "big bad wolf." After their house goes in front of the fan,
students use a chart to record what they used to build their house and how the materials behaved in
front of the fan. After every student has participated, the teacher holds a class discussion comparing and
contrasting which materials built the best house and why. These class activities help the students:
A.)develop their metacognitive skills as - CORRECT ANSWER c
A kindergarten teacher is planning to read the book Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins, by James Dean,
to the class and ask some text-dependent questions. The teacher has several English Language Learners
in the classroom and wants to ask developmentally appropriate questions. In the book, five pumpkins sit
,on a gate, fly in the air, and trick or treat, among other fall activities. The book talks about each
pumpkin, from number one to number five, and each one's unique characteristics. At the end of the
story, the pumpkins are shown walking away from the reader, ready to have fun.
The teacher turns to the page in the book where the pumpkins are flying and says, "What are the
pumpkins doing?" When calling on students, the teacher should expect a student with a beginning level
of oral language proficiency to respond by:
A.)offering a complete sentence as well as an explanation of the events on the page.
B.) pointing t - CORRECT ANSWER B
A kindergarten teacher is planning to read the book Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins, by James Dean,
to the class and ask some text-dependent questions. The teacher has several English Language Learners
in the classroom and wants to ask developmentally appropriate questions. In the book, five pumpkins sit
on a gate, fly in the air, and trick or treat, among other fall activities. The book talks about each
pumpkin, from number one to number five, and each one's unique characteristics. At the end of the
story, the pumpkins are shown walking away from the reader, ready to have fun.
On one page of the text, the pumpkins are scared because the wind has blown out the candles. The
picture in the book shows just the pumpkins' scared eyes and the lights out all around them. The
teacher says, "All we can see are the pumpkins' eyes. How do you think they are feeling right now?" A
student answers, "Sad. It dark." This response - CORRECT ANSWER B
Which list of words would best be described as tier one vocabulary words?
A.)car, chair, boat
B.)curve, calm, rhyme
C.) surprise, worried, uncomfortable
D.) decimal, horizontal, exponent - CORRECT ANSWER A
A prekindergarten teacher meets with small groups of students on a regular basis. During one small
group lesson, the teacher reads an alphabet book focused on the letter p. Then, the teacher shows a set
of flashcards of words that begin with the letter p. The teacher shows the first card, which has the letter
p written in the upper left hand corner, a picture of a pig in the center, and the word pig written at the
bottom. The teacher says "p," makes the /p/ sound, and says "pig" while pointing to the picture. Then,
each student is invited to repeat the same sounds individually while looking at the card. This activity
helps students learn which of the following developmental reading concepts?
, A.) the alphabetic principle
B.) how to utilize text features
C.) the directionality of print
D.) how to memorize sight words - CORRECT ANSWER A
A group of second-grade students has moved from the full alphabetic phase to the consolidated
alphabetic phase. To help students read words accurately in this new phase, the teacher should focus on
which of the following?
A.) helping students take their knowledge of grapheme-phoneme blends and use them to read larger
units of language
B.) helping students automatically recognize high-frequency words they did not master in earlier phases
C.) helping students sound out unfamiliar words using the phonemic awareness skills they have learned
D.) helping students use context clues to determine how to pronounce and define words they do not
recognize - CORRECT ANSWER A
A third-grade teacher is introducing a unit on plants. Part of the unit plan calls for students to read
complex texts on the topic, many of which contain unfamiliar vocabulary words. The teacher takes the
students on a nature walk to sketch several types of plants and talk about their favorite ones. The
teacher also takes the class out to the school vegetable garden to discuss the differences and similarities
between the different plants. These pre-reading activities will help the students:
A.) determine what they know, would like to know, and what they learned about plants.
B.) identify expository text structures as they read.
C.) gain additional background knowledge before reading the texts.
D.) write more complete summaries of the texts after reading. - CORRECT ANSWER C
A group of second-grade students has recently mastered identifying and decoding words containing VC
patterns, such as -ow and -ar. The teacher would like to provide enrichment in the next area of phonics
instruction while other students in the class continue working on VC patterns. Which of the following
skills would come next on the continuum of word-reading skills described in the second grade Texas
Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR)?
