Workshop Session
November 17, 2012
9:00 – 11:30 am
Agenda

 Minilessons and sample
questions
Looking at exemplars: Openended responses
Solving the scenarios
Wisconsin Foundations of
Reading Test

 Following the prescription of the statutory language,
Wisconsin developed permission to work with the
provider of the Massachusetts Foundations of
Reading test to create:
"...an examination identical to the Foundations of
Reading test that is part of the Massachusetts Tests for
Educator Licensure (MTEL)."

About the Test

The test will be offered in a computer-based testing
format
 Testing will be available by appointment, Monday
through Saturday at testing centers; Pearson will
determine what additional testing center sites will be
needed in the state
 Test results have a 4-week turn-around time
 The test cost is not firm at this time. If we use the
cost of the MTEL Reading Foundations Test for
students in Massachusetts, we can estimate the cost at
$155.
 Pearson will establish a Wisconsin website, which
will include test registration and score reporting
services, and preparation information.
WFRT Objectives

 Understand phonological and phonemic awareness.
 Understand concepts of print and the alphabetic
principle.
 Understand the role of phonics in promoting reading
development.
 Understand word analysis skills and strategies.
 Understand vocabulary development.
 Understand how to apply reading comprehension
skills and strategies to imaginative/literary texts.
WFRT Objectives

 Understand how to apply reading comprehension
skills and strategies to informational/expository
texts.
 Understand formal and informal methods for
assessing reading development.
 Understand multiple approaches to reading
instruction.
 Prepare an organized, developed analysis on a topic
related to one or more of the following: foundations
of reading development; development of reading
comprehension; reading assessment and instruction.
Reading Terminology:
Morphemes, phonemes, graphemes, blends, and
diagraphs

Minilesson #1
Terminology Origins

 Linguistic terms
morphemes
phonemes
graphemes
 Reading terms
blends
diagraphs
morpheme

 a meaningful linguistic unit that cannot be divided
into smaller meaningful units
morpheme = meaning
morpheme

 • A single word may be composed of one or more
morphemes.
 Example: un+system+atic+al+ly
(the word unsystematically can be analyzed into 5
separate morphemes)
 Every word in every language is composed of one or
more morphemes.
morpheme

One morpheme - boy (one syllable)
- desire, lady, water (two syllables)
- crocodile (three syllables)
- salamander (four syllables),
- or more syllables
morpheme

Two morphemes
boy + ish
desire + able
 Three morphemes
boy + ish + ness
desire + able + ity
morpheme

Four morphemes
gentle + man + li + ness
un + desire + able + ity
More than four morphemes
un + gentle + man + li + ness
anti + dis + establish + ment + ari + an + ism
phoneme

A minimal sound unit of speech that,
when contrasted with another
phoneme affects the meaning of words
in a language
Phoneme = Phonograph
phoneme

/b/ in book
/t/ in took
/k/ in cook
/h/ in hook
grapheme

 a written or printed
representation of a
phoneme
b for /b/
boy
oy for /oi/
grapheme

 grapheme = graph (visual
representation)
Blends and Digraphs

 BLENDS
 DIGRAPHS
 The joining of sounds
represented by two or
more letters with
minimal change in
those sounds
 bl/black
 spl/splash
 tr/trip
 Two letters that
represent one speech
sound
 th/then
 ch/chat
 sh/wish
 wh/which
Onsets and Rimes

pad
bad
sad
had
lad
Onsets and Rimes

pad
bad
sad
had
lad
Onsets and Rimes

pad
bad
sad
had
The rime is the part
that rhymes
lad
Onsets and Rimes

pad
had
Chad
glad
bad
clad
sad
lad
Brad
Onsets and Rimes

pad
had
Chad
glad
bad
sad
clad
The onset is
the first part
of the word
lad
Brad
Multisyllable words

reject
notice
notice
surface
refrain
laptop
between
extend
number
Multisyllable words

notice
reject
understand
surface
refrain
laptop
between
extend
number
Scenarios

Thinking like the Test Makers
“Teachers will want to research their
children. Although because of time
constraints it will not be possible to
study each child’s test taking logic
and processes in depth, studying
even five children will reveal worlds
of thinking and may create a variety
of profiles of test takers that teachers
can rely on. . . .” (Calkins et al., 2001, p. 109)
“Watch where their eyes
move, when they seem to
get restless or troubled,
when their concentration
seems to be kicking in ,
when they use their pencil,
and when they use their
finger.” (Calkins et al., 2001, p. 109)
Activity 1: Observing
the test taker

1. Watch your partner answer question #44.
2. Ask them to voice their thoughts aloud as they work.
3. Take notes on everything your partner does.
4. Ask your partner the following questions:
- why did you choose that answer?
- what were you thinking about as you read and answered the question?
- interrupt your partner and ask what he/she is doing now.
4. Switch roles and do question #45.
5. Compare notes.
Activity 1: Observing
the test taker

Question 44. Correct Response: A. Homographs are
words that are spelled the same way but have different
meanings. For example, the words saw, meaning the
cutting tool, and saw, meaning the past tense of the
verb to see, have different origins and meanings, but
they are spelled the same way. The activity in the box
promotes students' awareness of the characteristics of
homographs. Drawing students' attention to the fact
that two words can be spelled the same way but have
completely different meanings would not contribute to
their understanding of structural analysis (B), semantic
analysis (C), or synonyms (D).
Activity 1: Observing
the test taker

Question 45. Correct Response: C. Stopping to
consult a dictionary is generally disruptive to the
reading process; however, in some situations, as with
the sentence shown in the box, consulting a dictionary
is the only effective method for determining the
meaning of an unfamiliar term encountered in a text.
Also, paraphrasing the sentence by substituting the
dictionary definition for the unfamiliar term is a good
method for both reinforcing understanding of the new
term and returning the reader to the flow of the story.
Activity 1: Observing
the test taker

The other strategies given would not be effective in this
particular situation. B is incorrect because contextual analysis
would not be a useful strategy here, since the sentence around
the term déjà vu provides little or no clues as to the term's
meaning. Using structural analysis (D) would also not be
helpful, since the term is made up of two words and they are
borrowed from the French language. Finally, simply noting the
term in a vocabulary log and coming back to it after finishing
reading the story (A) would cause the student to miss the
significance of the sentence and could diminish the student's
comprehension of the story.
Activity 2: Looking for
clues

1. Read question #51.
2. Talk about the question together.
3. Individually highlight the clues in the question.
5. Talk about what you highlighted.
6. Work together to choose your answer.
“Look for evidence from the text,
instead of personal opinions, to
support answers. . .
Write key words alongside
paragraphs. . .
[Decide] what the questions is
really asking” (Calkins et al., 2001, p.
106)
Activity 2: Looking for
clues

Question 51. Correct Response: C. Teaching students to
use structural analysis and their knowledge of familiar
English morphemes (i.e., the root defense and the affixes
in- and -ible) to deduce the meaning of a new word
containing these morphemes provides students with a
powerful independent word-learning strategy. This
strategy immediately extends students' understanding of
both the target word and other words that contain these
morphemes. A, B, and D are incorrect because they
describe strategies students can use to clarify the
meaning of a particular word, but they do not extend the
students' vocabulary development beyond the target
Activity 3: Treat the question like a
scavenger hunt

1. Read question #81
2. Individually make a list of things to
think about as you answer the question
3. Compare lists.
4. Work together to choose your answer.
“When I take a reading test, it’s a
little like I’m going on a scavenger
hunt. Only the list of things I’m
supposed to find is the list of
questions at the end of the
passage.” (Calkins et al., 2001, p. 86)
Activity 3: Treat the question like a
scavenger hunt

Question 81. Correct Response: C. The student's
oral reading performance in this sample strongly
suggests a lack of foundational knowledge in
phonics and sight words. The miscues indicate
serious decoding difficulties with various
phonics elements, including lack of automaticity
in decoding common vowel digraphs (reading
boats for boots), common consonant digraphs
(reading ck for ch), and complex consonant
Activity 3: Treat the question like a
scavenger hunt

clusters (reading crucked for crunched). The
student also misread a high-frequency sight
word (through) that should have been mastered
by the end of second grade. Conversely, this oral
reading sample provides no evidence that the
student has difficulty tracking print (D). And, by
self-correcting his or her errors without
prompting, the student demonstrates both
understanding of the text's vocabulary (A) and
the ability to self-monitor for comprehension (B).
Activity 4: Write on the
test

1. Read question #93.
2. Individually circle important words
3. Individually draw arrows between the question
and the answers
4. Compare your circles and arrows
5. Work together to choose your answer.
“Technically of course, this process
goes against the directions in
several ways” (Calkins et al., 2001, p. 109)
Activity 4: Write on the
test

Question 93. Correct Response: C. Phonics and
other word analysis skills, such as learning
common inflectional endings and the orthographic
rules governing their addition to words, are critical
skills that promote beginning readers'
development of proficiency in decoding. These
skills in turn support students' development of
reading fluency and comprehension. Daily,
systematic, differentiated instruction and practice
in these essential skills are necessary to ensure all
Activity 4: Write on the
test

students in a first-grade class develop into proficient
readers. While some students at this level may still require
differentiated or remedial instruction in concepts about
print (A) and/or basic phonological awareness skills (B),
these skills are generally mastered by most students in
kindergarten, so they would not be taught to a whole firstgrade class on a daily basis. Instruction in sight words is an
important component of a research-based beginning
reading program that is primarily phonics based; however,
memorization of lists of sight words on a daily basis (D) is
an ineffective instructional approach.
Activity 5: Think like the
test maker

1. Read question #96.
2. Identify clues that are in the question
3. Identify issues that are not mentioned in the question
that could complicate/confuse your thinking.
4. Discuss with your partner what you think the test maker
is expecting
5. Work together to choose your answer.
Paraphrasing the question. . . “Our
minilessons about paraphrasing the
question, holding on to the question for
a moment, seemed to help children
focus on what the test makers wanted
and seemed to help them get more
right answers” (Calkins et al., 2001, p. 119)
Activity 5: Think like the
test maker

Question 96. Correct Response: D. Print tracking is a concept
of print that students generally master in kindergarten or by
the beginning of first grade. A second-grade student who is
just beginning to track print is substantially behind grade-level
standards and would require intensive intervention. A
preschool child who has limited book-handling skills (A) or a
kindergarten child who has not developed letter-sound
correspondences for all letters (B) is within the average
acceptable range for the respective grade levels. C is incorrect
because at the beginning of the school year, it is reasonable for
a first-grade student to rely on predictable texts before the
student has had the opportunity to learn basic phonics skills
and to transition to decodable texts.