IA Reading & Literacy Support 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student can identify individual phonemes in spoken words but struggles to blend them together. Which skill needs direct instruction?
- Phoneme blending (Correct answer)
- Phoneme segmentation
- Phoneme deletion
- Phoneme categorization
Correct answer: Phoneme blending
Phoneme blending is the ability to combine individual sounds into a whole word, and it is a distinct skill from segmentation.
Question 2: Which of the following is the best example of a high-frequency (sight) word appropriate for early readers?
- the (Correct answer)
- elephant
- chocolate
- library
Correct answer: the
High-frequency words like 'the' appear very often in text and are typically memorized because they may not follow regular phonics patterns.
Question 3: An aide reads a story aloud to students and pauses to ask, 'What do you think will happen next?' This is an example of promoting:
- Predictive comprehension strategy (Correct answer)
- Phonemic awareness
- Oral fluency
- Alphabetic principle
Correct answer: Predictive comprehension strategy
Making predictions is a before/during reading comprehension strategy that engages students in active thinking about text.
Question 4: Which approach to vocabulary instruction is considered most effective for deep word learning?
- Teaching words in context with multiple exposures (Correct answer)
- Having students copy dictionary definitions once
- Assigning vocabulary worksheets for homework only
- Introducing 20 new words at the start of each week
Correct answer: Teaching words in context with multiple exposures
Research supports repeated, contextual encounters with words in varied activities as the most effective path to durable vocabulary knowledge.
Question 5: A student reading a story uses information from the text plus prior knowledge to determine meaning not directly stated. This is called:
- Making an inference (Correct answer)
- Identifying the main idea
- Summarizing
- Visualizing
Correct answer: Making an inference
An inference combines text clues with prior knowledge to arrive at a conclusion the author implies but does not state explicitly.
Question 6: Which is the LEAST effective method for building reading comprehension with a struggling reader?
- Asking the student to re-read the entire passage silently without support (Correct answer)
- Pre-teaching key vocabulary before reading
- Using graphic organizers to map story structure
- Discussing the text after reading with guided questions
Correct answer: Asking the student to re-read the entire passage silently without support
Silent re-reading without support or strategy guidance provides little additional comprehension benefit for struggling readers who lack self-monitoring skills.
Question 7: The 'language experience approach' (LEA) to literacy involves:
- Students dictating a story that the teacher writes and then students read back (Correct answer)
- Silent sustained reading of self-selected books
- Whole-class phonics drills using decodable texts
- Computer-based reading programs with adaptive leveling
Correct answer: Students dictating a story that the teacher writes and then students read back
LEA connects oral language to print by having students dictate personal experiences, making the text inherently meaningful to them.
IA Reading & Literacy Support 3
A student can identify individual phonemes in spoken words but struggles to blend them together.
Which skill needs direct instruction?