ELAR Foundations of Reading Instruction 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes 'decodable text'?
- Text selected for high interest and rich vocabulary
- Text containing only high-frequency sight words
- Text that primarily uses phonics patterns students have been explicitly taught (Correct answer)
- Text at a student's independent reading level
Correct answer: Text that primarily uses phonics patterns students have been explicitly taught
Decodable text is specifically designed so that most words align with phonics patterns already taught, allowing students to practice applying decoding skills.
Question 2: A teacher says: 'The letters 'igh' in the word 'night' all work together to make the long /ī/ sound.' This instruction targets:
- A vowel team grapheme-phoneme correspondence (Correct answer)
- A consonant digraph
- An r-controlled vowel pattern
- A silent letter rule
Correct answer: A vowel team grapheme-phoneme correspondence
The trigraph 'igh' is a vowel team (a multi-letter grapheme representing a single vowel sound), specifically making the long /ī/ phoneme.
Question 3: Which of the following is an evidence-based practice for building reading vocabulary?
- Having students look up every unknown word in a dictionary
- Providing rich, robust instruction on high-utility Tier 2 words (Correct answer)
- Asking students to skip unfamiliar words and reread for meaning
- Limiting vocabulary instruction to content-area words only
Correct answer: Providing rich, robust instruction on high-utility Tier 2 words
Research supports explicit, rich instruction of Tier 2 (high-utility, cross-curricular) words through multiple exposures, student-friendly definitions, and meaningful use.
Question 4: What does 'prosody' refer to in the context of reading fluency?
- Reading with appropriate expression, phrasing, and rhythm (Correct answer)
- Reading at a fast, automatic rate
- Accurately decoding every word in a passage
- Self-monitoring for comprehension while reading
Correct answer: Reading with appropriate expression, phrasing, and rhythm
Prosody is the expressive, rhythmic, and phrased quality of oral reading that reflects the reader's comprehension of the text's meaning.
Question 5: A student consistently omits the endings of words when reading aloud (e.g., reads 'jump' for 'jumping'). Which instructional focus is most appropriate?
- Phoneme segmentation practice
- Morphological endings and inflectional suffixes (Correct answer)
- Onset-rime manipulation
- Phoneme blending with CVC words
Correct answer: Morphological endings and inflectional suffixes
Omitting word endings suggests the student is not attending to inflectional suffixes, making instruction on morphological endings the most targeted next step.
Question 6: Which statement best describes the relationship between oral language and reading comprehension?
- Strong oral language skills have little impact on reading comprehension
- Oral language proficiency is a foundational predictor of reading comprehension (Correct answer)
- Reading comprehension develops independently of oral language
- Oral language only matters for phonological awareness, not comprehension
Correct answer: Oral language proficiency is a foundational predictor of reading comprehension
Oral language — including vocabulary, syntax, and discourse — is a strong foundational predictor of reading comprehension ability, especially in later grades.
Question 7: A teacher provides a graphic organizer for students to record the problem, solution, characters, and setting of a story. This tool primarily supports:
- Phonics skill application
- Narrative text structure comprehension (Correct answer)
- Fluency and rate building
- Vocabulary in context
Correct answer: Narrative text structure comprehension
Graphic organizers that capture story grammar elements (characters, setting, problem, solution) directly support understanding of narrative text structure.
ELAR Foundations of Reading Instruction 4
Which of the following best describes 'decodable text'?