PPR Practice Questions – Flashcards
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A high school sophomore tells his teacher that he doesn't need an education and would rather work a full time job. What developmental knowledge does the teacher need for understanding this student's perspective?
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A person of this age may have more concern with the present than any thought of the future.
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Mr. Stovall, a US History teacher, wants to have students assume roles of historical characters as part of a unit about World War I. The students would be required to dress in the historical attire for a presentation. Several of Mr. Stovall's colleagues do not think this is a good idea because:
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Student physical and emotional development varies and some students may find it difficult to have to dress in period clothing and make a presentation to peers.
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When designing instruction for her 4th grade students, Ms. Phillips plans to engage in inquiry/discovery-based learning experiences. Her decision to use inquiry/discovery-based learning in her classroom best reflects an awareness that children's learning at this developmental stage is primarily a process of:
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Building knowledge and understanding through hands-on, concrete experiences.
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In Mrs. Rodriguez's writing class, Sara is disheartened, defiant, and sometimes does not turn in her work. Mrs. Rodriguez is aware that Sara's parents are low income and that she does not have much support in doing her homework. As a strategy to engage Sara in writing, Mrs. Rodriguez should:
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Ask Sara to write a draft in her own style and teach her strategies to rewrite it in the formal style.
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A first-year teacher is concerned that he does not have the knowledge and skills associated with students with special needs. The teacher reads an article about "least restrictive environment." Which of the following is a major provision of "least restrictive environment"?
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Students with special needs are entitled to be mainstreamed when it will improve their education.
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Ms. Parker is a first-year teacher. Her new 9th grade class includes students who represent a wide range of ability levels and cultural backgrounds. When planning learning experiences for her students, which of the following guidelines is important for Ms. Parker to keep in mind?
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Teachers should recognize that within a particular cultural group individual variation is to be expected.
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Ms. Cook was planning to teach a lesson to her high school science class on rocks and minerals. What would be her best plan for resources?
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Contact a local geologist and ask him/her to brings a number of samples to the school and talk to students about the samples.
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Mrs. Lee wants to teach appropriate objectives for her students' grade level, but several of her students' reading skills are below grade level. How should she decide what to teach?
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Mrs. Lee needs to plan lessons that support state instructional goals for her grade level and provide extra assistance to those students with poor reading skills.
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Two teachers at a school agree to create an interdisciplinary science and social studies thematic unit with coordinated learning activities between their two classes. The teachers should begin their planning of the unit by first:
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Deciding on student learning goals the both will emphasize in their classrooms.
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Ms. Jacobi teaches 10th grade mathematics. She is demonstrating on the board how to solve a particularly difficult word problem. As she works, she talks to herself out loud about the method she thinks she should use and why. As she continues working through the problem, she "explains" to herself the procedures that she is using and how these procedures will help her eventually solve the problem. Ms. Jacobi's likely reason for "talking out loud" during the demonstration is because:
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She understands the importance of modeling metacognitive behaviors and thought processes.
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Mrs. Stewart teachers a social studies course that is currently focusing on map-reading skills. She gives each group of students a map of their community and tells them to use the map to create directions of how to get from school to the community center, from there to zoo, and back to school again. Mrs. Stewart probably uses this activity to:
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Make the content meaningful and relevant.
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A teacher is concerned about Devon, a new transfer student. Devon is often listless and uninterested in class. The school's principal informs the teacher that Devon and his family are living in a homeless shelter. The teacher's next step is to review Devon's cumulative file. When the teacher examines the file, she finds that Devon's grades were generally very good up until about the family moved into the shelter. This finding does not surprise the teacher because she probably understands that:
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Stress caused by factors in the family life may affect a student's performance in school.
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In creating a climate that fosters learning, equity, and excellence, what should be the teacher's main goal for developing a classroom environment that is conducive to student learning?
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Students' beliefs in themselves as self-controlling and capable students.
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Mr. Stovall, a geography teacher, is starting a new unit. He posts the question, "What do you know about beaches in Florida?" for students to discuss when they enter the classroom. How could the question stimulate student engagement?
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It addresses a concept that many students will have some prior knowledge of, and offers an environment where no single answer is correct.
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Which of the following practices by a teacher would best promote a student's development of self-efficacy, resiliency, and positive self-esteem?
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Routinely present the child with challenging tasks that with effort the child can accomplish successfully.
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Mr. Pryor wants his students to feel a sense of ownership and responsibility in his classroom. Which of the following strategies is most likely to facilitate an orderly and mutually respectful environment?
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Involve students in developing a set of general principles and specific rules for behavior.
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On the first day of school, Mr. Sliva told the students his rules, policies, routines, and procedures that he expected the students to follow. Over the next few days he noticed the students failed to follow the procedures he had explained for turning in their homework and getting started on the day's warm-up activity. Mr. Sliva should:
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Review the procedures, guide the students through them, and practice them.
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Holding class discussions to deal with problems in the classroom illustrates the understanding that teachers should:
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Promote student ownership in a smoothly functioning learning community.
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A science teacher is planning a lesson to introduce a class to the concept of equilibrium in various types of systems. Which of the following teacher strategies is most likely to help promote students' understanding of a concept of this type?
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Use examples that are familiar to students from their own lives and experiences to illustrate the concept.
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During class discussions, a teacher restates the points students make, their answers to questions, etc. This practice is most likely to promote student learning by encouraging them to:
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Reflect on how well they have expressed the message they intended to convey.
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Which of the following questions should a teacher ask his students to encourage higher-order thinking?
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What do you think the living conditions were like for Confederate troops stationed in Vicksburg in 1863?
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A number of students arrive in Mr. Hand's government class one morning debating the results of federal elections that are being contested nationwide. The class is due to study election-related content later in the semester as part of a carefully planned instructional sequence. Which of the following would be Mr. Hand's best response in this situation?
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Devote this class period, and additional periods as appropriate, to addressing principles and issues related to the current public debate.
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Mrs. Gundy likes to use cooperative groups in her classroom activities. She will often change the groups for different projects. The main reason she does this is:
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Changing groups is more effective because students have different skills and educational needs, and groups need to be changed as tasks are changed.
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A government teacher begins a lesson on how primary and secondary sources differ by having the students brainstorm about different ways they have found out about some important event that affected their lives. This practice demonstrates the teacher's understanding that motivation to learn can be enhanced by:
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Prompting students to recognize that concepts presented in the classroom relate to their everyday experiences.
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The students in your class are creating Websites as a component of their group projects. Students will use a variety of resources as they create their Websites. A few discouraged students have approached you, explaining that they do not have access to the Internet at home and are having a difficult time completing their group project tasks. What is your best solution?
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Schedule the school computer lab for a designated period of time each week, so that students have equal access to the computer systems and software applications they need to complete their projects.
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Ms. Cox teaches 11th grade P.E. She knows about the technology requirements for every teacher but is skeptical about applications in her subject area. However, she wants to help students improve the form of their serves in tennis. What technology would best help students?
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Use a digital camera to film students serving and analyze their form together as the image is replayed.
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Teachers on a middle school teaching team are planning to have their students prepare multimedia presentations as part of a multidisciplinary unit. The teachers want to ensure that the presentations are substantive and that students do not focus on the design of their presentations at the expense of content. The teachers could address this issue most effectively by taking which of the following steps before students begin work on their presentations?
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Working with students to develop a rubric that defines the relative importance of content and design features.
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An essay exam given at the end of a unit of study would be defined as:
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Summative assessment.
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When teachers create unit tests, it is most important to ensure that the tests:
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Address previously defined learning goals and are closely aligned with what students have been taught.
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Ms. Whitley is concerned about appropriate assessment of content-area learning for the English Language Learners and for the students in her class who have histories of limited academic success. She is considering ways to make sure her assessment strategies meet these students' needs. To ensure fair and accurate assessment of the progress of all students in her class, it would be most appropriate for Ms. Whitley to:
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Use a variety of formal and informal assessment measures such as observations, test scores, and samples of daily work.
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An mathematics teacher would like to encourage students' parents/guardians to become partners with the teacher in their children's education. The teacher can best facilitate the development of such partnerships by providing families with specific information about which of the following at the beginning of the schools year?
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The teacher's expectations and requirements for students' academic performance.
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The parents of a student call the school to request a conference with the tenth grade math teacher. When they arrive, the parents express their dissatisfaction with the heavy load of homework. How can the teacher assure that this meeting with the parents will yield positive results?
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The teacher can listen to the parents' concern and then explain the rationale for the amount of work for the course.
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Students in an English class are reading a book from the Harry Potter series. The father of one of the students calls the teacher and irately objects to his child being exposed to those books, saying that they promote witchcraft and the teacher should be fired for making her students read it. The most professional reaction from the teacher to this incident would be to:
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Arrange a conference with the parent, giving the child an alternative assignment if the parent's objections are not alleviated afterward.
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A new teacher plans to have a class of high school students engage in group projects involving the use of various technological tools to conduct research and to prepare and present results. The teacher is not sure what technological resources are available or how existing resources might be best used for the upcoming project. The teacher asks to meet with the technology coordinator to obtain further information. To work effectively with the technology coordinator, it is important for the teacher to be prepared to share information about:
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The nature and goals of the research project that will be assigned to the class.
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Ms. Cashion, a new high school teacher, is preparing to be observed teaching by her mentor. Which of the following should Ms. Cashion share with her mentor just prior to being observed?
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Perceived areas of need in her own teaching that she would like to have the mentor observe and evaluate.
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A teacher want to become more knowledgeable about how to implement the TEKS in his classroom, so he decides to attend a workshop on instructional planning for the TEKS. This decision illustrates which of the following principles?
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The teacher knows how to use resources to enhance professional knowledge and skills.
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Marcus is an 8th grade student who lives with his mother, who has custody of the child. Marcus' father has court-ordered visitation with his son on the first and third weekends of each month. Marcus' father has asked for copies of the child's report card. The teacher should:
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Grant the request as a noncustodial parent has the same right to access as the custodial parent.
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Robert is a student who is always appropriately dressed, well-behaved, and appears well-cared for. From time-to-time, he is overheard making comments that lead the teacher to suspect that Robert has knowledge of intimate sexual contact and may engage in sexual activity with adult family members. Robert has not exhibited any signs of physical abuse. The teacher should:
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Immediately contact the local or state law enforcement agency to report suspected child abuse.
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Ms. Bracken teaches in a school with a high percentage of students whose families have limited financial resources. She recently identified a consumable workbook that she feels would be excellent for her students. However, the cost of the workbook would be prohibitive for most of her students. The teacher should:
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Request permission to duplicate the workbook from the copyright holder and, if permission is denied, identify alternative materials.
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According to Piaget's stages of cognitive development, which of the following thought processes best distinguishes a student at the formal operational stage?
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Abstract thought
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Danielle is a 4 year old who prefers to play by herself and is not comfortable interacting with other children. To best faciliatate Danielle's transition into the next stage of play development, the teacher should provide a variety of
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individual activities and materials children can do side by side
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Ms. Nguyen notices that a boy in her kindergaren class comes to school very irritable and is hyperactive most of the day. He has trouble concentrating and frequently fights with other children. Which of the following actions would be the most appropriate first response to this situation?
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Setting up a conference with the child's parents to discuss behavior at home and sleep schedules
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To best ensure that all students in a fourth-grade inclusion classroom receive quality instruction, which of the following should lesson plans always include?
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Extra time for reteaching and needs-based modifications of student activities
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A first-grade teacher has reasers who are below grade level, each at a different level. In planning individualized instruction, whic of the following is the best first step for the teacher to take?
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Providing an assessment to identify students' reading strengths and weaknesses
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An English-language learner (ELL) whi is at an advanced-high level of language proficiency is preparing a report summarizing a science experiment. The most appropriate expectation for the teacher to have of the ELL's report is that it will include
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grade-level content information communicated with few language-related errors
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Fifth-grade students have just completed a social studies unit in which they explored pioneers' everyday life during the westward expansion. Which of the following student activites would show the highest level of critical thinking?
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Writing a journal entry from the perspective of a pioneer during westward expansion
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Ms. Lyons observes that a majority of the students in her class are not following a recently taught math process on how to regroup while subtracting. Which of the following would be the best way to reteach the math process?
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Connecting the underlying concepts to the process
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When posing a question, the amount of wait time a teacher allows before calling on a student for a response primarily depends on the
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cognitive level of the question being asked
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Before beginning a unit on plant life, students in a class answer the question, "What questions do you have about plant life?" in their learning journals. At the end of the unit, the teacher has students return to their list of questions and answer as many as they can. A primary reason for using this activity is to help the teacher
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foster student ownership in their learning about plant life
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Which of the following is the most effective way for a teacher to monitor student understanding of a task during group activities?
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Observing student interactions while circulating around the room
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A middle school history teacher is planning to assign a six-week project. Which of the following teaching strategies would best help promote students' understanding of the project's expectations?
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Discussing the grading rubric that will be used before beginning unit tasks
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When assessing students' writing, a teacher uses holistic scoring. Which of the following is true of holistic scoring?
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The score is based o the overall quality of both content and mechanics
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A sixth-grade teacher recognizes that during her lesson on the human body, many students are not paying attention and one student has fallen asleep. The most appropriate actions for the teacher to take would be to
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move on to a different activity that engages the students and reevaluate the lesson's effectiveness at a later time
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A third grade teacher notices that a student frequently comes to school dressed in the same clothing and is often hungry and sleepy. The student has difficulty paying attention in class. According to Abraham Maslow, which of the following needs have not been met:
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Physiological
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Students in Mrs. Campbell's fifth class come from culturally diverse backgrounds, and many are from lower socio-economic homes. Students have been working on science fair projects primarily at home, and there are considerable differences among students in terms of resources available to them. Which of the following teacher response strategies is most appropriate to address inequities of students' resources?
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Establish a procedure for students to schedule classroom computer time, library visits, and classroom resource check-outs.
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Ms. Hall is teaching first graders a unit on the life cycle of insects, and the Texas curriculum requires teachers to use developmentally appropriate terminology when teaching key concepts. Several of her students are below grade level in their reading skills. How should she decide how to teach the lesson?
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She needs to develop a lesson plan aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and to provide extra assistance to those students with reading skills below their respective grade level.
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Ms. Dee, a third grade teacher, read a story titled "Mr. Mouse and the Long Vacation" to her students. She stopped at various points of the story to ask students questions, and at times she asked students to predict what would happen next. When she finished reading the story, she asked students whether or not they would want Mr. Mouse as a friend. All students noted how they would like for Mr. Mouse to be their friend, and they were able to provide reasons for their opinions. For example, one student mentioned how Mr. Mouse liked to share in that he shared his lunch on two different occasions while another student mentioned how Mr. Mouse took care of Mr. Lark who was ill. When Ms. Dee asked students if they would like Mr. Mouse to be their friend, what type of question was she asking?
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divergent question
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An elementary teacher taught students a new type of mathematics problem. She introduced the concept, made sure students understood the background terminology, and then modeled the steps of the problem. Before placing students in small groups to work on practice problems, she checked for understanding. She went from group to group to make sure students were able to complete the problems correctly. Next, she assigned the same type of problems for homework. The teacher used direct instruction to teacher the respective concepts. Direct instruction is an effective method of instruction when teaching new concepts or skills in that:
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A. the concept is clearly introduced and that which students are expected to do is presented in a step by step manner. B. the teacher ensures students have the necessary prerequisite background knowledge. C. students have opportunities pratic the modeled concept before having to do so for homework. *D. all of the above
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Ms. Lee is a third grade teacher at Eagle's Sky School. She has used portfolios to asses her students' writing for the past two years. Every Friday she conducts short writing conferences with each student about composition assignments for that week. She discusses the strengths of each student's writing and makes suggestions for revisions. Ms. Lee is using portfolios for what types of assessments?
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formative
