UIC College of Education Content Test Prep

Correct Response: C

At this age, infants may be able to speak a few words and most infants practice speaking by babbling nonsense words. Teachers and families play a critical role in developing language rich learning environments. Adding words or questions to what an infant is doing such as “you have the pink block” encourages communication and models language for the infant.

Correct Response: C

Young children’s oral language development follows a predictable sequence from less to more complex. The use of the grammatical morpheme ‘s to form a contraction of the words She and is represents a more sophisticated stage of oral language development than the constructed sentences in the other responses, which typically occur earlier.

Correct Response: C

This question is primarily about the print rich environment the teacher has created and the opportunities the children are given to use the text around them to further their literacy development. 

While it may be implied that the teacher also wants students to interact with each other, cooperative learning (option A) and student collaboration (option B) are not the primary purposes highlighted in the question scenario. The general idea of the role the classroom environment plays in supporting learning (option D) also does not go far enough to be the best answer.

Correct Response: B

According to the researchers, children’s minds are trained to categorize phonemes in their first language, which may conflict with phonemes used in English. For example, Spanish-speaking children may speak, read, and write ch when sh should be used because in Spanish, these two combinations produce the same phoneme (International Reading Association, 2001). 

It is important for teachers to understand the linguistic characteristics of a student’s home language, including the phonemes that exist and do not exist in that language so that they can better support the child’s phonemic awareness development in English. 

Correct Response: A 

There are many strategies teachers can use to support ELLs as they build both receptive and expressive English language skills in the classroom.  Using gestures and visual cues, as well as using simple words or words with shared cognates (words in two languages that share a similar meaning, spelling and pronunciation such as the Spanish word información and the English word information) 

Correct Response: D. 

Fluent readers employ prosody (e.g., pitch, stress, timing) to interpret and convey the meaning of the text they are reading. A child who reads an author’s words with appropriate phrasing and expression is demonstrating key indicators associated with reading fluency.

Correct Response: B

Sound segmentation activities require students to isolate each constituent sound in a word. Moving each marker into its own box to represent each sound encourages the students to associate one marker with one sound, thus laying a conceptual foundation for students’ later association of individual letters with their sounds.

This scenario refers to the use of a teaching tool called Elkonin Sound Boxes. They support young or struggling readers to develop phonemic awareness skills by helping them to better hear and manipulate the smallest units of sound in words.

Correct Response: C

Segmenting individual sounds in words

Children’s phonological awareness skills follow a continuum of complexity. The most advanced level of phonological awareness is phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is the understanding that words are made up of individual sounds, or phonemes, and the ability to manipulate those phonemes either by segmenting, blending, or changing individual phonemes within words to create new words.

Correct Answer: D  

Phonemic Awareness skills are necessary for matching words or pictures with beginning sounds. 

Option A (phonics) is incorrect because it involves understanding how letters combined to make sounds and words. Students are ready for phonics instruction after they have acquired a strong foundation of phonemic awareness. 

Option B (Vocabulary), involves building children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary or word knowledge, which is not the goal of this activity. 

Option C (letter recognition) is incorrect because this activity is not focused primarily on children identifying letters.

Correct Answer: B

Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently, such as to, two, and too.

Correct Response: C

This question reminds us to be familiar with the ways children use and teachers teach the various text features of non-fiction/informational books.

Text features are elements included in books that exist independently from the book’s main text. they are intended to enhance readers’ experiences with the text. Some examples of text features include table of contents, the index, and the glossary of terms. Students learn how to access various information in books more quickly and efficiently through the use of text features. 

Correct Answer: B

Inferential questions require students to use their background knowledge and the clues within the story to answer questions beyond what is explicitly stated in the text. 

Generally speaking, there are 3 types of Comprehension: Literal (understanding what is explicitly written or described in the text), Inferential (reading between the lines; understanding implied meaning based on the facts or details in a text), and Evaluative (the ability to analyze text or to explore the author’s intent, opinion or style)

Correct Response: C. 

Asking a kindergartner to write a title on a picture he or she has just drawn would provide the teacher with a variety of information. For example, this task would show whether the child understands that writing is different from drawing and that print is directional. It would demonstrate the child’s letter-formation skills. It would also be likely to provide information on the child’s understanding of letter-sound correspondence (e.g., if the child uses letters and words that correspond to the names of the objects in the drawing).

Correct Response: A

This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of strategies for fostering English language learners’ ability to speak for various purposes. If English language learners are unfamiliar with key words and concepts in a story, they will be unable to participate fully in a discussion about it. Conducting a prereading activity to explain the story’s vocabulary and link the content to the children’s existing knowledge will facilitate comprehension and, thus, active oral participation.

Correct Answer: B

This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of factors that influence children’s development of writing skills. The development of the fine-motor skills required for writing starts in babyhood, when children use a pincer grasp to pick up objects of interest. Preschool teachers can build on these skills by providing appealing activities with manipulative materials that support the further development of fine-motor strength and control.

Correct Answer: B

Spelling instruction in the early years includes the teaching of spelling patterns such as the CVC (consonant/vowel/consonant) pattern used to form words with short vowel sounds such as pop or tag, while the CVCe and CVVC patterns most often form words with long vowel sounds such as cake or read.

Correct Response: A

This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of concepts about print. Kima’s behaviors indicate that she makes a distinction between letters and pictures and that she recognizes that letters are used to represent spoken language.