Science of Reading – Certification Exam Study Guide
with Key Concepts and Practice Questions
Which of the following best describes the relationship between the development of spelling and
decoding skills?
a. Children typically learn to decode words significantly earlier than they are able to spell them.
b. The two skills, spelling and decoding, are only related for most basic decodable words.
c. Children generally develop decoding and spelling skills at the same time.
d. Children typically develop spelling skills before decoding skills. - correct answer ✔✔ A.
A kinder teacher designed a word wheel where only the beginning letter of the word changes
when students spin the wheel. This activity best assesses which of the following?
a. directionality
b. suffixes
c. initial blends
d. contextual analysis - correct answer ✔✔ C.
At the beginning of the school year, a first-grade teacher conducts a brief screening assessment
in which the teacher asks small groups of students to spell four CVC (consonant, vowel,
consonant) words and one word with a consonant blend (e.g., bag, hen, sit, mop, slug). In
addition to providing the teacher with information about students' knowledge of letter-sound
correspondence, this type of assessment would also provide information about students'
development in which of the following areas related to emergent reading?
a. vocabulary knowledge
b. phonemic awareness
, c. phonological awareness
d. listening comprehension - correct answer ✔✔ B
A child who responds 'bow-wow!' when asked, What is the first sound in dog?
(Check the stages of reading)
a. early alphabetic stage
b. prealphabetic stage
c. later alphabetic stage
d. consolidated alphabetic stage - correct answer ✔✔ B
Which of the following methods could be used to test a student's decoding abilities?
a. asking a student to read a grade level paragraph aloud
b. responding to questions after the teacher reads a text to the class
c. previewing a story by discussing illustrations on the book cover
d. administering a spelling test using sight words - correct answer ✔✔ A
Which of the following statements about phonemic awareness is most accurate?
a. children cannot properly develop oral language skills without developing phonemic
awareness
b. students do not fully mater phonemic awareness until middle school
c. students always develop phonemic awareness in a standard order, applicable to all children
d. phonemic awareness is an early indicator of students becoming strong readers - correct
answer ✔✔ D
Which one of the following skills is not part of phonological awareness?
with Key Concepts and Practice Questions
Which of the following best describes the relationship between the development of spelling and
decoding skills?
a. Children typically learn to decode words significantly earlier than they are able to spell them.
b. The two skills, spelling and decoding, are only related for most basic decodable words.
c. Children generally develop decoding and spelling skills at the same time.
d. Children typically develop spelling skills before decoding skills. - correct answer ✔✔ A.
A kinder teacher designed a word wheel where only the beginning letter of the word changes
when students spin the wheel. This activity best assesses which of the following?
a. directionality
b. suffixes
c. initial blends
d. contextual analysis - correct answer ✔✔ C.
At the beginning of the school year, a first-grade teacher conducts a brief screening assessment
in which the teacher asks small groups of students to spell four CVC (consonant, vowel,
consonant) words and one word with a consonant blend (e.g., bag, hen, sit, mop, slug). In
addition to providing the teacher with information about students' knowledge of letter-sound
correspondence, this type of assessment would also provide information about students'
development in which of the following areas related to emergent reading?
a. vocabulary knowledge
b. phonemic awareness
, c. phonological awareness
d. listening comprehension - correct answer ✔✔ B
A child who responds 'bow-wow!' when asked, What is the first sound in dog?
(Check the stages of reading)
a. early alphabetic stage
b. prealphabetic stage
c. later alphabetic stage
d. consolidated alphabetic stage - correct answer ✔✔ B
Which of the following methods could be used to test a student's decoding abilities?
a. asking a student to read a grade level paragraph aloud
b. responding to questions after the teacher reads a text to the class
c. previewing a story by discussing illustrations on the book cover
d. administering a spelling test using sight words - correct answer ✔✔ A
Which of the following statements about phonemic awareness is most accurate?
a. children cannot properly develop oral language skills without developing phonemic
awareness
b. students do not fully mater phonemic awareness until middle school
c. students always develop phonemic awareness in a standard order, applicable to all children
d. phonemic awareness is an early indicator of students becoming strong readers - correct
answer ✔✔ D
Which one of the following skills is not part of phonological awareness?
