Study Guide

Field 018: Elementary Education (Subtest I)
Sample Multiple-Choice Questions

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Competency 0001
Understand foundations of language development and emergent literacy.

A young child says, "I drawed you a picture!" The error in this sentence best illustrates which process of language development?

  1. overgeneralization of morphological rules
  2. incorrect use of pronoun reference
  3. overextension of the meaning of nouns
  4. confusion of past and future tenses
Answer
Correct Response: A.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of a foundational concept related to English-language acquisition. Applying the regular past tense inflection -ed to verbs that have an irregular past tense form is an example of overgeneralizing a morphological rule, an error typical of a particular stage of language development.
Competency 0002
Understand development of phonics, word analysis, spelling, and fluency.

A first-grade teacher puts the rime -all in magnetic letters on a board and gives a student three onsets for that rime. The teacher asks the student to place one onset in front of the rime and read the word aloud. This activity would be most effective for promoting the student's:

  1. letter-name recognition skills.
  2. phonics blending skills.
  3. morphological skills.
  4. sight-word identification skills.
Answer
Correct Response: B.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of strategies for promoting development of phonics skills. In this activity, the student learns to read words by blending the sound of an onset with the sound of a rime.
Competency 0003
Understand reading comprehension and vocabulary skills.

A fourth-grade teacher regularly integrates content-area vocabulary into language arts lessons and activities. This practice benefits students primarily by:

  1. introducing them to new vocabulary words.
  2. increasing their level of engagement during language arts work.
  3. providing them with a systematic overview of the content-area curriculum.
  4. enhancing their ability to understand and use the new vocabulary words in context.
Answer
Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of strategies for increasing students' vocabulary knowledge. Providing students with frequent exposure to and opportunities to use new vocabulary in a variety of meaningful contexts promotes depth of vocabulary knowledge.
Competency 0004
Understand literary, informational, persuasive, and functional texts, and graphic sources.

Foreshadowing is a device used in literary works primarily to:

  1. create a mood of apprehension or fear.
  2. highlight important traits of the characters.
  3. suggest an important turn of events in advance.
  4. place emphasis on important themes in a text.
Answer
Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of literary devices. In a work of fiction or drama, an author is said to use the literary device of foreshadowing when she or he uses dialogue, action, or description to indirectly suggest an important event or revelation that will occur later in the work.
Competency 0005
Understand the processes, conventions, and modes of written and oral communication.

In which stage of the writing process should a writer focus on sharpening a persuasive argument?

  1. prewriting
  2. drafting
  3. revising
  4. proofreading
Answer
Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of the processes, or steps, involved in developing a composition. During the revising stage of the writing process, a writer should edit, improve, and build upon arguments and points made in the drafting stage.
Competency 0006
Understand fundamental concepts related to government and economics.

For which of the following purposes does the U.S. Constitution guarantee the right to a writ of habeas corpus?

  1. to ensure that criminal defendants have access to an attorney
  2. to prevent the illegal imprisonment of persons in the United States
  3. to prevent unreasonable searches and seizures
  4. to ensure that a person is not tried twice for the same crime
Answer
Correct Response: B.
This question requires the examinee to recognize the constitutional principles of the U.S. government. A writ of habeas corpus allows a person who is incarcerated to appeal to a judge to review the imprisonment and determine whether the petitioner is being detained unlawfully.
Competency 0007
Understand fundamental concepts and major developments related to U.S. and world history.

One major cause of the American Revolution was disagreement between colonists and the British over which of the following questions?

  1. Should the British abolish slavery in the colonies?
  2. Do the colonists have a right to freedom of speech?
  3. How will the British defend the colonies?
  4. Who has the authority to tax the colonists?
Answer
Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to recognize the causes and consequences of major U.S. and world conflicts. The colonists believed that the British had no authority to tax them because the colonies had no representation in the British Parliament.
Competency 0008
Understand fundamental concepts related to geography and methods of social studies inquiry.

Which of the following geographic concepts most fundamentally affects human efforts to produce food and crops?

  1. industrialization
  2. longitude
  3. urbanization
  4. climate
Answer
Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of major geographic concepts. The climate of a region encompasses a variety of meteorological factors, such as temperature, rainfall, humidity, and weather patterns. These factors affect the types of foods that can be grown successfully in a particular geographic region more fundamentally than industrialization, longitude, or urbanization.