Praxis 5025 Language and Literacy
Overview
The Language and Literacy content category has about 36 multiple-choice questions, which accounts for about 30% of the test.
This part has six sections:
- Emergent Literacy: Foundational Skills
- Reading: Foundational Skills
- Reading: Literature and Informational Text
- Writing
- Speaking and Listening
- Language
Emergent Literacy: Foundational Skills
This section tests your knowledge on setting foundational skills needed for emergent literacy including print and phonological awareness. It also tests your knowledge on differentiating instruction to meet the early literacy needs of all learners.
Let’s discuss some concepts that will more than likely appear on the test.
Concepts About Print
A concept of print is a basic understanding of how text works. Examples of concepts of print include awareness that text is read from left to right and top to bottom, words are made up of letters, sentences are made up of words, an author composes sentences to create meaning, and illustrations match what is written.
A teacher supports these skills by previewing books aloud to point out the title, author, and illustrator of a book. Teachers can also model one-to-one correspondence by pointing to words while reading them aloud, along with the sweeping motion of moving left to right and top to bottom between lines of a text. Teachers need to make sure students can see the text for these type of read alouds!
Phonological Awareness
Phonological awareness is an understanding of and ability to manipulate the sounds within words. Phonemes
are individual sounds in words. A phonologically aware student can identify phonemes in the beginning, middle, and end of words, as well as say what the word would sound like if a phoneme was deleted or substituted for a different one. For example, a student with these skills could replace the /r/ in the word “rock” with /s/ and produce the word “sock.”
Syllables
are parts of words that contain a vowel sound. A phonologically aware student can identify the number of syllables a word contains. For example, a student with these skills could count 3 syllables in the word “elephant” (el-e-phant).
An onset is the beginning phonological unit of a word (consonant, consonant blend, or consonant digraph), and a rime
is the rest of the word that follows, usually the vowel and remaining consonants. A phonologically aware student can blend onsets and rimes together to make a word and also segment a word into onset and rime. For example, a student with these skills could segment the word “snake” into /sn/ for the onset and /ake/ for the rime.
Reading: Foundational Skills
This section tests your knowledge on foundational skills necessary for a student to be a successful reader.
Here are some concepts that you may see on the test.
Syllabication Patterns
Syllabication patterns are recurring ways vowels and consonants are arranged within words. Recognizing common syllabication patterns helps a reader decode unfamiliar words.
CVC
words go in a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern. Some examples are bag, hen, dig, hot, and sun.
VC
words go in a vowel-consonant pattern. Some examples are at, egg, am, up, and in.
CV
words go in a consonant-vowel pattern. Some examples are be, my, toy, day, and paw.
Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read accurately with expression at an appropriate rate. The components of fluency are accuracy, rate, and prosody. Accuracy
refers to reading words correctly in accordance with how they appear on the page. Rate
refers to the speed with which one reads. A fluent reader should read at a pace that is easy to understand, not too fast or too slow. Prosody
refers to the expression in one’s voice as he or she reads. The expression should match the tone of the text and not sound robotic.
Homonym versus Homograph
Homonyms are words that are spelled and sound the same but have different meanings. The word “kind” is an example of a homonym set. Kind can mean to treat others well, such as:
“My classmate was kind
when she smiled at me and let me borrow her pen when I couldn’t find mine.”
Kind can also mean a certain type of something, such as:
“Strawberry is my favorite kind of milkshake.”
Homographs are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. The pronunciation can be the same or different. The word “produce” is an example of a homograph set. Produce can mean to make or create something, such as:
“I will produce a written report for English class.”
Produce can also mean fruits and vegetables, such as:
“I found fresh turnips in the produce section of the grocery store.”
Reading: Literature and Informational Text
This section tests your knowledge on comprehension skills necessary to thoroughly understand various types of text.
Let’s look at some concepts that are guaranteed to come up on the test.
Story Elements
Story elements are basic components of a story including characters, setting, plot, problem, and solution. Let’s use the story
The Three Little Pigs as an example.
The characters are who the story is about. In The Three Little Pigs, the pigs and the big, bad wolf are the characters.
The settingis when and where a story takes place. In
The Three Little Pigs, the setting is during the day in the countryside.
The plot is the order of important events in a story.
The problem is the issue that arises for the characters in a story. In
The Three Little Pigs, the problem is that the big, bad wolf is trying to eat them. He blows down the houses made from straw and sticks.
The solution is how the characters in a story solve their problem. In
The Three Little Pigs, all the brothers take refuge in the house built of bricks that the wolf can’t blow down.
Text Organization
Text organization refers to how material in a text is structured to aid readers in comprehension of the text.
Cause/Effect
– Authors organize their writing by identifying a cause (why something happened) and explaining the effects (what happened).
Problem/Solution
– Authors organize their writing by presenting a problem and describing steps taken or attempts to solve it.
Comparisons
– Authors organize their writing by detailing similarities between 2 or more subjects.
Exposition
– Authors organize their writing by introducing an argument and attempting to defend their point of view through persuasion.
Rising Action/Climax/Resolution
– Authors organize their writing by moving through a rising action, climax, and resolution pattern. First, the author describes the struggles and obstacles a character faces throughout the process of solving a problem. This is the rising action. Next, the author moves to writing the climax, in which the most important or exciting part of the story happens. Last, the author finishes with the resolution, in which the problem is solved and any loose ends for the characters are tied.
Text Complexity
Text complexity refers to the difficulty of a text and it is usually either measured in quantitative or qualitative terms:
Quantitative:
Quantitative complexity refers to readability measures. Different schools often promote different systems of readability measures. These measures usually assign a number or letter to a text in order to reflect its complexity. The quantitative measure is typically measured by software systems. Quantitative measures address word frequency, text cohesion, and the length of words and sentences.
Qualitative:
The qualitative evaluation of text refers to the meaning, structure, clarity, and language complexity of a text. Unlike quantitative complexity, this measure typically involves more human interaction. This measure permeates the surface knowledge involved in interpreting the meaning of words and sentences. Qualitative measurement involves making connections and “reading beyond” the text to analyze and compare outside ideas and experiences.
A drawback to qualitative measures of text complexity is that they are more subjective and difficult to assess. Quantitative measures of text comprehension are easy to gage with software systems, yet they do not reflect deeper interpretations of texts. You may choose to use both quantitative and qualitative measures to assess both straightforward understanding of materials, as well as the ability to draw creative conclusions and formulate new ideas.
Writing
This section tests your knowledge on implementing effective writing instruction to meet the needs of all students in varying stages of writing development.
Here are some specific concepts that will more than likely appear on the test.
Developmental Stages of Writing
Scribbling
– Children grasp large writing utensils, such as markers and crayons, to explore space on paper.
Letter-Like Forms and Shapes
– Children begin to understand that words and symbols on paper have meaning. Recognizable forms, such as circles and rectangles, may be visible on the page, but there’s little purpose to where and how they are placed.
Letters
– Children compose strings of upper-case letters, usually the ones found in their own names, with little attention to directionality or spacing. Letter-sound correspondence is not yet developed.
Letters and Spaces
– As concepts of print develop, children begin to demonstrate one-to-one correspondence of words in their own writing with spaces in between them. Beginning and ending sounds are present in words, and some short high-frequency words, such as
is, as, the, etc. may be spelled correctly.
Conventional Writing and Spelling
– Children use phonetic skills and a greater knowledge of high-frequency words for spelling. They write different pieces for different purposes. Capital and lowercase letters are used appropriately, as well as common punctuation marks. Children have increased fluency in handwriting and spelling, so they are able to write at a higher volume with greater automaticity.
Authoring Cycle
The authoring cycle is a process with stages that writers go through to compose a piece of writing.
Brainstorming
– Writers generate ideas based on the prompt or purpose of writing. Ideas may be recorded in list form or on a simple graphic organizer.
Outlining
– Writers organize their ideas into a logical sequence.
Drafting
– Writers use their outline to expand on each idea and write the first copy of their piece.
Revising
– Writers reread their piece and look for places to elaborate, eliminate, or clarify to improve the writing.
Editing
– Writers correct any errors in conventions, such as capitalization, punctuation, and spelling mistakes.
Publishing
– With regards to the revising and editing stages, writers write a new, final copy of their piece.
Primary versus Secondary Sources
A primary source
is an original resource. It is an artifact or document that was created at the actual time of the studied event. Examples include weapons made by Native American tribes or letters written by soldiers in a war.
A secondary source
is a created resource. It is a document that explores or discusses information obtained from a primary source. Examples include history textbooks and encyclopedias.
Speaking and Listening
This section tests your knowledge on characteristics of effective, meaningful communicative interaction that involves both speaking and listening.
Take a look at these concepts.
Active Listening
Active listening is a skill that involves fully concentrating on what a speaker is saying to gain a thorough understanding of their message. Someone who is actively listening is not only hearing with their ears, but also looking at the speaker, keeping the rest of their body under control, and thinking about what is being said.
Active listening is important because the listener wants to gain as much meaningful information from the speaker as possible, and because it shows respect to the speaker. It would be disrespectful to the speaker for the listener to look around the room, make noise, or excessively fidget, plus the listener would most likely miss important information.
Modeling Metacognition
Metacognition is thinking about one’s thinking. It is the examination of one’s cognitive processes when taking in and making meaning of information. A teacher can model metacognition by thinking aloud and narrating the mental process taking place. For example, to encourage conversation about a book read aloud, the teacher can talk through his or her own understanding of why the character felt a certain way and pose a question at the end.
Code-Switching
Code-switching is alternating between two types of language. One must know when to use formal language, and when it is appropriate to be casual in communication. A speaker needs to be able to determine which type of language to use based on their intended message and audience, and switch between formal and informal language if appropriate.
Language
This section tests your knowledge on communicating in the English language accurately and effectively.
Let’s talk about some concepts that are likely to pop up on the test.
Sentence Types
A clause is a grammatical unit that contains a subject and predicate. It can stand alone as a complete thought.
A simple sentence contains only 1 clause. Example:
Tasha went to the playground.
A compound sentence contains at least 2 related clauses. Each could stand alone as its own sentence. Example:
I wanted to eat the last piece of pie, but I promised it to my sister.
A compound-complex sentence contains at least 2 related clauses. Also, at least 1 of those clauses is complex, meaning it contains both independent and dependent clauses. Dependent clauses cannot stand alone. Example:
When I get home, I will boil a kettle of water, and my husband will drink a cup of tea.
“When I get home” is the dependent clause in this compound-complex sentence, because it cannot stand alone as a complete thought.
Figurative Language
Figurative language is a way to describe things indirectly. Writers use figurative language to add voice to their writing, encourage the reader to think and make their written piece interesting to read. Some common types of figurative language are simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, and idiom.
A simile is a comparison using the words “like” or “as.” Example:
The tree was tall like a skyscraper.
A metaphor is a direct comparison. Example:
The tree was a statue in the silent forest.
Personification gives human-like qualities or actions to non-human objects. Example:
The tree stretched its branches wide and invited the bird to use them as her new home.
An onomatopoeia is a sound word. Example:
Crunch! Crack! I stepped on dry acorns that fell from the tree.
A hyperbole is an over-the-top exaggeration that is not meant to be taken literally. Example:
I rested under a tree after my jog on the trails in the forest. I was so tired, I could have slept there through the whole winter.
An idiom is a common colloquial phrase that has a figurative, not literal, meaning. Example:
I barked up the wrong tree when I spent hours making pecan pie for my mother-in-law. I forgot she was allergic to nuts!
“Barking up the wrong tree” is an idiom that means to make a mistake or follow the wrong course.
Tiered Vocabulary
Tiered vocabulary is a structured framework for classifying types of words.
Tier 1 vocabulary includes common words. These are basic vocabulary words that typically do not require direct instruction. They occur frequently in everyday spoken language and usually only have one meaning. Some examples are happy, run, and animal.
Tier 2 vocabulary includes high-frequency words that occur across the curriculum. They are not heard as often as Tier 1 vocabulary words and may have multiple meanings. Students who are not yet mature language users may require direct instruction on these vocabulary words when found in print. Some examples are data, process, and contrast.
Tier 3 vocabulary includes content-specific words that are typically only used within that specific content. Students require direct instruction on these vocabulary words in order to demonstrate mastery of the content. Some examples are continent, sedimentary, and democracy.