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Study Guide

Field 211: Multi-Subject: Teachers of Early Childhood
(Birth to Grade 2)
Part One: Literacy and English Language Arts

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Sample Selected-Response Questions

Competency 0001 
Knowledge of Literacy and Language Arts

1. A four-year-old child has not yet grasped the alphabetic principle. Which statement is the most likely explanation of the child's ability to recognize some printed words in the environment (e.g., a popular brand name; a stop sign)?

  1. The child is able to guess the words based on the sound of the first letter.
  2. The child has memorized the sequence of letters in the words.
  3. The child is familiar with graphic elements associated with the words.
  4. The child has incorporated the words in memory as sight words.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of language and literacy development, including major components of reading development. A working understanding of the alphabetic principle, the recognition that letter patterns in written words represent the component sounds in spoken words, is an essential step in learning to decode printed words in English and an important milestone in early reading development. Children who have not yet developed this recognition do not attend to individual letters or use letter sequence to identify words. They may nevertheless be able to recognize some printed words encountered frequently in their environment, such as the names of products appearing in distinctive logos or the word  start italics stop end italics  on a traffic sign, by virtue of their distinctive and consistent appearance, i.e., by virtue of graphic features associated with the words (e.g., colors and shapes in a stop sign, prominent visual characteristics on a label) and their environmental context.

Competency 0001 
Knowledge of Literacy and Language Arts

2. Read the script below for a student's oral presentation; then answer the question that follows.

1A mbira is an African musical instrument made of metal keys mounted on a wooden board. 2I learned about this instrument when I visited Ethiopia last summer. 3A traditional mbira has about 25 keys. 4Originally, the keys were made from rock that contained iron ore. 5Today, they are often made from recycled steel materials such as bicycle spokes. 6We recycle cans at school. 7Players hold the instrument with both hands and strike the keys with their thumbs. 8Each key produces a different note.

Which revision would best support listeners' comprehension during the presentation?

  1. removing Sentence 2
  2. reversing the order of Sentences 3 and 4
  3. removing Sentence 6
  4. reversing the order of Sentences 7 and 8
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. This question requires the examinee to analyze and evaluate elements of an effective oral presentation that support listener comprehension and analysis. The sentence "We recycle cans at school" presents extraneous information that is unrelated to the presentation topic. Removing Sentence 6 would support listeners' comprehension by keeping them focused on the topic rather than causing them to wonder about the connection between recycling cans and making mbiras from recycled steel.

Competency 0002 
Instruction in Foundational Literacy Skills

3. In addition to reading aloud a variety of books to the whole class, a prekindergarten teacher regularly reads aloud and discusses books with groups of two or three children. Small-group read-alouds are generally more effective than whole-group read-alouds in promoting children's robust vocabulary development primarily because a small-group setting is more likely to encourage young children to:

  1. view themselves as members of a literate community.
  2. develop awareness of different genres of text.
  3. make connections between print and spoken language.
  4. engage in conversation about a book's content.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of developmentally appropriate research- and evidence-based instructional practices for providing opportunities to hear, read, and use new vocabulary in a variety of meaningful contexts to develop the depth of understanding of words. A robust vocabulary entails a deep understanding of a wide variety of words that occur more often in written texts or academic discourse than in everyday speech. Depth of vocabulary knowledge includes an understanding of the meaning and usage of words in relationship to other words. Convergent research indicates that depth of word knowledge develops from multiple opportunities to hear and use new words in meaningful ways. A small-group read-aloud provides more opportunities for children to actively participate in discussing the text with their peers and teacher than are possible in a large-group setting. This activity promotes vocabulary development.

Competency 0002 
Instruction in Foundational Literacy Skills

4. A first-grade teacher meets with a student and uses a "big book" as an anchor text. The teacher asks the student to look at the book, identify what the book is about, and explain why the student thinks so. Then, the teacher asks if the student is able to read any of the words on one of the pages. The teacher is most likely trying to assess the student's knowledge of:

  1. print concepts.
  2. letter-sound correspondence.
  3. text features.
  4. encoding methods.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of developmentally appropriate evidence-based assessment and instructional practices to promote students' understanding of print concepts. The teacher is assessing the student's familiarity with print. Can the student recognize that print carries meaning? By asking the student to talk about what the book is about, provide evidence, and then identify any known words, the teacher is able to evaluate the student's overall knowledge of print concepts.

Competency 0003 
Instruction in English Language Arts

5. While reading illustrated informational texts aloud to students, a prekindergarten teacher routinely prompts students to describe how the illustrations depict people, places, things, and ideas in the text. This instructional practice will help students achieve college and career readiness primarily by promoting their ability to:

  1. conduct research based on focused questions.
  2. integrate content presented in diverse formats.
  3. evaluate specific claims and evidence.
  4. compare approaches authors take to a topic.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate understanding of  N Y S L S  grade-specific standards in reading informational text for  prekindergarten to grade 2  and the relationship of these standards to the development of college and career readiness in reading by the end of grade 12. The instructional practice of reading illustrated texts aloud and prompting students to describe the relationship between the illustrations and the text in which they appear enhances students' understanding of how illustrations reinforce and complement information in a written text. This instructional approach helps prekindergarten students develop foundational skills that will help them achieve the reading anchor standard for college- and career-readiness "integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats" ( N Y S L S .R.71).

Competency 0003 
Instruction in English Language Arts

6. Use the listening expectations below to answer the question that follows.

When You Speak
I turn my body toward you.
I listen without interrupting.
I think about what you say.

A kindergarten teacher displays a poster listing the listening expectations during whole-group instruction and reviews them frequently with the children. Which additional action by the teacher would best promote the children's ability to self-monitor their listening behavior and engage in effective listening practices?

  1. distributing copies of the listening expectations to each child
  2. assigning helpers to assist classmates in meeting the listening expectations
  3. informing parents/guardians about the listening expectations
  4. adding corresponding visual cues to each listening expectation on the poster
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of strategies for planning a collegial, literate environment that promotes students' participation and collaboration in classroom conversations. Children of kindergarten age would most likely not be able to read the poster independently. Visual cues (e.g., illustrations, symbols) would provide clear, comprehensible models of good listening behavior. During whole-group instruction, the children could self-monitor their listening behavior by comparing their behavior to the visual cues shown in the poster.

Acknowledgments

1From the New York State Education Department. New York State Next Generation English Language Arts Learning Standards. Internet. Available from http://www.nysed.gov/curriculum-instruction/new-york-state-next-generation-english-language-arts-learning-standards; accessed 6/4/2020.