PrePrimary (Age 3 to PreKindergarten)
Subtest 1 Sample Items
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Question 1
1. A teacher of five-year-old prekindergarteners notices that many of the children like to ride tricycles at recess, so the teacher decides to introduce the children to road safety. The teacher begins by reading the children a book on the topic, and then invites a police officer to speak to the class about wearing a helmet and other safety tips. Which of the following activities would likely be most effective for reinforcing these ideas about road safety?
- assigning children to create colorful posters about road safety to hang in various areas of the classroom as reminders
- providing additional stories and handouts on road safety in the literacy activity center
- creating a simulated road course on the playground where children can practice safety skills when riding their tricycles
- incorporating ongoing questions and discussions about safety skills during daily circle time
Answer to question 1
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0001) Young children build their understanding of new ideas and concepts primarily through active engagement with the world around them. By providing the children with a simulated road course in a safe environment, where the children can use play to explore and acquire understanding of the road safety concepts they have been learning about, the teacher is demonstrating knowledge of how to effectively reinforce the concepts the children need to know in order to keep themselves safe.
Question 2
2. A preprimary teacher introduces a theme about animals to a group of four-year-old children. The teacher places books about animals in the book corner, animal costumes in the dramatic play area, and toy animals in the block corner. During morning meeting, the teacher leads the class in a discussion of what they know about different animals' needs and habits. By engaging children in these activities, the teacher is demonstrating understanding of which of the following principles?
- Children learn most efficiently through concentrated exposure to one academic subject at a time.
- Children develop intrinsic motivation to learn by receiving encouragement from engaged adults.
- Children learn new concepts by experiencing a variety of materials presented in multiple modalities.
- Children develop social skills through frequent interactions with similar-age peers in a structured setting.
Answer to question 2
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0001) Presenting information in a variety of ways using concrete materials, discussions, and stories involves the child in a total learning experience that will develop the child's ability to understand new concepts. When a teacher approaches a new subject by presenting a wide variety of materials, media, and ideas, children become engaged in in-depth exploration and draw meaning and understanding from their experiences.
Question 3
3. A preprimary teacher is observing several children as they play in the block corner with a variety of toy cars, dolls, and animals. The children have placed the cars in a garage, the dolls in a house, and the animals in a zoo that the children have constructed. The teacher would like to foster the children's creative thinking as they play. Which of the following questions posed by the teacher to the children would most effectively promote the achievement of this goal?
- "Which of the buildings do you like best: the zoo, the house, or the garage?"
- "What would happen if the tiger borrowed a car to go buy a birthday present for one of the dolls?"
- "Did you put all the animals in the zoo because the dolls are afraid of them?"
- "Do you think every animal should live in the zoo, or should some of them live on a farm?"
Answer to question 3
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0001) Posing "What if" questions promotes children's cognitive development by engaging their imagination and encouraging them to think about situations in a variety of ways. "What if" questions also stimulate children's use of expressive language because such questions elicit complex responses rather than one-word answers (i.e., yes/no).
Question 4
4. A preprimary teacher sets out a container filled with buttons of various shapes, sizes, and colors for a group of children to explore. After the children have worked with these materials for a while, the teacher sees that they have grouped the buttons into three piles. The teacher comments, "Oh, I see that you found the buttons I put out. What have you been doing with them?" The children reply that they sorted them out and show the teacher the different groups. Which of the following teacher responses would most effectively further the children's cognitive development in this situation?
- "Why do you think I left the buttons out for you to play with?"
- "Can you each show me which button is your favorite?"
- "Who decided to sort the buttons into different piles?"
- "How did you decide which buttons should go in which pile?"
Answer to question 4
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0001) Sorting and classifying are basic skills that are taught to children as part of the early childhood mathematics program. Recognizing ways to organize similar objects into groups and understanding the relationships between the objects involve logical thinking and the ability to make decisions based on specific characteristics. Discussing such relationships not only prompts children's use of analytical skills but also teaches them to articulate their thinking. In this situation, where the children were already in the process of sorting the buttons, their teacher has extended their thinking by asking them to explain their decisions.
Question 5
5. In the autumn, a preprimary teacher leads a class discussion about the changes of the seasons. The children make comments such as "The leaves turn red" and "It gets colder outside." One child says, "Yeah, and the pumpkins grow great big and orange!" A number of children express interest in pumpkins, and the teacher decides to take advantage of this interest by bringing some pumpkins into the classroom. The children examine the pumpkins' different shapes and sizes, arrange them in groups, paint pictures of them, and talk about carving and decorating pumpkins. One day the teacher brings in a large pumpkin with its vine and leaves still attached. The children examine and discuss these features of the pumpkin plant, and the teacher then cuts open the pumpkin so the children can examine the inside. Which of the following questions by the teacher during this discussion would best deepen the children's understanding of the nature of pumpkins?
- Why do you think pumpkins have seeds inside?
- What do you think gives pumpkins their orange color?
- Why do you think some pumpkins are bigger than others?
- What do you think makes pumpkins so heavy?
Answer to question 5
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0001) By building on the children's spontaneous interest in pumpkins, the teacher has taken advantage of a natural opportunity to extend the children's learning and reflection on the specific features of pumpkins and, by extension, on the nature of flowering plants in general.
Question 6
6. A preprimary teacher is observing a group of four-year-old children as they sit on the meeting rug rolling marbles through paper towel tubes. As the teacher watches, the children begin conversing about how far their marbles roll. One child complains that the marble never rolls very far, while another child replies, "My marble always only goes to the edge of the rug, and then it just stops." A third child says, "My marble always rolls right off the rug and all the way over to the wall!" Which of the following responses by the teacher would most effectively support the children's acquisition of new information in the context of this play activity?
- "Maybe we should measure how far each marble rolls."
- "Have you tried tilting your tubes at different angles?"
- "Let's watch carefully to see how each of you rolls your marble."
- "Do you think that some marbles are just faster than others?"
Answer to question 6
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0001) By suggesting that the children watch each other's marble-rolling techniques, the teacher is supporting their understanding of how observing different strategies can provide them with information that will allow them to be similarly successful. By observing each other complete the same activity in different ways, they can determine which strategies may be most effective for what they are trying to achieve with their marbles.
Question 7
7. Before the opening of school, the teachers of a preprimary classroom are discussing how to ensure that the classroom environment will effectively promote the cognitive development of every child. Which of the following strategies would be most effective for achieving this goal?
- changing learning center themes and activities frequently to encourage children to explore different centers on a regular basis
- ensuring that every child has the opportunity to work in each learning center for about the same amount of time every day
- creating learning centers that include materials and exploratory activities that reflect the children's backgrounds and personal interests
- providing parents/guardians with information about the various learning centers and on how to prepare similar activities at home
Answer to question 7
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0001) Preprimary children are avid explorers who acquire knowledge primarily through spontaneous, hands-on investigations of the materials in the world around them. By ensuring that classroom learning centers build on children's existing knowledge and interests, and that the centers provide all children with opportunities to extend their knowledge of the world around them, teachers are demonstrating understanding of key strategies for promoting the cognitive development of every child.
Question 8
8. After creating a ramp out of wooden blocks, a four-year-old preschooler asks the teacher to come watch as she rolls a car down her ramp. However, when the child sets her car down on the ramp, the car doesn't move. Upon looking more closely, the teacher sees that the ramp is narrower than the car, so that the car's wheels hang over the sides of the ramp. In this play situation, which of the following would be the teacher's best strategy for promoting the child's use of problem-solving to address the issue?
- suggesting that the child try pushing her car to make it slide down the ramp
- asking the child whether she thinks her ramp might be too narrow for the car
- suggesting that the child add blocks to make the ramp a little bit wider
- asking the child open-ended questions about why she thinks the car won't roll
Answer to question 8
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0001) In the preprimary years, children often demonstrate a general understanding of everyday phenomena (e.g., toys with wheels can roll) without recognizing more subtle factors (e.g., wheels need a surface on which to roll). Asking children open-ended questions (e.g., "Why do you think the car won't roll?") in the context of specific play situations has been shown to be a highly effective strategy for promoting young children's development of creative thinking, critical thinking, and problem-solving. In the situation described, the teacher's best strategy for encouraging the child's development of such skills would therefore be to pose open-ended questions that prompt her to apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the context of a personally meaningful and enjoyable activity.
Question 9
9. A preschool teacher would like to informally assess the receptive language skills of a three-year-old child who recently joined the class. Which of the following strategies would likely be most effective and developmentally appropriate for this purpose?
- asking the child to define several familiar words (e.g., fork, tree, banana)
- observing how the child responds to two-step directions (e.g., "Hang up your coat then sit on the rug.")
- reading a story to the child and then asking open-ended questions (e.g., "Why do you think the dog ran away?")
- participating in a conversation with the child about a favorite topic (e.g., pets, favorite toys, family members)
Answer to question 9
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0002) By initiating a conversation about a topic the child is interested in, the teacher is likely to not only spark the child's attention and engagement but encourage the child to converse with the teacher about the topic. Unlike more formal and structured types of receptive-language assessment, such a conversation is likely to offer many opportunities for the teacher to assess the child's functional use of receptive language skills in everyday contexts.
Question 10
10. A preprimary teacher instructs a three-year-old child to "Put the blue ball in the basket...The blue ball...No, the blue ball...Yes, in the basket." This is an effective form of language development because the statement:
- refers to a direct experience the child is having.
- creates a visual image for the child.
- is repeated until the child responds correctly.
- is gradually simplified with each significant part highlighted.
Answer to question 10
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0002) In this scenario, the teacher is gradually simplifying and breaking down the statement into its individual components. The teacher first focuses on the object (the ball) and then what the child should do with that object. This is an effective strategy for scaffolding the child's receptive language skills.
Question 11
11. Which of the following approaches would be most effective for a preprimary teacher to use with a four-year-old child who repeatedly makes grammatical errors such as "I goed to the pool"?
- pointing out the mistake and asking the child repeat the sentence correctly
- listening for the child's meaning and then saying the sentence correctly
- writing the sentence into the morning message correctly and then emphasizing it
- saying the sentence correctly and asking the child to identify the differences
Answer to question 11
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0002) Often when children notice a grammatical rule such as tense, they will overgeneralize the rule in their conversations. Instead of pointing this error out and overtly correcting them, it is more effective for the teacher to model the appropriate grammatical usage by repeating the statement correctly.
Question 12
12. A preprimary teacher often reads "big book" versions of stories (e.g., The Little Red Hen, Are You My Mother?) to the class. During each reading, the teacher invites the children to participate in the reading by chiming in on repeated phrases. The teacher also encourages the children to draw pictures of the characters and events in the stories, to incorporate the characters into their dramatic play, and to act out the stories using hand puppets. These types of activities support the children's literacy development primarily by:
- expanding the children's understanding that storytelling is a dynamic art form.
- increasing children's comprehension of the stories' plots and characters.
- demonstrating to the children that the same story can be told in many different ways.
- promoting children's enjoyment of and self-expression through the language arts.
Answer to question 12
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0002) Routine integration of the language arts (e.g., reading, writing, speaking, listening, dramatization) reinforces young children's understanding that effective communication and the comprehension of text are undeniably intertwined. This practice fosters the development of reading in concert with the other language arts.
Question 13
13. Which of the following assessments would best provide information about a four-year-old child's knowledge of concepts of print?
- handing a book to the child vertically so that the spine is facing the child and asking, "Where is the front of the book?"
- opening a book to the first page and asking the child, "How many separate words can you count on this page?"
- showing the child several cards with CVC words and asking, "Which of these have the same beginning sound?"
- asking the child to draw a picture and then asking, "Can you write some words about your picture underneath it?"
Answer to question 13
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0002) For children to become readers, they must learn how books work (i.e., concepts of print). Concepts of print include knowing which is the front and which is the back of a book, knowing how a book opens, knowing right side up, and knowing that print goes from left to right and top to bottom. In addition, children should understand that it is the print, not the pictures, that contains the story. Children should also learn basic terminology such as word, letter, beginning of sentence, and top of page.
Question 14
14. A preschool teacher sets up the dramatic play area as a post office for four- and five-year-old children. There are signs with phrases such as United States Post Office, Mail Box, and Stamps Sold Here. A table is supplied with pens, pencils, markers, paper, and envelopes. The teacher encourages the children to draw pictures or write letters to friends, family members, and favorite characters in stories. The teacher often talks with the children about their pictures and their attempts at writing, and transcribes their invented spelling with correctly spelled words when they ask. The teacher's actions best demonstrate an understanding of which of the following principles?
- Young children are more likely to develop a love of reading if they are allowed to first encounter reading using examples of environmental print.
- It is important at the early stages of literacy development for children to share their stories with others.
- Literacy development occurs through direct experiences that demonstrate to children that reading and writing have a real communicative purpose.
- Young children develop their literacy skills by first experiencing such skills through dramatic play.
Answer to question 14
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0002) According to research, the understanding that print carries meaning emerges between the ages of three and five years. Children begin to use print as a communication device well before they have learned the alphabet or developed phonological awareness. By encouraging children to write a letter to someone, the teacher supports children in developing a conceptual understanding of themselves as writers. By using signs and words appropriate for a post office, the teacher assists children in associating a new cluster of words with a specific activity. To become readers and writers, children must be actively reading and writing throughout their daily experiences.
Question 15
15. The teachers of a highly diverse preprimary classroom want to create a classroom environment that fosters every child's communication development. Which of the following strategies would likely be most effective for this purpose?
- engaging children in simple role-plays in which they are prompted to communicate in various contexts (e.g., buying milk at a store)
- routinely conversing with children about their ideas, interests, and feelings associated with their experiences at school and at home
- asking individual children take turns being the leader in everyday situations (e.g., calling on classmates at morning circle time)
- reading predictable text aloud and encouraging the children to join in whenever familiar words or phrases occur
Answer to question 15
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0002) Of the options provided, the best way to promote preprimary children's language and communication development is to regularly converse with them about things that are personally meaningful to them. Participating in conversations about such topics (e.g., their personal interests, what they wonder about, their theories about how things work, activities they like or dislike and why, concerns they may have) helps them understand that communication can be a meaningful and satisfying way to express their feelings, learn about the world, and share ideas with others.
Question 16
16. The teachers of a preprimary class have been meeting regularly to plan for the upcoming school year and are currently discussing strategies for promoting all children's emerging literacy development. Which of the following strategies would likely be most effective for this purpose?
- posting a daily Word of the Day in the classroom and discussing the word with the class as a whole
- taking the class to the school library once a week to help every child check out a self-selected book
- reading aloud Big Books in children's home languages daily in ways that encourage active participation
- meeting personally with each child every day to conduct individualized reading lessons
Answer to question 16
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0002) For children of preprimary age, the nature, quality, and extent of language experiences at school are highly significant factors in literacy development. Reading Big Books aloud to the children in their home languages is an effective activity for this purpose, especially when the children are encouraged to participate (e.g., by "chiming in" on repeated words, or being asked what they think will happen next). Participatory reading activities that help children learn to associate reading with personal enjoyment and that prompt children's active involvement have been shown to be highly effective ways of promoting literacy development at the preprimary level.
Question 17
17. A preprimary teacher wants to help children make the connection between the counting numbers and the total number of objects in a set. Which of the following would be the most developmentally appropriate strategy to use for this purpose?
- explaining that while a set of four cats and a set of four dogs contain different objects, both sets have the same number of objects
- giving children worksheets on which they count the number of objects in a group and then draw a line to the corresponding numeral
- asking children to count shells or buttons arranged in a line and then recount the items after the teacher has spread them further apart
- teaching counting rhymes and songs and prompting children to count in the context of play and routine daily activities
Answer to question 17
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0003) In the preprimary years, young children often enjoy learning to recite the counting numbers (e.g., "one, two, three, four . . .") without necessarily understanding how to use the concept of one-to-one correspondence to actually count the total number of objects in a group. In addition, young children may have trouble recognizing that the number of objects in a group does not change when the objects are spread further apart or gathered closer together. One way to help children make the connection between reciting the counting numbers and actually counting objects is to teach them to touch a different object for each spoken number name.
Question 18
18. A preschool teacher has noticed that the four-year-old children in the class differ developmentally in their understanding of number concepts and operations. For example, one group of children are learning to count items sequentially while a second group are able to combine and separate groups of objects. The teacher has brought a shell collection to school to show the children, and wants to integrate math with the investigation of the shells. Which of the following activities would be most appropriate for the teacher to implement to meet the needs of these students?
- assigning all of the children to work together on counting numbers of each type of shell
- asking the second group of children to model higher-level math thinking for the first group of children to support their understanding of more difficult concepts
- designing learning stations that provide math experiences at different levels that all the children can explore
- providing the first group of children with counting activities and the second group of children with adding and subtracting activities
Answer to question 18
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0003) At a preprimary level children can benefit from additional practice of skills they understand and exposure to concepts that are slightly above the level at which they are learning. Providing learning stations that offer different levels of math experiences is an example of an activity that addresses each child's developmental level while allowing them to explore other math concepts as well.
Question 19
19. A group of preschoolers have been observing weather over the course of the month. Each child has made a weather journal with drawings of each day's weather. The class has made a chart that shows how many rainy, sunny, and cloudy days there were during the month. The teacher would like to assess each child's emerging knowledge of weather. Which of the following teacher activities would best meet this goal?
- talking with children individually and taking notes regarding what they have learned about weather
- reviewing children's weather journals for accuracy and attention to detail
- asking children to identify their favorite type of weather and tell why it is their favorite
- assigning children to tally how many rainy, sunny, and cloudy days there were during the month
Answer to question 19
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0003) Talking with each child individually is an effective strategy for the teacher to use to obtain more thorough information about what each child understands about the unit. By taking notes, the teacher will have a record to refer to later regarding each child.
Question 20
20. During circle time, a preschool teacher frequently brings a basket full of a particular object (e.g., shells, blocks, pieces of colorful paper) and makes sure there is enough for each child in the class. The teacher then asks one of the children to hand out the objects to each of the other children in the circle and to keep one. This activity would be most effective for fostering children's numeracy skills in which of the following areas?
- using one-to-one correspondence
- sorting objects into groups
- duplicating simple patterns
- placing objects in order
Answer to question 20
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0003) In this activity, the teacher asks children to hand out a particular object to each member of the class. One-to-one correspondence is the ability to match each item of one set with each item in another set. In this situation, one set is the objects in the basket and the other set is the children in the class. The children practice one-to-one correspondence as they match one of each object with each child.
Question 21
21. A teacher has a class of preschoolers ranging from ages three to five. The children in the class have been spending a lot of time playing restaurant and exploring the pretend food in the play kitchen. The teacher wants to informally assess their emerging development of numeracy skills during this activity. The teacher plans to talk to children individually in the play kitchen over the course of a week and ask them questions related to number concepts. Which of the following steps would be most important for the teacher to take before talking with the children?
- setting up a designated assessment area in the play kitchen with a variety of pretend food items to count and put in order by size
- scheduling a specific time to meet with each of the children to observe them playing with the pretend food
- spending time with each child practicing counting various items during the week before the planned assessment
- creating a checklist for recording children's understanding of mathematical concepts
Answer to question 21
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0003) At the preschool level, children vary a great deal in what they understand about mathematics, and it is more developmentally appropriate to allow children to learn through play instead of through direct instruction. By creating a checklist, the teacher will be able to clearly define what is being assessed related to numeracy development and easily take note of what each child understands mathematically while observing their play.
Question 22
22. Several three-year-old children are playing with boats, plastic animals, and other toys at a water table. Their teacher joins them at the table and puts one of the boats in the water. The teacher says, "What do you think will happen to the boat if I put a toy whale in it?" Asking this type of question is an effective strategy for the teacher to use in fostering children's development in which of the following areas?
- application of numeracy skills
- understanding of cause-and-effect relationships
- persistence in task completion
- comparison of measurable attributes
Answer to question 22
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0003) In this scenario, the teacher suggests a learning activity that will extend the children's experimentation with the toys at the water table and their development of concepts. The teacher suggests an activity for the children to do with the toys (a cause). When the children carry it out, they will realize the effect. The teacher's question scaffolds the children's learning about a cause-and-effect relationship that they might not otherwise have considered.
Question 23
23. A preprimary teacher often conducts math activities in small groups or with individual children. In one activity, the teacher holds up cards that have dot patterns on them (e.g., a card with three dots that form a diagonal line, a card with four dots that form a square) and asks the children to hold up their fingers to show the number of dots they see without counting the dots. This activity would be especially effective for promoting the children's mathematical development in the area of:
- fluency.
- problem solving.
- estimation.
- numeral recognition.
Answer to question 23
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0003) The ability to recognize a given number of objects (e.g., the number of dots on the faces of dice) without counting them promotes children's mathematical development in the areas of number sense and operational fluency. For example, a child who recognizes a group of six dots and is then shown four additional dots can determine the new total by using the process of counting on, that is, by simply counting "seven, eight, nine, ten" instead of having to start counting the number of dots all over again from the number "one."
Question 24
24. Which of the following activities in a preschool classroom would likely be most effective in promoting three-year-olds' understanding of cause and effect?
- planting seeds in a pot of soil and checking the seeds' growth each day
- observing whether a wooden block sinks or floats in a pail of water
- sprinkling salt into a glass of water and looking for the salt the next day
- holding a toy in front of a light source to make shadows of different shapes
Answer to question 24
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0003) In order for children to understand the concept of cause and effect, they must be able to recognize the relationship between a particular action or event (the "cause") and a particular result (the "effect"). Of the activities described, the one that is likely to demonstrate cause and effect most clearly is the shadows activity. This is because, in this activity, the children will be able to directly observe how the way they manipulate the toy changes the shapes of the shadows.
Question 25
25. A preschool teacher fills out checklists regarding children's creative development in the visual arts and music. In reviewing these checklists, the teacher notices that most of the children are able to move or clap a steady beat for a short period of time during music activities. Which of the following learning experiences would most effectively foster the children's continued rhythmic development?
- singing familiar songs in class frequently using either a faster or slower tempo than usual
- providing children with a game to play in which they match cards showing note values with cards showing numbers of beats
- incorporating group activities in which each child selects a percussion instrument and plays along with a recording
- teaching children the difference between strong and weak beats by showing them how to dance a waltz pattern
Answer to question 25
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0004) When preschool-age children have demonstrated the ability to respond to a steady beat by clapping their hands or moving their bodies in time to the beat, they are ready to be introduced to more advanced rhythmic activities. One effective way to build on the children's existing rhythmic skills is to introduce simple percussion instruments into such activities. By providing the children with drums, tambourines, rhythm sticks, tone blocks, and similar instruments, the teacher is expanding the children's ability to both recognize and respond to a wide range of rhythmic patterns in the world around them.
Question 26
26. A preschool teacher has been sharing favorite children's songs with the class each week and instructing the children in corresponding dance movements with each song. The teacher would like to encourage the children's individuality during this activity. Which of the following teacher strategies would be most effective for the teacher to use in achieving this goal?
- asking children to bring in a recording of their favorite song to share and teaching appropriate dance movements for each song
- introducing a new song and encouraging each child to create dance movements that they think go well with the song
- writing a children's song for the class that includes something special about each child in the lyrics and dance movements
- participating in a discussion with the children about which classroom songs and dance movements are their favorites and why
Answer to question 26
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0004) When teaching children of this age how to respond to and create in the arts, it is important for teachers to encourage the children's active participation in these activities. It is also important for teachers to provide time and space for children to explore and experiment with music and movement. When children create their own dance movements to go along with a song, they are combining what they have already learned about music and movement with an expression of their own individuality.
Question 27
27. Two preschool teachers are designing a cultural event for the children in their school. They have invited visual artists from different backgrounds to come and demonstrate their artwork. They will also have musical performances from a variety of genres. Each participant will mark the origin of their art or music on a large world map and talk briefly about the country where their art or music originates. Which of the following goals would be most developmentally appropriate for the teachers to have for the children as a result of participating in this event?
- Children will be able to describe similarities and differences between cultural art forms around the world.
- Children will develop awareness of arts and creative expression from a variety of cultures.
- Children will learn to identify music and art forms by their culture of origin.
- Children will gain a greater understanding of geography and how it influences a culture's artistic traditions.
Answer to question 27
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0004) Preschool children are just beginning to learn about the world that exists beyond their own personal environment. Arranging for preschoolers to attend art events, concerts, dance performances, theatrical performances, and cultural fairs provides them with an introduction to many types of art. These events also support children's development of an appreciation for the arts and begin to make a connection to the world beyond their personal lives.
Question 28
28. Four preschoolers have each chosen a musical instrument and are playing them together. Their teacher notices that they have created a game in which each child is a different family member and plays their instrument loud or soft and fast or slow to represent the person they are imitating. The teacher goes to the dress-up corner and brings the children a box of clothes, hats, and scarves to add to their activity if they choose. The teacher's action would likely be most effective for building the children's:
- understanding of dramatic elements.
- willingness to share materials.
- ability to express their imagination.
- knowledge of musical dynamics.
Answer to question 28
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0004) In this activity, the children are naturally experimenting with creativity and imagination through musical instruments by pretending to be various people. By adding the dress-up clothes, the teacher is extending the integration of imagination with this activity. Children of this age group are developing their imagination when they try out various pretend roles during play or with make-believe objects.
Question 29
29. A preschool teacher has noticed that many of the children in her class have difficulty completing activities. For example, children often start an art project and then leave it unfinished. She would like to promote children's task completion skills through visual arts activities. Which of the following teacher strategies would likely be most effective for addressing this goal?
- asking each of the children to add one drawing to a group mural on the wall until all blank space is filled
- telling the children that if they pick up five toys at clean-up time they will get extra time to work on their art projects
- providing the children with a picture of a finished collage and the materials to create their own similar collage
- assisting each of the children in creating a simple pictorial checklist to follow to know when their art projects are complete
Answer to question 29
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0004) Preschool children need support to understand what steps need to be taken for a task to be considered complete. It is important for teachers to provide the guidance that teaches children how to be individually responsible for their work while at the same time encouraging individual creativity in the arts. A simple pictorial checklist will provide children with a visual reminder of what steps they need to complete in order to finish their projects.
Question 30
30. A group of four-year-old children are enjoying an exploration of art materials with their teacher. They have expressed interest in making gifts for their family members with these materials. Which of the following visual art activities would be most developmentally appropriate for this purpose?
- designing collage wall hangings using a variety of media, including paint, yarn, and different types of paper
- decorating cardboard picture frames by gluing buttons of various sizes onto them and then using spray paint to add color to their project
- creating resist designs on blank note cards using rubber cement and then painting with water colors over the dried rubber cement
- making necklaces by stringing small beads onto nylon thread and then attaching clasps with the teacher's assistance
Answer to question 30
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0004) Preschool children should work with art materials that are safe, nontoxic, and easy to manipulate. It is important for teachers to provide guidance on how children should work with materials appropriately, but they must also encourage children to express their own creativity using the provided materials. Designing collage wall hangings provides the children with an opportunity to create an original product using safe materials.
Question 31
31. The teachers of a preprimary class are planning activities to foster the children's creative development in the visual arts and music. The teachers agree that building on the children's home cultures and traditions should be a key element in this effort. Which of the following teacher strategies would likely be most effective for achieving this objective?
- conferring with the children's families about ways to incorporate their culture's artistic traditions into the arts curriculum
- decorating the classroom with images of visual arts that are associated with each family's cultural tradition
- selecting specific weeks over the course of the school year during which each family's cultural tradition will be celebrated
- encouraging the children to participate in show-and-tell activities by singing songs from their own families' traditions
Answer to question 31
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0004) In order to implement this objective in a respectful and authentic way, the teachers must ensure that they have a good understanding of the nature, meaning, and implications of the cultural traditions they would like to address. The teachers' best approach for achieving this goal would be to meet with children's family members to discuss the proposed activities and ways of presenting them to the children.
Question 32
32. During a dance activity with multicolored crepe paper streamers, a three-year-old child announces that her streamer is a butterfly. She makes her "butterfly" fly in circles, search for flowers, swoop up and down, and land on her hand. This behavior best demonstrates how involving children in open-ended movement activities can foster children's:
- self-expression.
- problem solving.
- positive self-esteem.
- task completion.
Answer to question 32
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0005) Creative movement activities have been shown to be a highly effective way to foster young children's expression of their ideas, emotions, and responses to the world. In the activity described, the child conveys her knowledge of and fondness for butterflies (as well as her enjoyment of creative movement) by making her butterfly-streamer fly, swoop, search for flowers, and land on her hand. Such a response offers a powerful demonstration of how arts activities can provide children with unique opportunities for expressing feelings and ideas that may be less easily conveyed through more academic disciplines.
Question 33
33. Two four-year-old preschoolers are excited to play astronaut after overhearing something about astronauts on the news. The children build a spaceship of large blocks and make space helmets out of paper in the art area. Then they sit together in the spaceship and count "3, 2 ,1...Blast off!" After that, they seem at a loss as to what to do next and move on to a new activity. Which of the following strategies would be the most effective for the preschool teacher to use to enhance the children's dramatic play about astronauts?
- providing manufactured toy space helmets that look more realistic than their handmade ones
- replaying the news broadcast for the children and discussing any information they do not understand
- placing space-themed toys such as rockets and models of planets in the large block corner
- reading aloud and discussing fiction and nonfiction stories about astronauts and their life in space
Answer to question 33
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0005) In this scenario, the children are interested in pretending to be astronauts because of what they have heard on the news. They know that astronauts travel in special spacecraft and wear helmets, but they lack further information to continue the theme. Reading aloud fiction and nonfiction books and discussing what astronauts do and how they live in space will support the children in acquiring more information and greater understanding of space, which they can then incorporate into their dramatic play.
Question 34
34. In a preschool class of four- and five-year-old children, the teacher plans to read aloud different versions of The Gingerbread Man. The teacher will begin with a traditional gingerbread man story and then choose different versions (e.g., a runaway dreidel, a gingerbread dog, a runaway wonton) all including the same refrain, "You can't catch me, I'm the...". The teacher would like to extend this reading activity to support the development of children's creativity and imagination. Which of the following teacher strategies would likely be most effective for this purpose?
- inviting each child to draw a picture of a favorite character from one of the stories
- placing paper masks of each of the characters involved in the stories in the dramatic play area
- writing a play for the class to act out using one of the versions of the story
- baking cookies shaped like the various characters in the different versions for snack each day
Answer to question 34
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0005) By placing the masks in the dramatic play area, the teacher will encourage the children to act out the different versions of the story in their own way and build on the basic themes and concepts using their own creativity.
Question 35
35. A preschool teacher of four- and five-year-old children is finishing up a theme on animals that live in the Arctic. The children have listened to books about Arctic animals, drawn pictures of Arctic animals, and made paper bag puppets of Arctic animals. During the last week of the theme, the teacher introduces a game called "Duck, duck, animal." This game involves the children being active, thinking of Arctic animals, and acting out an animal when they are called on. Which of the following rationales best explains why the teacher would choose this type of activity?
- It further develops children's understanding of the theme through dramatic play.
- It encourages children to release built-up energy while learning the names of animals.
- It teaches children the value of teamwork through participating in a fun game.
- It builds children's self-confidence because they are acting in front of others.
Answer to question 35
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0005) Using creative movement activities supports preschool children's development of gross-motor skills and social skills and use their creativity and imagination while participating in a physical activity. Preschool children often enjoy pretending to be animals. The game of "Duck, duck, animal" reinforces the children's knowledge of Arctic animals while incorporating creative movement and dramatic play.
Question 36
36. A preschool teacher has a class of children ages three through five. The children are sitting at tables in the classroom molding playdough into objects and using cookie cutters to make different shapes. The teacher walks around the room and makes comments and encourages the children. Which of the following comments by the teacher would likely be most effective for reinforcing a child's self-esteem?
- "Well done! Try making another shape just like that one."
- "Excellent work cutting out your circle!"
- "Look at how much fun you're having with the playdough!"
- "Good job! You cut out the star perfectly."
Answer to question 36
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0005) Encouraging children by commenting on what they are doing rather than making evaluative statements supports their confidence about their actions. A nonjudgmental comment by a teacher allows children to feel positive about what they are doing and reinforces their self-esteem, rather than a comment that implies that they are making things because it pleases the teacher.
Question 37
37. On a rainy day, a preschool teacher turns on upbeat music for the class. They play a game called freeze dance. The teacher instructs the children to dance in any way they want to when they hear the music, but when the music stops and the teacher says, "Freeze," the children should stop dancing. This activity is a particularly good choice for preprimary-age children because it:
- promotes children's self-control in a structured setting.
- encourages children to learn the melodies of popular songs.
- develops children's language skills as they listen to lyrics.
- promotes children's creativity in an active way.
Answer to question 37
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0005) Creative movement through dance is a way to support children in learning about their bodies while providing them with a positive outlet for energy. Encouraging children to creatively move their bodies assists them in learning to express themselves. Playing the game of "freeze dance" allows the children to express their individual creativity through dance as well as develop their listening skills.
Question 38
38. As one component of the arts curriculum, the teachers of a preprimary class provide the children with regular opportunities for a wide variety of movement activities (e.g., moving to music from various traditions, using movement and gesture to tell stories or convey feelings). Which of the following would likely be the greatest benefit of incorporating such activities into the preprimary curriculum?
- developing the children's familiarity with arts-related terminology
- fostering the children's recognition of different musical genres
- promoting the children's development of creative self-expression
- encouraging the children's development of personal musical preferences
Answer to question 38
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0005) Children who, in the preprimary years, are encouraged to express themselves through a variety of music and movement activities begin building an early awareness and understanding of the many ways in which human beings can collaborate and express themselves.
Question 39
39. The children in a preprimary class have shown a keen interest in animals, and their teachers are considering how to incorporate this interest into various dance, drama, and creative-movement activities. Which of the following approaches would likely be most effective for this purpose?
- writing a play for the children to perform for their families in which each child will take the role of a different animal
- prompting individuals or groups of children to pretend they are their favorite animals moving through their natural environments
- conducting a vote to identify the class's favorite animal and incorporating that animal into a variety of performing arts activities
- asking the children to sing a version of Old MacDonald Had a Farm in which each child adds a new animal and makes its sound
Answer to question 39
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0005) By integrating the children's keen interest in animals with performing arts activities (i.e., dance, drama, and creative movement), the teachers are creating opportunities for the children to express their feelings in new and creative ways. Such activities will serve not only to expand the children's repertoire of self-expressive options but also to help the children perceive the animals in new ways as they explore with their bodies how to represent the living creatures in which they are so interested.
Question 40
40. The teachers of a preprimary class want to ensure that their curriculum for dance, creative movement, and drama will support every child's development in these areas. Which of the following strategies would best promote the teachers' achievement of this objective?
- conferring on an ongoing basis with each family about how effectively the creative arts curriculum is meeting their children's needs
- distributing quarterly questionnaires that solicit information on families' overall satisfaction with the creative arts curriculum
- mailing out weekly newsletters that include opinion forms about the creative arts curriculum that parents can drop off at school
- encouraging families to feel free to call the teacher if they have any concerns about their children's progress in the creative arts
Answer to question 40
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0005) In order to support all children's development in these areas, teachers must have a strong base of knowledge and understanding regarding each child's personal experience with and current level of development in these domains. The best sources of such knowledge and understanding are the children's families. By maintaining ongoing communication with each child's family in this regard, teachers will be able to work effectively to address the specific needs of each individual child.