GACE Practice Test 1 Questions and
Answers
A first-grade teacher is concerned about several students whose sight vocabulary is
very limited. Which of the following would be the most effective strategy for the teacher
to use to help the students increase their sight vocabulary?
Providing explicit instruction using think-alouds, to improve oral reading fluency
Providing explicit instruction in writing words, to improve memorization
Providing explicit instruction in letter-sound correlation, to improve phonemic awareness
Providing explicit instruction in the study of high-frequency words, to improve oral
reading fluency - Correct Answers -Option (D) is correct. The question requires an
understanding of the roles of phonological awareness, phonics, and word-recognition
skills in literacy development. Sight words are high-frequency words that are instantly
recognized as a whole and do not require word-analysis for recognition. They rarely
follow any rules and need to be memorized.
A teacher is informally assessing second-grade students' listening-comprehension skills
after reading Aesop's fable about the lion and the mouse. Which of the following
prompts requires the children to draw an inference from the fable?
Who are the characters in the fable?
What lesson does the fable teach us?
How does the mouse help the lion?
Can mice and lions really talk? - Correct Answers -Option (B) is correct. The question
requires an understanding of integrating knowledge and ideas to promote students'
comprehension of texts. Making an inference is the act of drawing a conclusion based
on information that is not directly stated in a story. (B) requires the students to provide
answers by making judgments based on information in the story.
Which of the following activities involves structural analysis?
Students identifying the beginning, middle, and ending sounds of words
Students using individual sounds to blend the letters that make up a word
Students determining the number of syllables that make up different words
Students determining the meaning of a word by considering the word's parts - Correct
Answers -Option (D) is correct. The question requires an understanding of the basic
components of vocabulary and strategies to determine the meaning of unknown words.
Structural analysis deals with using familiar word parts (base words, prefixes, and
suffixes) to determine the meaning of a word.
,I Y m H s a lm
Question:
A student writes the sentence shown and reads it to the teacher as follows.
"I was at my house and saw a little mouse."
The student's written sentence indicates that the student does not understand which of
the following concepts?
Most words contain several letter-sound combinations.
Printed material is made up of letters.
Letters have both uppercase and lowercase forms.
Letters represent sounds. - Correct Answers -Option (A) is correct. The question
requires an understanding of key ideas relevant to the foundations of literacy and
reading development and the stages of early orthographic development. From the
sample, the child uses only one letter to represent a single word or several words. The
child does not yet understand that consonants and vowels combine to make up most
words.
During which stage of the writing process are students most likely to share their writing
with the entire class?
Drafting
Revising
Editing
Publishing - Correct Answers -Option (D) is correct. The question requires an
understanding of how to help students produce clear and coherent writing using the
stages of the writing process. During the publishing stage, students make their writing
public by reading it to others or putting the writing into a booklet.
COET (coat)
RITE (right)
COL (cool)
BAUGHT (bought)
CRL (curl)
HICH (hitch)
Based on the sample of a student's spelling test shown, which of the following
statements best describes the student's spelling development?
Represents words with random letters that have no letter-sound correspondence
Represents words phonetically, with a single letter representing each sound
Recognizes that words are made up of letter patterns that represents sounds
Knows simple letter-sound correspondence, but does not understand consonant
combinations - Correct Answers -Option (C) is correct. The question requires an
understanding of key ideas relevant to the foundations of literacy and reading
development and the stages of early orthographic development. From the sample, the
, student's spellings indicate that he or she recognizes that letter patterns represent
single sounds. The correct answer, therefore, is (C).
While working on a research project, a student uses the Internet and finds a great deal
of information on a chosen topic. Which of the following is the best step for the student
to take next?
Making a decision about the relevance of the various pieces of information
Downloading the information and compiling it into a packet for the final report
Deciding on a format and outline for the final report
Searching for graphics to use as illustrations in the final report - Correct Answers -
Option (A) is correct. The question requires an understanding of ways to promote
students' use of resource materials to produce and publish writing. After a student has
located information, the student must evaluate the information for its usefulness and
relevance before moving ahead to plan the final product.
During a unit on folktales, a second-grade teacher wants to help students engage in
higher-order thinking. After the students read The Little Red Hen, the teacher asks the
students to justify the little red hen's decision to eat the bread herself. Which level of
Bloom's taxonomy does the activity address?
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation - Correct Answers -Option (D) is correct. The question requires an
understanding of ways to promote students' comprehension of text. In asking the
students to justify the little red hen's decision, the students are required to make
judgments and evaluate a decision or course of action taken by the red hen.
A teacher observes that a first-grade student does not employ beginning and final
consonants correctly while reading. Which of the following teaching strategies is most
likely to help the student?
Teaching decoding skills and modeling how to use the skills in context
Showing a video of a children's story and listing some of the words that are used in the
story
Pairing the student with another student who is able to use consonants correctly
Placing signs around the classroom to label items (e.g., desks, bookshelf, door) -
Correct Answers -Option (A) is correct. The question requires an understanding of the
roles of phonological awareness, phonics, and word-recognition skills in literacy
development. The student needs additional instruction in word-recognition and decoding
skills. Only (A) combines teaching the required skills with the meaningful contexts in
which to use them.
A teacher gives students a set of cards with headlines written on them and a set of
clippings of news articles. The teacher asks the students to match each news article
Answers
A first-grade teacher is concerned about several students whose sight vocabulary is
very limited. Which of the following would be the most effective strategy for the teacher
to use to help the students increase their sight vocabulary?
Providing explicit instruction using think-alouds, to improve oral reading fluency
Providing explicit instruction in writing words, to improve memorization
Providing explicit instruction in letter-sound correlation, to improve phonemic awareness
Providing explicit instruction in the study of high-frequency words, to improve oral
reading fluency - Correct Answers -Option (D) is correct. The question requires an
understanding of the roles of phonological awareness, phonics, and word-recognition
skills in literacy development. Sight words are high-frequency words that are instantly
recognized as a whole and do not require word-analysis for recognition. They rarely
follow any rules and need to be memorized.
A teacher is informally assessing second-grade students' listening-comprehension skills
after reading Aesop's fable about the lion and the mouse. Which of the following
prompts requires the children to draw an inference from the fable?
Who are the characters in the fable?
What lesson does the fable teach us?
How does the mouse help the lion?
Can mice and lions really talk? - Correct Answers -Option (B) is correct. The question
requires an understanding of integrating knowledge and ideas to promote students'
comprehension of texts. Making an inference is the act of drawing a conclusion based
on information that is not directly stated in a story. (B) requires the students to provide
answers by making judgments based on information in the story.
Which of the following activities involves structural analysis?
Students identifying the beginning, middle, and ending sounds of words
Students using individual sounds to blend the letters that make up a word
Students determining the number of syllables that make up different words
Students determining the meaning of a word by considering the word's parts - Correct
Answers -Option (D) is correct. The question requires an understanding of the basic
components of vocabulary and strategies to determine the meaning of unknown words.
Structural analysis deals with using familiar word parts (base words, prefixes, and
suffixes) to determine the meaning of a word.
,I Y m H s a lm
Question:
A student writes the sentence shown and reads it to the teacher as follows.
"I was at my house and saw a little mouse."
The student's written sentence indicates that the student does not understand which of
the following concepts?
Most words contain several letter-sound combinations.
Printed material is made up of letters.
Letters have both uppercase and lowercase forms.
Letters represent sounds. - Correct Answers -Option (A) is correct. The question
requires an understanding of key ideas relevant to the foundations of literacy and
reading development and the stages of early orthographic development. From the
sample, the child uses only one letter to represent a single word or several words. The
child does not yet understand that consonants and vowels combine to make up most
words.
During which stage of the writing process are students most likely to share their writing
with the entire class?
Drafting
Revising
Editing
Publishing - Correct Answers -Option (D) is correct. The question requires an
understanding of how to help students produce clear and coherent writing using the
stages of the writing process. During the publishing stage, students make their writing
public by reading it to others or putting the writing into a booklet.
COET (coat)
RITE (right)
COL (cool)
BAUGHT (bought)
CRL (curl)
HICH (hitch)
Based on the sample of a student's spelling test shown, which of the following
statements best describes the student's spelling development?
Represents words with random letters that have no letter-sound correspondence
Represents words phonetically, with a single letter representing each sound
Recognizes that words are made up of letter patterns that represents sounds
Knows simple letter-sound correspondence, but does not understand consonant
combinations - Correct Answers -Option (C) is correct. The question requires an
understanding of key ideas relevant to the foundations of literacy and reading
development and the stages of early orthographic development. From the sample, the
, student's spellings indicate that he or she recognizes that letter patterns represent
single sounds. The correct answer, therefore, is (C).
While working on a research project, a student uses the Internet and finds a great deal
of information on a chosen topic. Which of the following is the best step for the student
to take next?
Making a decision about the relevance of the various pieces of information
Downloading the information and compiling it into a packet for the final report
Deciding on a format and outline for the final report
Searching for graphics to use as illustrations in the final report - Correct Answers -
Option (A) is correct. The question requires an understanding of ways to promote
students' use of resource materials to produce and publish writing. After a student has
located information, the student must evaluate the information for its usefulness and
relevance before moving ahead to plan the final product.
During a unit on folktales, a second-grade teacher wants to help students engage in
higher-order thinking. After the students read The Little Red Hen, the teacher asks the
students to justify the little red hen's decision to eat the bread herself. Which level of
Bloom's taxonomy does the activity address?
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation - Correct Answers -Option (D) is correct. The question requires an
understanding of ways to promote students' comprehension of text. In asking the
students to justify the little red hen's decision, the students are required to make
judgments and evaluate a decision or course of action taken by the red hen.
A teacher observes that a first-grade student does not employ beginning and final
consonants correctly while reading. Which of the following teaching strategies is most
likely to help the student?
Teaching decoding skills and modeling how to use the skills in context
Showing a video of a children's story and listing some of the words that are used in the
story
Pairing the student with another student who is able to use consonants correctly
Placing signs around the classroom to label items (e.g., desks, bookshelf, door) -
Correct Answers -Option (A) is correct. The question requires an understanding of the
roles of phonological awareness, phonics, and word-recognition skills in literacy
development. The student needs additional instruction in word-recognition and decoding
skills. Only (A) combines teaching the required skills with the meaningful contexts in
which to use them.
A teacher gives students a set of cards with headlines written on them and a set of
clippings of news articles. The teacher asks the students to match each news article
