Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (PPR) TExES Practice Exam

What should Mrs. Jamison focus on first to develop her students' word attack skills using structural analysis?

1. Counting letter sounds in a word

2. Recognizing prefixes and suffixes

3. Understanding phonetic principles

4. Increasing background knowledge

The correct answer is: Recognizing prefixes and suffixes

Focusing on recognizing prefixes and suffixes is a key strategy for developing students' word attack skills through structural analysis. This approach allows students to break down words into their component parts, which significantly aids in understanding their meanings and how they function within sentences. By identifying prefixes (the beginnings of words that modify their meaning) and suffixes (the endings that often denote tense, number, or part of speech), students can enhance their ability to decode unfamiliar words and infer meanings without needing to sound out every letter. This skill is foundational for vocabulary development and reading comprehension, as it empowers students to tackle complex words they encounter in texts, promoting both fluency and confidence in reading. Recognizing structural elements helps students navigate language more effectively, supporting their overall literacy skills. While counting letter sounds, understanding phonetic principles, and increasing background knowledge are all important aspects of reading instruction, they do not directly target the specific skill of word attack through structural analysis as effectively as recognizing prefixes and suffixes does.