Praxis 5001 Practice Exams
Question 1 of 5.
Extract:A teacher is evaluating the following excerpt from a student's expository writing. [Paragraph 1] I love animals, but did you know that humans make life hard for lots of animals? We keep building more houses and stores, and we take up the food and space animals need to live. There are more endangered animals now than ever before. Humans need to make sure that the things they do help animals and not hurt them. [Paragraph 2] The Amazon rain forest is being destroyed, too. Many loggers earn money to chop down the rain forest. It can't grow back fast enough. Chopping down trees for wood to build houses makes tons of animals out of their homes. Lots of animals need the rain forest to survive.
When evaluating the student's writing, the teacher should highlight which of the following as a strength?
A. A clear focus in paragraph 1
B. Coherent development of ideas in paragraph 2
C. A clear transition between the paragraphs
D. Effective use of figurative language in both paragraphs
Explanation: Paragraph 2 shows coherent development. It starts with a topic sentence about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. It then provides a cause (loggers chopping trees for money) and two effects (the forest can't regrow quickly, and animals lose their homes). It concludes by reinforcing the importance of the rainforest for animal survival. The ideas logically follow one another. Paragraph 1 has a focus but jumps from general human impact to a broad statement about endangered animals. There is no clear transition between the paragraphs; the word 'too' is weak. There is no significant use of figurative language.
Question 2 of 5.
Which of the following best describes why phonological awareness is predictive of beginning reading success?
A. It is an auditory skill in which understanding of letter-sound relationships is developed.
B. It is a visual skill in which letter recognition skills are developed.
C. It is a speaking skill in which oral production of letter sounds is developed.
D. It is a fine motor skill in which letter formation skills are developed.
Explanation: Phonological awareness involves recognizing and manipulating language sounds (e.g., rhymes, syllables, phonemes), an auditory skill critical for understanding letter-sound relationships (phonics). This supports early reading by enabling word decoding. Option B focuses on visual letter recognition, which is distinct. Option C relates to speech production, not phonological awareness. Option D involves writing, a motor skill unrelated to phonological awareness.
Question 3 of 5.
Which THREE of the following words contain diphthongs?
A. Boy
B. Mother
C. Buy
D. Apple
E. Coin
Explanation: A diphthong is a vowel sound gliding from one vowel to another within a syllable (e.g., /oi/, /ai/). 'Boy' (A) has /oi/, 'Buy' (C) has /ai/, and 'Coin' (E) has /oi/. 'Mother' (B) and 'Apple' (D) have simple vowels (/ʌ/, /ə/ and /æ/, /ə/). The correct choices are A, C, E, corresponding to option C.
Question 4 of 5.
Which two of the following words feature an open syllable pattern?
A. Happen
B. Robot
C. Sunlight
D. Artist
E. Silent
Explanation: An open syllable ends with a vowel, typically producing a long vowel sound (e.g., 'me'). 'Robot' (B) has an open first syllable ('ro', /oÊŠ/). 'Silent' (E) has an open first syllable ('si', /ai/). 'Happen' (A), 'Sunlight' (C), and 'Artist' (D) have closed syllables. The correct choices are B, E, corresponding to option B.
Question 5 of 5.
Which of the following best demonstrates student knowledge of sound matching?
A. A student is able to see an illustration of an object ending in 'g' and identify the ending sound as /g/.
B. A student is able to hear the sounds /d/ /o/ /g/ and can identify the word as 'dog' when asked.
C. A student is able to identify the initial sound of the word 'top' as /t/ and can point to an object identified by a word with the same initial sound.
D. A student can remove the /b/ sound from the word 'bat' and identify the resulting word as 'at.'
Explanation: Sound matching involves identifying words with the same sound, typically at the beginning, middle, or end. Option C demonstrates this by identifying the initial /t/ in 'top' and matching it to another word with the same initial sound. Option A is sound identification, not matching. Option B involves phoneme blending. Option D involves phoneme deletion.