PRAXIS Instruction 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A teacher introduces a lesson by asking students what they already know about photosynthesis. Which instructional purpose does this serve?
- Activating prior knowledge (Correct answer)
- Summative assessment
- Behavior management
- Curriculum mapping
Correct answer: Activating prior knowledge
Eliciting what students already know activates prior knowledge and connects new content to existing schema.
Question 2: Which strategy best supports differentiated instruction in a mixed-ability classroom?
- Giving every student the identical worksheet
- Offering tiered tasks at varying complexity (Correct answer)
- Lecturing for the entire period
- Grading only on final exams
Correct answer: Offering tiered tasks at varying complexity
Tiered tasks let students work at appropriate challenge levels while pursuing the same objective.
Question 3: A teacher uses 'I do, we do, you do' during a math lesson. This sequence is an example of:
- Gradual release of responsibility (Correct answer)
- Standardized testing
- Cooperative grouping only
- Summative review
Correct answer: Gradual release of responsibility
The 'I do, we do, you do' model gradually shifts responsibility from teacher to student.
Question 4: Which question type most encourages higher-order thinking?
- What year did the event happen?
- How would you evaluate the author's argument? (Correct answer)
- Who is the main character?
- What is the capital city?
Correct answer: How would you evaluate the author's argument?
Asking students to evaluate requires analysis and judgment, which are higher-order skills.
Question 5: A teacher pauses after asking a question to allow students time to think. This practice is called:
- Wait time (Correct answer)
- Scaffolding
- Chunking
- Modeling
Correct answer: Wait time
Wait time is the pause after a question that increases the quality and length of student responses.
Question 6: Which approach best promotes student engagement during a reading lesson?
- Round-robin oral reading with no discussion
- Connecting the text to students' lives and prompting predictions (Correct answer)
- Silent reading with no follow-up
- Copying definitions from the glossary
Correct answer: Connecting the text to students' lives and prompting predictions
Linking text to students' experiences and inviting predictions deepens engagement and comprehension.
Question 7: A teacher provides a partially completed graphic organizer for students to finish. This is an example of:
- Scaffolding (Correct answer)
- Summative assessment
- Grouping by ability
- Behavior contract
Correct answer: Scaffolding
A partially completed organizer scaffolds learning by providing structure students can build upon.
PRAXIS Instruction 2
A teacher introduces a lesson by asking students what they already know about photosynthesis.
Which instructional purpose does this serve?