CIA Reading & Literacy Intervention 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student reads fluently but cannot answer questions about what was read. The MOST likely issue is:
- Decoding deficits
- Reading comprehension difficulty (Correct answer)
- Phonological awareness weakness
- Lack of fluency
Correct answer: Reading comprehension difficulty
When decoding is strong but understanding is absent, the student has a reading comprehension deficit rather than a decoding problem.
Question 2: The 'Simple View of Reading' model states that reading comprehension equals:
- Phonics × Fluency
- Decoding + Vocabulary
- Decoding × Language Comprehension (Correct answer)
- Fluency + Background Knowledge
Correct answer: Decoding × Language Comprehension
The Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer) defines reading comprehension as the product of decoding ability and language comprehension.
Question 3: Which of the following BEST describes Tier 2 intervention in an RTI model?
- General education classroom instruction for all students
- Intensive, individualized daily intervention for the lowest 1-5% of students
- Targeted small-group intervention for students not meeting benchmarks (Correct answer)
- Referral for special education evaluation
Correct answer: Targeted small-group intervention for students not meeting benchmarks
Tier 2 consists of supplemental, targeted small-group instruction for students who need support beyond core instruction.
Question 4: Before reading a new passage, an instructional assistant asks students to preview headings and images. This strategy activates:
- Phonemic awareness
- Prior knowledge and schema (Correct answer)
- Syllable segmentation skills
- Orthographic mapping
Correct answer: Prior knowledge and schema
Previewing text features activates students' prior knowledge (schema), which supports comprehension of the upcoming material.
Question 5: A student spells 'rain' as 'rane.' This error shows understanding of:
- Vowel-consonant-e pattern only
- The 'ai' vowel team only
- Long vowel sounds but not the correct spelling pattern (Correct answer)
- Silent e patterns only
Correct answer: Long vowel sounds but not the correct spelling pattern
The student used a plausible long-a pattern (vowel-consonant-e) but chose the wrong one, showing phonics knowledge with a spelling pattern gap.
Question 6: Which graphic organizer is MOST appropriate for teaching story structure to struggling readers?
- Venn diagram
- Cause-and-effect chain
- Story map with character, setting, problem, and solution (Correct answer)
- KWL chart
Correct answer: Story map with character, setting, problem, and solution
A story map directly targets narrative story structure elements — character, setting, problem, and solution — essential for comprehension of fiction.
Question 7: An instructional assistant should document reading errors during oral reading in order to:
- Calculate the student's IQ
- Identify patterns that guide targeted instruction (Correct answer)
- Determine if the student needs glasses
- Report behavior incidents
Correct answer: Identify patterns that guide targeted instruction
Error pattern analysis from oral reading records helps identify specific skill gaps and informs instructional decisions.
CIA Reading & Literacy Intervention 3
A student reads fluently but cannot answer questions about what was read.
The MOST likely issue is: