Mixed Deck — All STR Topics Flashcards

Which error pattern would MOST indicate a student has a phonological processing deficit rather than a phonics knowledge gap?

Answer: Unable to blend sounds even when shown individually

Difficulty blending sounds presented individually suggests a phonological processing deficit — the student cannot manipulate phonemes even without the spelling layer.

Progress monitoring assessments should be administered to at-risk students at least:

Answer: Every 1–2 weeks during intervention

Research recommends weekly or biweekly progress monitoring during intervention to determine if the intervention is effective.

Why is background knowledge particularly important for reading comprehension?

Answer: It allows readers to make inferences, fill gaps, and build mental models of text meaning

Background knowledge provides the conceptual scaffold for inference-making and mental model construction, which are essential for deep comprehension.

A student can blend phonemes into words but struggles with segmenting words into phonemes. Which instructional strategy would be MOST effective?

Answer: Use Elkonin boxes or counters to make segmentation concrete and systematic

Elkonin boxes provide a concrete, kinesthetic scaffold that helps students physically separate phonemes, directly targeting the segmentation skill gap.

A student understands individual sentences but struggles to understand the whole text. This is BEST described as a problem with:

Answer: Text-level comprehension (global coherence)

Difficulty integrating sentences into a coherent whole reflects a problem with global coherence or text-level comprehension.

Which definition of dyslexia is used by the International Dyslexia Association?

Answer: A specific learning disability characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition, poor decoding and spelling, rooted in a phonological processing deficit

The IDA defines dyslexia as a specific, neurobiological learning disability rooted in a phonological processing deficit, affecting word recognition and decoding despite adequate instruction.

The Discourse Comprehension model suggests comprehension occurs at multiple levels. Which level deals with understanding words and sentences?

Answer: Surface code

The surface code level involves understanding the exact words and sentence structures as written in the text.

Which task requires a student to say 'cat' without the /k/ sound?

Answer: Phoneme deletion

Phoneme deletion involves removing a specific sound from a word and saying what remains. Removing /k/ from 'cat' leaves 'at'.

Which type of question asks students to use information from the text combined with their own knowledge?

Answer: Author and me question

Author and Me questions (from QAR) require students to combine textual evidence with personal knowledge to answer.

Which strategy best helps students identify the main idea of an informational paragraph?

Answer: Identifying the topic and what the author says about it most

The main idea is the central point the author makes about the topic, found by identifying the topic and the author's key claim about it.

Which of these is an example of a phonemic awareness task?

Answer: Identifying the first sound in the word "dog"

Identifying the first sound in a word, such as /d/ in "dog," is a classic phonemic awareness task. Phonemic awareness is a specific subset of phonological awareness that focuses on the individual sounds (phonemes) within words. This activity requires a child to isolate and recognize a single phoneme, demonstrating their ability to manipulate the smallest units of sound in spoken language.

In the MTSS framework, what level of intervention is typically appropriate for a student identified as at-risk on dyslexia screening in kindergarten?

Answer: Tier 2 supplemental intervention with progress monitoring every 2 to 4 weeks

A student identified as at-risk on a dyslexia screener typically receives Tier 2 supplemental, small-group intervention with more frequent progress monitoring to determine responsiveness before escalating to Tier 3.

What does the term 'orthographic knowledge' mean in the context of spelling?

Answer: Understanding of how letters and letter patterns represent sounds in written language

Orthographic knowledge is the understanding of the writing system — including letter patterns, spelling rules, and the way sounds map to print.

Which of the following activities best supports the development of phonological awareness in young children?

Answer: Clapping out syllables in words

Clapping out syllables in words is an excellent activity for developing phonological awareness because it directly involves segmenting spoken words into their component sound units. This task helps children recognize the distinct rhythmic beats within words, improving their auditory discrimination and manipulation of sound structures. It's a hands-on way to make abstract sound concepts concrete and understandable for young learners.

What is the alphabetic principle?

Answer: The concept that letters and letter combinations represent sounds in a systematic way

The alphabetic principle is the foundational understanding that written letters and letter combinations systematically represent the sounds of spoken language.

Which statement best describes how Structured Literacy differs from a balanced literacy approach for students with dyslexia?

Answer: Structured Literacy provides explicit, systematic phonics and phonological instruction; balanced literacy relies more on implicit learning and meaning-based cuing strategies

Structured Literacy is explicit and systematic in phonics instruction, whereas balanced literacy relies more on meaning-based cues, implicit phonics learning, and leveled text, which research shows are insufficient for students with dyslexia.

Which of the following skills is NOT part of phonological awareness?

Answer: Identifying letter names and sounds

Identifying letter names and sounds is a skill related to phonics and alphabet knowledge, not phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is purely auditory, focusing on the sounds of spoken language without reference to print. Skills like segmenting words into syllables, blending phonemes, and rhyming words all involve manipulating spoken sounds, whereas letter identification connects sounds to written symbols.

Why should phonological awareness instruction include letters once students have basic phoneme awareness?

Answer: Connecting phonemes to graphemes accelerates decoding and reading acquisition

Research shows that phonemic awareness instruction that incorporates letters produces stronger gains in reading and spelling because it bridges phonemic awareness to the alphabetic principle.

Which of the following is an example of onset-rime segmentation?

Answer: Breaking 'slip' into the onset /sl/ and the rime /ip/

Onset-rime segmentation splits a single-syllable word at the onset (consonants before the vowel) and the rime (vowel and everything after). For 'slip': onset is /sl/, rime is /ip/.

Which listening comprehension skill is most directly targeted when a teacher asks: 'What was the author's main message in the passage we just heard?'

Answer: Identification of the main idea from an oral text

Identifying the main idea, which is the central message or point of a passage, when the text is delivered orally targets listening comprehension at the inferential and interpretive level.