TEXES Science of Teaching Reading Practice Test

What is the primary purpose of using the Alphabetic Arc in reading instruction?

1. Using repetition to promote sight word fluency

2. Helping students learn new words through embedded phonics

3. Helping students learn new words through analogy with letter patterns

4. Helping students learn to read using synthetic phonics

The correct answer is: Helping students learn new words through analogy with letter patterns

The Alphabetic Arc is a tool designed to support students in understanding letter patterns and making connections between those patterns and the sounds they represent. Its primary purpose is to facilitate learning new words through analogy, leveraging the recognition of familiar letter patterns. By encouraging students to draw on known phonetic structures, the Alphabetic Arc empowers them to decode unfamiliar words by associating them with words they already know that share similar patterns. This method enhances their overall reading fluency by reinforcing the idea that words can be broken down and analyzed based on predictable spelling and sound correlations, thus promoting a deeper comprehension of language. The other options, while relevant to reading instruction, do not align as closely with the fundamental objectives of the Alphabetic Arc. For example, repetition for sight word fluency focuses on memorization rather than pattern recognition, while synthetic phonics emphasizes the isolated teaching of sounds rather than the integrated understanding of letter patterns. Embedded phonics involves a more contextual approach to teaching phonics within texts, which also differs from the analogy-based strategy central to the use of the Alphabetic Arc.