MTEL Foundations of Reading Exam Prep Free practice test →

Free MTEL Foundations of Reading Practice Questions

10 free, exam-style MTEL Foundations of Reading (190; MTEL-Flex 904/905) (MTEL Foundations of Reading) practice questions with answers and explanations. No signup required. Work through them below, then take the full free MTEL Foundations of Reading practice test to study every exam domain.

The MTEL Foundations of Reading exam has 102 questions and runs 4 hours.

These 10 free MTEL Foundations of Reading questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the MTEL Foundations of Reading (190; MTEL-Flex 904/905) blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.

Domain 1: Foundations of Reading Development 35% of exam

Question 1

During a small-group lesson, a teacher says the word 'cat' and asks students to change the /k/ sound to /h/ and say the new word. A student correctly responds 'hat.' This task MOST directly assesses a student's ability to:

  1. Substitute phonemes within a spoken word
  2. Blend onset and rime into a spoken word
  3. Segment a written word into its letters
  4. Identify words that rhyme with one another
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A - Substitute phonemes within a spoken word

Question 2

A first-grade teacher is grouping words to teach a specific phonics pattern: 'ship,' 'chin,' 'thick,' and 'when.' Which phonics element do ALL four of these words share?

  1. A consonant blend, in which each consonant keeps its own sound
  2. A vowel team, in which two vowels represent one sound
  3. An r-controlled vowel, in which /r/ alters the vowel sound
  4. A consonant digraph, in which two letters represent one sound
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D - A consonant digraph, in which two letters represent one sound

Question 3

A teacher wants students to decode the word 'robot' by dividing it into syllables. The word divides as 'ro-bot.' Which pair of syllable types does this word contain, in order?

  1. Closed, then open
  2. Open, then open
  3. Open, then closed
  4. Closed, then closed
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C - Open, then closed

Question 4

A third grader reads a passage aloud at grade-level speed and pronounces nearly every word correctly, but reads in a flat, word-by-word monotone with little attention to punctuation. Which component of reading fluency should the teacher target FIRST?

  1. Accuracy
  2. Rate
  3. Automaticity
  4. Prosody
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D - Prosody

Question 5

A student consistently spells the word 'rain' as 'rane' and 'boat' as 'bote.' These spellings BEST indicate that the student:

  1. Has not yet learned the sounds that vowels can represent in words
  2. Is applying a silent-e pattern where a vowel team is needed
  3. Has a visual memory deficit that is unrelated to phonics knowledge
  4. Is randomly guessing at spellings with no phonics knowledge at all
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - Is applying a silent-e pattern where a vowel team is needed

Question 6

Which of the following words contains a diphthong?

  1. Boat
  2. Bone
  3. Boil
  4. Born
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C - Boil

Question 7

A teacher wants students to understand that some word endings change a word's tense or number without changing its part of speech. Which word contains an INFLECTIONAL ending that fits this description?

  1. Walked
  2. Happiness
  3. Rewrite
  4. Colorful
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A - Walked

Domain 2: Development of Reading Comprehension 27% of exam

Question 8

A teacher is selecting vocabulary words for explicit instruction that will give students the greatest benefit across many subject areas. According to a tiered model of vocabulary, which word is the BEST choice for direct instruction?

  1. Dog
  2. Analyze
  3. Photosynthesis
  4. Run
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - Analyze

Question 9

Students read the sentence: 'The scientist worked in a laboratory that was immaculate - so clean and spotless that not a speck of dust could be found.' Which type of context clue helps readers determine the meaning of 'immaculate'?

  1. Antonym/contrast clue
  2. Cause-and-effect clue
  3. Example clue
  4. Definition/restatement clue
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D - Definition/restatement clue

Question 10

After reading a story, a teacher asks: 'The author never states that Maya was nervous, but how do you know she felt that way?' This question requires students to engage in which level of comprehension?

  1. Inferential comprehension
  2. Literal comprehension
  3. Evaluative comprehension
  4. Phonemic decoding
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A - Inferential comprehension

The rest of the MTEL Foundations of Reading blueprint

The MTEL Foundations of Reading exam also covers these domains. Drill them in the full free practice test:

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