Study Guide
Field 211: Multi-Subject: Teachers of Early Childhood
(Birth–Grade 2)
Part One: Literacy and English Language Arts
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Sample Constructed-Response Item 1
Competency 0004
Analysis, Synthesis, and Application
start boldUse the information provided in the exhibits to complete the task that follows. end bold
Using your knowledge of content and sound pedagogical practices in literacy and English language arts, analyze the information provided and write a response of approximately 400 to 600 words in which you:
- identify one significant strength the student demonstrates in the development of text comprehension or foundational reading skills, citing specific evidence from the exhibits to support your assessment;
- identify one significant need the student demonstrates in the development of text comprehension or foundational reading skills, citing specific evidence from the exhibits to support your assessment;
- describe one learning activity or instructional strategy that would effectively address the student's identified need or build on the student's identified strength; and
- explain how the learning activity or instructional strategy you described would be effective in addressing the student's need or in building on the student's strength.
Be sure to use evidence from start bold all end bold the exhibits in your response.
Exhibit 1: Teacher Notes
Student: Joseph B.
Home Language: EnglishAge: 6 Grade: 1st
IEP?: noJan. 5 Poetry Café, Day 2—Joseph presented his spaghetti poem, a very clever satire of the Hoberman poem we read in class. Some of the same language and the same structure, only about spaghetti. He liked reading to the group, and the other kids were impressed.
Jan. 10 Oral reading fluency screening (winter): Joseph's rate is 21 WCPM,* marginally below the winter 50th percentile benchmark of 23 WCPM. His accuracy rate was 87 percent . Overall comprehension was low.
Feb. 10 Joseph said he forgot his library books at home again this week, so he couldn't check out new books. I noticed later that he did have the books in his backpack. He said he was "still using them," and he didn't want to read a different book.
Feb. 11 During quiet reading break, Joseph had a book open to the same page the whole time—ten minutes. He seemed distracted, looked out the window a couple of times. When his eyes were on the book, his mind was clearly elsewhere.
*WCPM: Words Correct Per Minute
Exhibit 2: Reading Literature
The teacher makes a record of students' oral reading performance during a screening assessment of their oral reading fluency. After students read a passage, the teacher asks them comprehension questions. Joseph's performance record is shown below, followed by a transcript of the conversation between Joseph and the teacher about the text.
The performance record includes the student's name, the date, a key, and a reading passage. The passage has been marked by the teacher to indicate how the student read the text. I will read the introductory material first. Then I will read the passage as it is written. Then I will reread the passage with the teacher's observations.
I will now read the passage.
Student: Joseph B. January 10.
Beginning of key. Oval represents deletion. Single vertical line represents short pause. Left arrow with a word above it represents repetition. Circumflex represents insertion. Double vertical line represents long pause. Word written above another word represents substitution. C with a circle around it represents self-correction. End of key.
Nan and Neal want a pet.
Nan asked Mom, "May we have a pet? I want a cat."
Neal asked Mom, "May we get a pet? I want a bird."
"Not a cat and a bird!" said Mom.
"Can I have a sake?" asked Nan.
"Can I have a toad?" asked Neal.
"No!" said Mom. "Thise two pets will not do!"
"Then I want a lizard," said Nan.
"Then I want a kitten," said Neal.
"No, no, no!" said Mom. "Those pets do not get along. We can have one pet!"
"Can we have a kitten and a cat?" asked Nan and Neal.
"Okay," smiled Mom.
I will now read the passage again with the teacher's observations.
Line one. Nan and Neal want a pet. N E L with a breve above the E is written above Neal. W A N with a breve above the A is written above want. Self-correction symbol pointing to want.
Line two. Nan asked Mom, May we get a pet? I want a cat. Asks substitutes asked. W A with a breve above the A, and a self-correction symbol alongside it, is written above want.
Line three. Neal asked Mom, May we get a pet? I want a bird. N E L with a breve above the E is written above Neal. Asks substitutes asked. B I hyphen R D with a breve above the I, and a self-correction symbol alongside it, is written above bird.
Line four. Not a cat and a bird! said Mom.
Line five. Can I have a snake? asked Nan. Long pause between A and snake. S N A with a breve on the A is written above snake. A short pause appears to the right of S N A, and to the right of that pause is written S N A K with a breve on the A.
Line six. Can I have a toad? asked Neal. T O D with a breve on the O is written above toad. N E L with a breve above the E is written above Neal.
Line seven. No! said Mom. Those two pets will not do! The word the substitutes those.
Line eight. Then I want a lizard, said Nan. Short pause after I. Long pause after A. L I Z A D with breves above the I and A, are written above lizard.
Line nine. Then I want a kitten, said Neal. Short pause after A. K I T hyphen T E N with breves above the I and E, and a self-correction symbol alongside that word, is written above kitten. N E L is written above Neal.
Line ten. No, no, no! said Mom. Those pets do not get along. We can have one pet! The word the substitutes those. The S in pets is circled, thus marking it for deletion. The self-correcting symbol is written in between do and not, and an arrow points it to the word those which is being substituted with the. A L O N G with breves above the A and O, and a self-correction symbol alongside that word, appears above along.
Line eleven. Can we have a kitten and a cat? asked Nan and Neal. Short pause before kitten. The word A before cat is circled, thus marking it for deletion. The letters E and D in the word asked are circled, thus marking them for deletion. N E L with a breve above the E is written above Neal.
Line twelve. Okay, smiled Mom. The word said substitutes the word smiled.
Teacher: What is this story about? Joseph: Nan and Nell want to get a pet. But their mom says, "No, no, no!" Teacher: Why does Mom say no? Does she give a reason? Joseph: I guess she doesn't want one. Teacher: How does the story end? Joseph: Finally Mom says okay. They convinced her! Teacher: Did they decide what to get? Joseph: No.
Exhibit 3: Reading Informational Text
Over the course of two days, the teacher reads aloud an informational book about an unusual relationship that formed between two animals at a wildlife refuge, an orphaned baby hippopotamus, called Owen, and "a grumpy 130-year-old male" tortoise, called Mzee (Hatkoff, et al. 2007). During the read-aloud, the teacher pauses regularly to guide students in using background knowledge and context to understand some of the challenging words in the text.
The teacher ends the read-aloud on the first day with an excerpt that includes the word start italics nurture end italics (reprinted below). After reading the excerpt once, the teacher writes the word start italics nurture end italics on the board, and asks students to explain in writing the meaning of start italics nurture end italics as it was used in the passage. The teacher reads the passage again and provides students with a short time to complete the assignment in their journals. The passage and Joseph's journal entry appear below.
Mzee can be rather bossy.... But most of the time, Mzee, whose name in the Swahili language means "wise old man," is like a gentle guardian to Owen. When Owen is upset by people or noise and prepares to charge, Mzee often blocks Owen's way and calmly holds him off, as if reassuring Owen that there is no need for alarm. This is the kind of wise guidance that Owen's mother or father would have given him. No one knows why Mzee—a reptile, without the instincts to nurture another animal—is able and willing to nurture Owen. But clearly, he is.1Acknowledgments 1
Joseph B.
Feb. 3
Nurtur
Mze nurchers OweN. He heps him lern about Lif and bE wizer.
Own is a baybE Mze taks cayr him.Mzee nurtures Owen. He helps him learn about life and be wiser.
Owen is a baby. Mzee takes care of him.
Sample Strong Response to Constructed-Response Item 1
Joseph demonstrates a significant strength in comprehension skills when text is read orally to him or with him/the class. This is evidenced by his writing a satire of a poem read aloud in class (Exhibit 1). In this context, he was able to understand the structure, language, and meaning of the poem well enough to recreate them in an original poem clearly related to the poem he had heard. This strength is also evident when he defined the word "nurture" (Exhibit 3). Joseph defines nurture by saying that "Mzee nurtures Owen" when "Mzee takes care of Owen." Joseph shows he understands the phrase "wise guidance" in the context of the passage in which the phrase follows an example of Mzee's guidance and is then further explained as the kind of thing Owen's parents would give him. Joseph infers that Mzee "helps him [Owen] learn about life" (which is not explicitly stated in the text).
Joseph demonstrates a significant need in decoding. The assessment data and notes reveal weak decoding skills that adversely affect his fluency, comprehension, and motivation to read. His teacher notes in Exhibit 1 that his oral fluency screening is just below the 50th percentile and his comprehension is low. In Exhibit 2, he struggles with automaticity as evidenced by numerous pauses and self-corrections. In particular, he struggles with decoding, pronouncing most vowels as short regardless of letter patterns ("Nel" for Neal, "tod" for toad, "snak" for snake). This difficulty clearly detracts from comprehension, as evidenced by his responses in Exhibit 2, where he can answer fewer than half the questions accurately. His spelling in Exhibit 3 also reveals phonics challenges (misspelling "r"-controlled vowels, silent "e" at the end of words: "Lif" and "taks").
An instructional strategy to address Joseph's needs would be to work with Joseph (small group or individually) to develop his phonics skills to improve automatic decoding. The first area of focus would be long-vowel patterns. I would start by giving Joseph letter cards and asking him to spell a simple 3-letter word, using a CVC pattern (e.g., not) while saying it aloud. Then I'd move an "e" on to the end of this word and guide him in pronouncing the word. I would ask him to notice what happened to the vowel in the middle when an "e" is added. We would practice this with several words (kit/kite, mat/mate, tot/tote) and then move to longer words with a similar pattern, such as "snake," which is a word he had trouble decoding. Then I would give him blank cards to make word cards for his word bank. We would use the word cards to write sentences to practice oral reading. I would also use picture cards with the silent "e" pattern for Joseph to use in a matching game, to reinforce this pattern with a visual. This sequence would also be done with other word or spelling patterns. CVVC would be next because he exhibited a problem with this in reading "Neal" and "toad."
This strategy would be effective in addressing Joseph's need for decoding skills in several ways. Direct instruction in targeted letter patterns gives him the specific information he needs. The combination of making, saying, writing, and reading these new words promotes learning by engaging several senses: Joseph will be acquiring and applying new knowledge in several modalities. Repetition helps him discern and recall letter patterns.
Sample Constructed-Response Item 2
Competency 0004
Analysis, Synthesis, and Application
start boldUse the information provided in the exhibits to complete the task that follows. end bold
Using your knowledge of content and sound pedagogical practices in literacy and English language arts, analyze the information provided and write a response of approximately 400 to 600 words in which you:
- identify one significant strength the student demonstrates in the development of text comprehension or foundational reading skills, citing specific evidence from the exhibits to support your assessment;
- identify one significant need the student demonstrates in the development of text comprehension or foundational reading skills, citing specific evidence from the exhibits to support your assessment;
- describe one learning activity or instructional strategy that would effectively address the student's identified need or build on the student's identified strength; and
- explain how the learning activity or instructional strategy you described would be effective in addressing the student's need or in building on the student's strength.
Be sure to use evidence from start bold allend bold the exhibits in your response.
Exhibit 1: Teacher Notes
Student: Ehryu C.
Home Language: EnglishAge: 6 Grade: 1st
IEP?: noFeb. 26 Reader's conference—Erhyu is very drawn to picture books with beautiful, painting-like illustrations. She recently checked out from the library a version of the old folktale, The Shoemaker and the Elves. She enjoys spinning her own tale based on drawings. I recommended Cat Magic from an early reader chapter book series about two magical sisters. She read aloud the first two pages without difficulty and seemed intrigued.
Mar. 2 Ehryu is very engaged during my class read-aloud (Petra's Garden). She infers—and blurts out enthusiastically—the true culprit responsible for the disappearance of the watering can—even before I could offer some hints to the class. She could explain her reasoning too.
Mar. 16 E-mail from Ehryu's dad. He's concerned because she is avoiding bedtime stories now that mom and dad have asked her to do some of the reading. I offered to meet with them and asked what books they like to read.
Mar. 18 Oral reading fluency screening (spring) Ehryu's rate is 36 WCPM* (more than 10 words below the spring 50th percentile benchmark of 53 WCPM) with an accuracy rate of 92%. Overall comprehension is limited.
*WCPM: Words Correct Per Minute
Exhibit 2: Reading Literature
The teacher makes a record of students' oral reading performance during a screening assessment of their oral reading fluency. After students read the passage, the teacher asks them comprehension questions. Ehryu's performance record is shown below, followed by a transcript of the conversation between Ehryu and the teacher about the text
The performance record includes the student's name, the date, a key, and a reading passage. The passage has been marked by the teacher to indicate how the student read the text. I will read the introductory material first. Then I will read the passage as it is written. Then I will reread the passage with the teacher's observations.
I will now read the passage.
Student: Ehryu C. March 15.
Beginning of key. Oval represents deletion. Single vertical line represents short pause. Left arrow with a word above it represents repetition. Circumflex represents insertion. Double vertical line represents long pause. Word written above another word represents substitution. C with a circle around it represents self-correction. End of key.
"Grandpa is here!" said Uncle Jim. He called inside. "Kids! Will you come out?"
Susanna was the first to appear. "Grandpa!" she said as she ran to where Grandpa stood, leaning on his cane. Grandpa gave her a big hug.
"Dear girl" he said. "How did you grow so tall?"
Martin and then Ken were next out the door. The twins both hugged Grandpa at the same time, one on each side.
"Boys" he said. "So good to see you!"
"I'm making a model rocket for school," said Susanna. Will you help me, Grandpa?"
"Wait!" shouted Martin. I need Grandpa to help me. I'm making a present for Aunt Sarah, and it's a… . He clapped his hand over his mouth. It's a surprise," he said in a smaller voice.
"But what about helping me?" said Ken.
Grandpa grinned. "I have plenty of time to spend with each of you children," he said. "But first, you must help me up the front steps and into a chair! It's been a long trip!"
I will now read the passage again with the teacher's observations.
Line one. "Grandpa is here!" said Uncle Jim. (The teacher drew a vertical line after the word said.) He called inside. (The teacher drew a vertical line after the word he and a vertical line after the I N on the word inside.) "Kids! Will you come out?"
Line two. Susanna was the first to appear. (The teacher wrote S U S A N above the word Susanna and F I S T with a breve above I above the word first. Above the word appear, the teacher wrote A P with a breve above P, drew a vertical line after P, and wrote E R with a macron above E and a self-correction symbol after R.) "Grandpa!" she said as she ran to where Grandpa stood, leaning on his cane. (The teacher circled T in the word stood thus marking it for deletion. Above the word leaning the teacher wrote L E hyphen I N G with a macron above E.) Grandpa gave her a big hug.
Line three. "Dear girl" he said. "How did you grow so tall?"
Line four. Martin and then Ken were next out the door. (Between R and T in Martin the teacher drew a vertical line. The teacher wrote N E K T above the word next with a breve above E. The teacher drew a vertical line after the word door, with a self-correction symbol above the vertical line, and a back arrow from the vertical line to the beginning of the word next.) The twins both hugged Grandpa at the same time, one on each side. (The teacher circled S in the word twins thus marking it for deletion.)
Line five. "Boys" he said. (The teacher circled S in the word boys thus marking it for deletion.) "So good to see you!"
Line six. "I'm making a model rocket for school," said Susanna. (Above the word making the teacher wrote M A K I N G with a breve above A. The teacher drew a vertical line after the word making, with a self-correction symbol above the vertical line, and a back arrow from the vertical line to the beginning of the word making. Above the word model the teacher wrote M O D E L with a macron above O and a breve above E. The teacher drew a vertical line before R and a vertical line after K in rocket. Above the word Susanna the teacher wrote S U S A N.) Will you help me, Grandpa?"
Line seven. "Wait!" shouted Martin. (The teacher drew a vertical line after the word wait. Above the word shouted the teacher wrote S H O O T E D with a macron above both O's and a vertical line after T.) I need Grandpa to help me. I'm making a present for Aunt Sarah, and it's a… .(Above the word making the teacher wrote M A K with a breve above A and a self-correction symbol next to K. Above the word present the teacher wrote P R E S with a macron above E and made a vertical line and a self-correction symbol after S.) He clapped his hand over his mouth. (Above the word clapped the teacher wrote C A P P E D. Over the word mouth the teacher wrote M O O T H with a breve above both O's and two vertical lines after H.) It's a surprise," he said in a smaller voice. (The teacher made a vertical line after the second L in the word smaller. Above the word voice the teacher wrote V O K with a macron above O and made two vertical lines after K.)
Line eight. "But what about helping me?" said Ken.
Line nine. Grandpa grinned. (Above the word grinned the teacher wrote G I N D with a breve above I and a vertical line after N.) "I have plenty of time to spend with each of you children," he said. (The teacher wrote S E N D above the word spend.) "But first, you must help me up the front steps and into a chair! (The teacher circled I in the word first thus marking it for deletion and drew a self-correction symbol above R. Above the word front the teacher wrote F R O hyphen N with a macron above O and a vertical line after N.) It's been a long trip!" (Above the word trip the teacher wrote T I P with a breve above I.)After Ehryu reads aloud the passage, the teacher asks her some questions about what she has read. A transcript of their conversation appears below.
Teacher: Tell me about the characters in this story. Ehryu: Grandpa! Susan, Martin. Ken. Teacher: What do you learn about the characters in the story? Ehryu: Mmm. Susan is taller than the last time Grandpa saw her. I guess it's been a while. Like not yesterday he saw her. Teacher: Interesting. Anything else? Ehryu: Grandpa is really nice. Teacher: How do you know? Ehryu: He called Susan "dear." He gave everybody a big hug. And he likes to help people. Teacher: He does? How can you tell? Ehryu: Everyone wants him to help because he always does help. That's like my grandpa. Teacher: Where does this story take place? Ehryu: It's in a house. There's a chair. Teacher: How does the story end? Ehryu: Grandpa is going to help them. And they will help him.
Exhibit 3: Reading Informational Text
As part of a science unit on the behavior of light, the teacher reads aloud a picture book about "where light comes from" (from objects that are very hot) and how light waves illuminate objects that people see. Students have recently investigated light in the classroom using flashlights and a variety of materials and objects. During the read-aloud, the teacher pauses often to discuss key vocabulary and to prompt students to connect ideas in the text to what they know. In a subsequent lesson, the teacher rereads a short passage from the book aloud, then asks students to reread the passage to themselves and respond in writing to questions about the passage in their journals. The reading passage, with the journal assignment, and Ehryu's response appear below.
Light travels very fast. You can see this when you turn on a lamp at night. All at once the whole room is filled with light. Point a flashlight at a tree far away. As soon as you turn on the light, you can see the tree.
Light travels so fast, it can go from the moon to the Earth and back in three seconds. If you could travel that fast, you could go around the world seven times in one second.
—from Day Light, Night Light by Franklyn M. Branley2
Directions: Read the paragraphs above. Then answer the following questions in your journal. Use details from the passage to explain your answers.
1. What is the main idea in this part?
2. What are two details that show this idea?
Ehryu C.
March 6
1. Light is VerY fast.
2. It goes to the tree and your eye rite away it goes from the moon to erth in 3 secods Thats far
Sample Strong Response to Constructed-Response Item 2
Ehryu shows a significant strength in the area of listening comprehension. We can see this in her journal response to the questions from the Reading Informational Text. The teacher reads this passage aloud to the students before having them read it silently and answer questions. Ehryu’s answers to both questions - main idea and details - show that she understands the passage is about light traveling very fast and can provide two specific details from the reading to support this. We can also see this in the Teacher Notes on March 2nd. The teacher details how Ehryu is very engaged in the read-aloud the teacher is doing from Petra’s Garden. Ehryu was able to infer who the culprit is in the story before the teacher is able to offer some hints to the students. "She could explain her reasoning too." This shows that she is not only following the story being read, but that she is also able to make inferences from what she is listening to.
Ehryu struggles with oral reading fluency, as is evidenced in the running record and subsequent discussion with the teacher. She has several issues in the area of phonological awareness, including long and short vowel sounds (present, making), vowel pairs (ou sound), and consonant blends (omitting letters in first, twins, boys, clapped, grinned). While she can make several self-corrections, this need is having an impact on her comprehension of what she has read. Ehryu knows the names of the characters, that Grandpa is nice, and that "everyone wants Grandpa to help…" but she misses more specifics from the story, such as where the story is taking place and that it ends with Grandpa asking for help into the house, likely due to her struggle to pronounce many of the words as she reads. In the Teacher Notes, we see that she is more than 10 words below the spring 50th percentile benchmark and that her accuracy rate is only 92%, with overall limited comprehension.
The first area I would work on with Ehryu is consonant blends, because there are many errors here. I would start by telling her that two consonants next to each other in a word make up what we call a blend that makes a specific sound. I would write some of these on a white board - specifically some that she has struggled with - and would add a word that contains this blend. For example, I would write gr, along with the word grin. We would discuss what this word means and then draw a picture of a smile to help reinforce the understanding. I would have her say the word with me as we run a finger underneath the word for her to see how the g and the r combine to form the gr sound. Next, I would work with Ehryu to find words that have this same blend - growl, grass, grab - and have her write these words down and say the word while running her finger under the letters. I would do this activity for several consonant blends. To reinforce this understanding, I would periodically have Ehryu find words for me that contain the blends we have worked on, especially as we are reading together or in reading group.
This strategy would be effective because it starts by teaching Ehryu the rule, then giving her a visual to reference, and slowly turning the job of seeing these blends in her reading over to Ehryu so that she is able to recognize them more automatically.
Performance Characteristics for Constructed-Response Item
The following characteristics guide the scoring of the response to a constructed-response item.
| Completeness | The degree to which the response addresses all parts of the assignment |
|---|---|
| Accuracy | The degree to which the response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills accurately and effectively |
| Depth of Support | The degree to which the response provides appropriate examples and details that demonstrate sound reasoning |
Score Scale for Constructed-Response Item
A score will be assigned to the response to a constructed-response item according to the following score scale.
| Score Point | Score Point Description |
|---|---|
| 4 |
The "4" response reflects a thorough command of the relevant knowledge and skills:
|
| 3 |
The "3" response reflects a general command of the relevant knowledge and skills:
|
| 2 |
The "2" response reflects a partial command of the relevant knowledge and skills:
|
| 1 |
The "1" response reflects little or no command of the relevant knowledge and skills:
|
| U | The response is unscorable because it is unrelated to the assigned topic or off task, unreadable, written in a language other than English or contains an insufficient amount of original work to score. |
| B | No response. |
Acknowledgments
1From OWEN & MZEE: THE LANGUAGE OF FRIENDSHIP by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Dr. Paula Kahumbu. Copyright 2007 by Turtle Pond Publications. Reprinted by permission of Scholastic Inc.
2Day Light, Night Light: Where Light Comes From by Franklyn M. Branley. Text Copyright © 1975 by Franklyn M. Branley