WGU C909 OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT EXAM ACTUAL EXAM 100 QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS WITH RATIONALES ALREADY GRADED A+

Constructivist Theory - A philosophy based on the premise that people construct their own understanding of the world they live in through reflection on experiences. Constructivist Theory in Practice - For example: Groups of students in a science class are discussing a problem in physics. Though the teacher knows the "answer" to the problem, she focuses on helping students restate their questions in useful ways. She prompts each student to reflect on and examine his or her current knowledge. When one of the students comes up with the relevant concept, the teacher seizes upon it, and indicates to the group that this might be a fruitful avenue for them to explore. They design and perform relevant experiments. Afterward, the students and teacher talk about what they have learned, and how their observations and experiments helped (or did not help) them to better understand the concept. Cognitive-constructivist view of reading - Aim to assist students in assimilating new information to existing knowledge, as well as enabling them to make the appropriate accommodations to their existing intellectual framework to accommodate that information. Ex. Because of Winn-Dixie; from her inference, and active knowledge of the text says that people who have things in common often become friends. Socio-cultural theory/Ex. - Extends the influence on the cognitive-constructivist view out from the reader and the text into the larger social realm. Learning is viewed as social rather than individual. -Lev Vygotsky Ex. Understanding the zone of proximal development can be helpful for teachers. In classroom settings, teachers may first assess students to determine their current skill level. Educators can then offer instruction that stretches the limits of each child's capabilities. At first, the student may need assistance from an adult or a more knowledgeable peer, but eventually, their zone of proximal development will expand. Teachers can help promote this expansion by: Planning and organizing their instruction and lessons: For example, the teacher might organize the class into groups where less skilled children are paired with students who have a higher skill level. Using hints, prompts, and direct instruction to help kids improve their ability levels. Scaffolding, where the teacher provides specific prompts to move the child progressively forward toward a goal. Reader Response Theory - The main argument of reader-response theory is that readers, as much as the text, play an active role in a reading experience (Rosenblatt, 1994). This theory rejects the structuralist view that meaning resides solely in the text. Words in a text evoke images in readers' minds and readers bring their experiences to this encounter. Experiential Learning - As the name suggests, experiential learning involves learning from experience. The theory was proposed by psychologist David Kolb who was influenced by the work of other theorists including John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and Jean Piaget Oral Language Development - The complex system that relates sounds to meanings, is made of three components: phonological, (rules for combining sounds) semantic, (the smallest units of meaning that may be combined to make up words) and syntactic (the rules that combine morphemes into sentences). Reading and talking with children plays an important role in developing their vocabulary. The more you talk to children, the larger their vocabulary will develop. Note: Pragmatic is also the rules that allow us to speak appropriately in different settings What are the stages of writing development? - Scribbling/drawing Letter like forms and shapes Letters Letters and spaces Conventional writing and spelling (children in this stage spell most words correctly with a reliance on knowledge of phonics to spell longer words, they can punctuate, can properly use capital and lower case letters. Writing different purposes is important, handwriting and spelling becomes easier. What are stages of reading development - Early Emergent Emergent (understands alphabet, phonological awareness and knows phonics, have command of high frequency words, developing comprehension and word attack skills, recognize types of texts, non-fiction and fiction, and that reading has a variety of purposes). Early Fluent Fluent What are the stages of the alphabetic phase - The written forms of spoken, alphabetic language languages which use letters (graphemes) in a code to represent the sounds of speech (phonemes) specific sequences of letters form words, this is the alphabetic principle. If we obeyed this principle we wouldn't have words like to, too, and two. Gradual release of responsibility - Teaching approach that incorporates scaffolding (building on what the student already knows) so that the responsibility for the content is shifted from teacher to student. Strategies for vocabulary/literacy development - Integration: connecting new vocabulary to prior knowledge Repetition: encountering/using the word concept many times Meaningful use: multiple opportunities to use new words in reading, writing, and soon discussion Reading Workshop (Balanced Literacy Framework) - Shared: (teacher provides explicit comprehensive instruction, everyone in the class reads a projected book, as teacher moves pointer along screen) Guided: (teacher with small groups who read at similar levels, use benchmark books to determine student's level of reading, includes of a variety of genres including fiction and non-fiction) Independent: (Students read from class library or leveled books, these are of personal interest and include a wide variety, with Raz-Plus, you can read ebooks.) Writing Workshops (Balanced Literacy Framework) - Shared/Interactive: (teacher and children compose message/story using a shared pen) Guided: (teacher directed lesson and then student writes as teacher confers with the student guiding the student's writing development, A-Z members have access to a variety of writing lessons and genres) Independent: (students write their own stories both narrative and informational) Word Work (Balanced Literacy Framework) Students working with words so they can become more fluent readers - Phonemic awareness and Phonics: (Helps young students to learn letter sound relationships, words broken into parts based on individual speech sounds known as phonemes, and this phonemic awareness helps students to sound out and spell words. Helps students to notice, differentiate, think about, and manipulate sounds during effective phonological awareness instruction.) High frequency words and vocabulary: (Building on a foundation of word knowledge by emphasizing word structure and vocabulary, extends vocabulary and helps student apply it in the context of reading, students use A-Z high frequency words and vocabulary lesson plans. High frequency words (Balance Literacy Framework) - Most commonly used words in printed text, over 50% of all text is composed of them. Vocabulary (Balanced Literacy Framework) - A large vocabulary opens students up to a wider range of reading materials, it also students' ability to communicate through speaking, listening, and writing. Read aloud/Modeling reading (Balanced Literacy Framework) - Teacher reads aloud to the whole class or small group Reading Skills taught within the Balanced Literacy Framework - Concepts of Print: (Showing students the features of written language, shows how words and letter are used and text is organized. Phonological/phonemic awareness: (spoken language can be broken down into smaller units, sentences into words, words into syllables, and syllables into phonemes, it encompasses oral language skills, such as rhyming, alliteration, sentence segmentation, syllable blending, and segmenting, phoneme blending, and segmenting, provides foundational skills for understanding the relationship between letters, and phonemes) Phonics: (the study of the relationship between the sounds (phonemes) and the letters they represent, how to blend sounds together to produce words, how to use those sounds to decode words while reading) Fluency: (ability to read text quickly, accurately, with proper expression; Activities that improve fluency: echo, choral, audio-assisted, partner, decodable text, time repeated readings) Vocabulary: (Pronunciation and meanings of words necessary for communication, includes oral (listening/receptive and speaking/expressive) and print (reading and writing) Comprehension: (ability to gain understanding and meaning from text, interaction between reader and text, reading ability and vocabulary effect comprehension) Code/Decoding - The code is the systematic use of symbols, in reading the symbols are letters and punctuation, the system is the spelling and the syntax of the language, so decoding is turning the written symbols into language Phases of Decoding - Pre-alphabetic Partial alphabetic Full alphabetic Consolidated alphabetic Automatic Decoding - For below level readers: (improves word recognition, spelling, and comprehension) For students who struggle with fluency: (being able to decode words effortlessly allows students to concentrate on comprehending what they read) Phoneme - Smallest unit of sound in our spoken language (pronouncing cat involves 3 phonemes: k/ae/t Grapheme - letter or group of letters representing a speech sound (b, ch, sh, igh, eigh) Onset - An initial consonant or consonant cluster (in name, n is the onset, in blue, bl is the onset) rime - The vowel or the vowel and consonant that follow the onset, in the word name, ame is the rime) digraph - two letter that represent one speech sound (sh, ch, th, ph) vowel diagraph - two letters that together make one vowel sound (ai, oo, ow) schwa - the vowel sound heard in an unstressed syllable (the uh in cup) morpheme - smallest meaningful units of language prosody - intonation, stress, and phrasing in fluency How can you increase vocabulary through oral reading, rereading, and vocabulary discussion activities? - Oral reading: the more word meanings they learn, exposes them to new vocabulary Vocabulary discussion: helps students learn new words and comprehend the text How do verbal discussions and words walls help develop vocabulary? - Verbal discussions: foster word consciousness Word Walls: help students learn to read and spell words Why is locating information in a text a good way to set a purpose for reading? - Comprehension occurs as a result of the interaction between the reader and the text. Teaching selected vocabulary and concepts before students read a selection can help them better understand and appreciate a text Why are teaching various comprehension strategies appropriate for fluent readers? - The strategies help students reach the goal of understanding and learning from what they read. These strategies will also promote deeper understanding of the stories and books that students read. Why is it important to provide sufficient background knowledge to improve reading comprehension skills? - The more you know about a topic, the easier it is to read a text, understand it, and retain the information. Instructional Frameworks and Procedures - Designed to scaffold students' efforts in their reading and understanding of various texts, thus helping them develop literacy skills, boosting higher order thinking, while nurturing positive attitudes about reading. Four Frameworks - the directed reading activity (DRA), the directed reading-thinking activity (DR-TA), scaffolded reading experience (SRE) Guided Reading: For beginning readers in grades 1-3 Individual Procedures - Help students better comprehend and learn from the texts they read: story grammars or story maps, K-W-L, reading guides, discussion webs, and semantic webbing and weaving. All these techniques promote higher-order thinking. How could comprehension strategies help above level readers? - Students should read texts at their instructional level rather than their grade level. Students who are good at monitoring their comprehension know when they understand what they read and when they do not. Use strategies as needed when comprehension breaks down. How can metacognition help readers who are struggling with reading comprehension? - Metacognitive practices help students become aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Good readers use metacognitive strategies to think about and have control over their reading. Reciprocal Teaching - An instructional activity in which students become the teacher in small group reading sessions. Teachers model, then help students learn to guide group discussions using four strategies: summarizing, question generating, clarifying, and predicting. Once students have learned the strategies, they take turns assuming the role of teacher in leading a dialogue about what has been read. Explain how reciprocal teaching can help metacognition. - It encourages students to think about their own thought process during reading. It helps students learn to be actively involved and monitor their comprehension as they read. It teaches students to ask questions during reading and helps make the text more comprehensible. Why is a test/quiz a good formative assessment? - They are given periodically to determine at a particular point in time what students know and do not know. What is a teacher doing during formative assessment? - Criteria and goal setting Observations Questioning strategies Self & peer assessments Student record keeping How can a formative assessment help you to differentiate instruction? - Can help teachers determine: Whether instruction is being delivered at the right level and at the right pace. How to plan future instruction that will meet students' needs. How students should be grouped for instruction so that each student receives instruction at the right level of difficulty. Which students need individual support. How can a book walk and asking questions be an appropriate formative assessment? - Asking questions allows an opportunity for deeper thinking and provides teachers with significant insight into the degree and depth of understanding. How does a summative assessment help to determine mastery of a skill? - They are spread out and occur after instruction every few weeks, months, or once a year, summative assessments are tools to help evaluate the effectiveness of programs, school improvement goals, alignment of curriculum, or student placement in specific programs. How can portfolios be a good summative assessment? - Portfolios provide a revealing picture of a student's strengths and weaknesses. This type of instruction engages the student to reflect on his or her own work. Portfolios encourage students to take an active role in learning information they feel they have not yet mastered. Portfolios can help guide instruction. Through looking at samples of a child's work, a teacher can often see what additional instruction is still needed. How can running records be a good formative assessment? - Running records are a formative assessment and should guide small group instruction and help you plan for whole group instruction.. They allow you to assess a student's reading fluency and comprehension, and are objective and reliable. How do running records help you to determine a student's reading level? - Giving you information about a student's reading level so you can choose texts at an appropriate level. Showing you where the student is having difficulty through an analysis of their errors and other observations (for example, are they reading extremely slowly? Are they having difficulty recognizing common high frequency words? Are they having trouble sounding out words? Are they guessing at words? Do they keep reading even when sentences don't make sense?) This can allow you to target instruction.