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CHAPTER 12
Chapter 12 True/False Questions
Circle T if the statement is true; circle F if the statement is false.
T F 1. Phonemes are the individual written letters in our language.
T F 2. Describing events, making predictions, and evaluating phenomena are cognitive skills
that are intimately connected to the Language Domain.
T F 3. Writing is an activity that is best introduced after children have learned to read a few
sight words.
T F 4. A balanced literacy approach means making sure that effective components of reading
and writing experiences are included daily in the classroom.
T F 5. The printed material that surrounds us every day on labels, signs, advertisements, and
packaging is referred to as environmental print.
T F 6. By the time children are 6 or 7, they have an adult like grasp of grammar, syntax,
vocabulary, noun phrases, meaning and pronunciation that make up their primary language.
T F 7. Human language is a built-in genetic predisposition that is hard-wired into the brain.
T F 8. The concept of literacy rotations means using leveled texts with homogeneous groups of
children.
T F 9. Research indicates that invented spelling, which was popular for a time, actually deters
learning how to spell correctly.
T F 10. Rimes and rhymes are essentially the same thing.
Chapter 12 Multiple Choice Questions
Circle the best answer.
11. What does “Morning Message” involve?
a. Children producing messages for one another during a free play period.
b. Putting up a message center where children display messages for one another.
c. A child writing a message dictated by the large group of children.
d. The teacher writing a message for the group as one child dictates.
e. A daily message placed on a white board by the teacher for children to decipher.
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12. What does it take for a child to automatically read a word in a sentence without sounding it
out?
a. The task must become associative, rather than cognitive in nature.
b. The task must become cognitive, rather than associative in nature.
c. The task involves first an associative process and then becomes cognitive.
d. The task is one where a child has memorized the word.
e. None of the above.
13. Which of the following (note underlined parts) is indicative of a rime?
a. Fat hat
b. Two too
c. Flat frat
d. Too through
14. Which of the following would be an example of an expository text for young children?
a. A book of poems
b. An information book about squirrels
c. The book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar
d. A book of sing-along songs
e. None of the above
15. According to research, what is one of the single best predictors of an entering kindergarten
child’s eventual reading achievement?
a. Ability to sing the ABC song
b. Liking to be read to
c. Knowledge of the alphabet
d. Receptive vocabulary
e. Having an educated parent
16. Which of the following would constitute an example of alliteration?
a. The beautiful moon rose over the sleepy town.
b. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
c. Tall, fall, ball, small, call
d. Teensy, Weensy Spider went up the waterspout.
e. Suzy sells seashells down by the seashore.
17. Which of the following is the best definition of phonological awareness?
a. Awareness that the speech stream consists of a sequence of sounds or phonemes.
b. Sensitivity to any size unit of sound in English.
c. Awareness of the smallest unit of sound.
d. Listening skills.
e. Ability to follow verbal instructions.
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18. Which of the following does the “Word Wall” strategy involve?
a. The selection and posting of 5-10 high frequency words per week.
b. The teaching of spelling patterns in unfamiliar words.
c. The alphabetic listing of difficult spelling words.
d. Having children go around the room to read environmental print.
e. Having children post words they want to spell in the writing area.
19. Which of the following would be considered a red flag in speech and language development?
a. The child does not respond to “no” or changes in tone of voice between 0-3 months.
b. The child does not answer simple “who,” “what,” and “where questions or be understood
by people outside the family between 1 and 2 years of age.
c. The child cannot understand differences in meaning or string together two or three words
between 2-3 years.
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
20. Which is the best definition of emergent literacy?
a. It is the entire process of becoming a fluent user of literacy.
b. It is the earliest phase in becoming literate.
c. It is the period in which a child begins to decode words.
d. It is the final and fluent stage of literacy.
e. It is the process of moving from English as Second Language (ESL) to being able to speak
the language fluently.
21. In learning to write, which stage appears first?
a. Alphabetic
b. Semantic
c. Consonant
d. Grammatical
e. Phonological
22. When should we begin teaching children how to edit their written work?
a. When they are writing a number of power words and can construct a sentence.
b. In third grade, when they can use a dictionary.
c. As soon as they are writing words so they do not develop inappropriate spelling strategies
d. When they are doing process writing.
e. When they are fairly good spellers.
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23. Which of the following describes the brain process required for a child to “read” a particular
word?
a. In one millisecond, the child recognizes the word by sight and transforms this in the
superior temporal gyrus to create a correct symbol-sound association.
b. In 400 milliseconds, three sections of the brain sequentially identify separate letters, link
them phonologically, and assign meaning depending upon context.
c. The primary visual cortex is used to determine spatial relationships and the directional
meaning of individual letters, which are then encoded in the angural gyrus where
phoneme-grapheme discrimination is determined.
d. b and c
e. None of the above
24. What is the relationship between sounds and letters in the written language known as?
a. Phonological awareness
b. Graphemes
c. Phonics
d. Phonemes
e. Phonemic awareness
25. When a child yells out, “McDonald’s!” at the sign of the golden arches but cannot yet
decode, he is in what word knowledge stage?
a. Orthographic
b. Alphabetic
c. Analytic
d. Logographic
e. Semiphonetic
Chapter 12 Short Answer Questions
Give short, concise answers to each statement.
26. Explain the difference between receptive and expressive vocabulary.
27. Language can be used for a variety of purposes. Name at least 4 of those purposes.
28. How is the quality of language development affected by children’s early experiences?
29. It is important to emphasize learning goals rather than performance goals and drill with all
children; however, this is particularly true when working with second-language learners.
Why?
Chapter 12 Essay Questions
Give complete responses to each statement.
30. Describe the connection between oral language and later reading and writing.
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31. Children enrolled in educational programs who are ESL, NEP, of LEP are increasing and
need active support. Discuss how you would approach the support of these children in your
classroom.
32. It has been said that literacy underscores everything that is done in the curriculum. Explain
how a child who does not read or write well will be disadvantaged in every other subject
area.
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Chapter 12:
Short Answer: Give short, concise answers to each statement.
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Essay: Give complete responses to each statement.