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Descriptive Statements:
- Demonstrate knowledge of stages and characteristics of young children's language acquisition and development as well as indicators that a child may be experiencing difficulties or demonstrating advanced abilities in language development.
- Apply knowledge of developmentally appropriate strategies for promoting children's oral vocabulary, listening skills, and oral expression in varied contexts (e.g., interacting with peers and adults, exploring environments, responding to read-alouds and questioning); and creating a language-rich environment that encourages all children to learn to communicate effectively.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the relationship between listening, speaking, and reading and strategies for building on the receptive and expressive language of all children (i.e., English speakers; English language learners; and children who use verbal, nonverbal, and alternative means of communication) to lay the foundations for formal reading instruction.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the influence of a home language other than standard English on oral language development and strategies for using English language learners' linguistic and cultural backgrounds to promote their listening and speaking skills.
- Apply knowledge of strategies and methods for integrating developmentally appropriate opportunities for meaningful language and communication into all areas of the early childhood curriculum.
Sample Item:
As part of the regular daily schedule, a second-grade teacher reads a story aloud and
discusses it with the class. Several students are English language learners, and the
teacher wants to use the discussions to promote and extend these students' oral language
skills. Which of the following would be the teacher's best strategy for achieving this
goal?
- meeting with the English language learners beforehand to preteach key vocabulary
and make connections to their prior knowledge
- asking the English language learners to repeat the teacher's questions in
statement form as a preface to their responses
- holding the discussions in two sessions, one for the English language learners
and the other for native English speakers
- using the discussions as a regular opportunity to give feedback on the English
language learners' progress in English language production
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide 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.
Descriptive Statements:
- Demonstrate knowledge of literacy development, factors that affect the development of reading skills, and indicators that a child may be experiencing difficulties or demonstrating advanced abilities in reading.
- Apply knowledge of the role of phonological and phonemic awareness in early reading development, methods of assessing young children's phonological and phonemic awareness, and strategies for fostering the development of phonological and phonemic awareness.
- Demonstrate knowledge of concepts about print, ways to assess children's understanding of concepts about print, and strategies and resources for promoting understanding in this area.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the alphabetic principle and its significance for reading, ways to assess children's understanding of the alphabetic principle, and strategies for promoting skills and understanding in this area.
- Demonstrate knowledge of spelling development and its relationship to reading, stages of spelling development, ways to evaluate children's spelling development, and strategies and resources for promoting spelling skills.
- Apply knowledge of approaches for integrating literacy with other areas of the curriculum and with everyday activities.
- Demonstrate knowledge of rationales and strategies for involving families and other professionals in young children's literacy development.
Sample Item:
Four-year-old Kima draws a picture of a girl. She then writes the letter K all around
the edges of the paper, remarking, "This is my name. It says Kima." This behavior
suggests that Kima has attained some understanding of:
- the function of print.
- how to decode words.
- the alphabetic principle.
- how to track print.
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide 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.
Descriptive Statements:
- Demonstrate knowledge of phonics and its role in decoding written language, ways to assess children's phonics skills, and strategies for promoting the development of phonics skills.
- Demonstrate knowledge of word-identification strategies other than phonics (e.g., syllabication, morphology, context cues), ways to assess children's use of word-identification strategies, and strategies for promoting word-identification skills.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the role of sight words in reading, ways to assess children's mastery of common irregular sight words, and strategies for promoting sight-word recognition.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the role of fluency in reading comprehension, ways to assess children's reading fluency, and strategies for promoting reading fluency.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the role of vocabulary development in reading, ways to assess children's vocabulary development, and strategies for promoting vocabulary development.
- Demonstrate knowledge of various reading comprehension strategies (e.g., previewing, questioning, self-monitoring, self-correcting, rereading), factors that affect reading comprehension, ways to assess children's use of reading comprehension strategies, and strategies and resources for promoting skills in this area.
- Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for promoting children's ability to locate, organize, and use information from various sources for purposes such as answering questions, solving problems, communicating ideas, and making logical connections.
- Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for promoting children's literary response and analysis and for motivating children to read complex texts independently.
Sample Item:
Which of the following would be the most effective way for a third-grade teacher to
promote students' comprehension of a new chapter they are about to begin reading in
their science textbook?
- having students skim the chapter, write down any unfamiliar words, and look up
the words in a dictionary
- assigning students to small groups in which the members take turns reading
sections of the text out loud
- holding a brief discussion of the word identification strategies the class
has learned and listing the strategies on the board
- helping the class generate a chart of what they know about the subject and
what they would like to learn
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
D. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of
strategies for promoting reading comprehension skills. Research indicates that students
who are actively engaged when reading show greater comprehension of expository text than
students who are not. Involving students in creating a chart of what they know about a
topic and what they would like to learn promotes active thinking during the reading process
by encouraging questioning, providing specific things to look for, and prompting reflection.
Descriptive Statements:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the stages of children's writing development, factors that influence the development of writing skills (e.g., phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fine-motor skills), and indicators that a child may be experiencing difficulties in written language development or demonstrating advanced abilities in written language development.
- Apply knowledge of strategies and resources, including assistive technology, for promoting children's development and application of skills for communicating through writing.
- Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for integrating writing instruction with the other language arts and other content areas.
- Demonstrate knowledge of how having a home language other than standard English may affect writing development and instruction and how to use children's linguistic and cultural backgrounds for promoting writing competence.
Sample Item:
In a class of three year olds, which of the following would be the teacher's best
strategy for fostering the development of the fine-motor skills prerequisite for writing?
- providing children with thick pencils to use to trace the outlines of letters
and shapes
- engaging children in activities such as doing fingerplays and playing with
interlocking blocks and beads
- involving children in singing activities in which they clap the rhythms of the
songs
- engaging children in art activities such as fingerpainting and making prints of
their hands in plaster
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
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.
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