During center time, a three-year-old tells a preschool teacher, "I holded the bunny and it eated my carrot. Then two mouses runned under the shelf." No adult in the child's home or classroom uses these verb or plural forms. The child's speech provides the strongest support for which view of language acquisition?

Children construct internal grammatical rules and apply them to new words.

Children cannot use grammar until they reach a concrete operational stage.

Children's language use is shaped mainly by adult praise and correction.

Children acquire language mainly by imitating the speech they hear around them.

A fourth grader correctly states that a square has four equal sides, four right angles and two pairs of parallel sides, and that a rectangle has four right angles and two pairs of parallel sides. She insists, "A square is not a rectangle. They are different shapes." Which activity would best move this student toward the next van Hiele level?

Test a square against each property in a rectangle's definition, then sort shapes in a nested diagram

Trace and color many squares and rectangles of different sizes and orientations, naming each one

Measure the side lengths of several rectangles and use them to compute each perimeter

Write a formal two-column proof that the diagonals of every rectangle are equal in length

Many third graders in a class insist that heavier objects always fall faster than lighter objects. Which demonstration would best help students test this idea directly?

Drop a golf ball and a table-tennis ball of similar size from the same height together

Push a heavy cart and a light cart with equal force and compare how far each one rolls

Drop a bowling ball and a feather from the same height and compare when each one lands

Drop the same ball from two different heights and record the time each fall takes

While building a tower alone in the block area, a four-year-old says quietly to herself, "Big one on the bottom. No, not that one. Slow, slow. Okay, now the little one." Which interpretation of this behavior is most consistent with Vygotsky's theory?

Private speech that helps the child guide and regulate her own actions

Egocentric speech showing that the child cannot yet take another's view

Imitation of adult speech that has been strengthened through reinforcement

A delay in pragmatic skills that shows she does not understand turn-taking

A student measures an angle that is clearly smaller than a right angle. The student lines up one ray with a 0° mark on the protractor and reports that the angle measures 145°. The angle actually measures 35°. What is the most likely cause of the error?

The student read the outer scale instead of the scale that starts at 0° on the aligned ray

The student confused degree units with the centimeter markings along the straight edge

The student failed to place the protractor's center point exactly on the vertex of the angle

The student measured the reflex angle outside the rays rather than the angle itself

Paraphrased letter from a man who moved from rural Alabama to Cleveland during the early twentieth century: I earn more in a week at the foundry than I made in a month on the farm. Our children sit in a school with books of their own, and no one turns me away when I go to vote. I hope you will come north before the cotton is picked. Which conclusion about this migration is best supported by the letter?

Economic opportunity and greater civil rights drew Black Southerners to northern cities

Most migrants returned to the South after a single growing season in the North

Northern industrial cities offered newcomers free farmland to replace cotton fields

Factory owners in the North required workers to vote for certain candidates

OAE Primary Education (PK-5) (055)

Free OAE Primary Ed (055) Practice Questions

10 sample questions for the OAE Primary Education (PK-5) (055), with the correct answer and an explanation for each. No account needed. Try each one before you open the answer.

Sections covered on the exam: Oral and Written Language Development, Science, Social Studies.

Question 1 · Oral and Written Language Development
During center time, a three-year-old tells a preschool teacher, "I holded the bunny and it eated my carrot. Then two mouses runned under the shelf." No adult in the child's home or classroom uses these verb or plural forms.
The child's speech provides the strongest support for which view of language acquisition?
- A.Children cannot use grammar until they reach a concrete operational stage.
- B.Children construct internal grammatical rules and apply them to new words.
- C.Children's language use is shaped mainly by adult praise and correction.
- D.Children acquire language mainly by imitating the speech they hear around them.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Children construct internal grammatical rules and apply them to new words.
Forms such as holded, eated, and mouses are overgeneralizations of regular rules that no adult modeled, which supports the nativist view that children build grammatical rules internally. Imitation and reinforcement cannot explain forms the child never heard, and preschoolers use grammar long before the concrete operational stage.
Question 2 · Oral and Written Language Development
A recipe calls for 3 1/4 cups of flour. Jordan has 1 5/6 cups. How many more cups of flour does Jordan need?
- A.2 5/12
- B.2 7/12
- C.1 7/12
- D.1 5/12
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. 1 5/12
Rename with a denominator of 12: 3 3/12 − 1 10/12. Because 3/12 is less than 10/12, regroup one whole so 3 3/12 becomes 2 15/12. Subtracting the smaller fraction from the larger (10/12 − 3/12) is the error that leads to 2 7/12. Correctly, 2 15/12 − 1 10/12 = 1 5/12.
Question 3 · Oral and Written Language Development
A fourth grader correctly states that a square has four equal sides, four right angles and two pairs of parallel sides, and that a rectangle has four right angles and two pairs of parallel sides. She insists, "A square is not a rectangle. They are different shapes."
Which activity would best move this student toward the next van Hiele level?
- A.Trace and color many squares and rectangles of different sizes and orientations, naming each one
- B.Measure the side lengths of several rectangles and use them to compute each perimeter
- C.Test a square against each property in a rectangle's definition, then sort shapes in a nested diagram
- D.Write a formal two-column proof that the diagonals of every rectangle are equal in length
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Test a square against each property in a rectangle's definition, then sort shapes in a nested diagram
The student lists properties accurately (analysis) but does not yet see relationships among classes, which is the informal deduction level. Checking a square against the rectangle's properties and sorting in a nested diagram builds class inclusion. Tracing and naming shapes targets the visualization level, and formal proof is far beyond the next level.
Question 4 · Science
Many third graders in a class insist that heavier objects always fall faster than lighter objects.
Which demonstration would best help students test this idea directly?
- A.Drop a golf ball and a table-tennis ball of similar size from the same height together
- B.Push a heavy cart and a light cart with equal force and compare how far each one rolls
- C.Drop a bowling ball and a feather from the same height and compare when each one lands
- D.Drop the same ball from two different heights and record the time each fall takes
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Drop a golf ball and a table-tennis ball of similar size from the same height together
Two balls of similar size and shape but very different mass experience similar air resistance, so they land at nearly the same time, directly challenging the idea. A feather is slowed greatly by air resistance and would appear to confirm the misconception. Changing height or pushing carts tests different questions.
Question 5 · Oral and Written Language Development
Archaeologists excavating a large earthwork site in central Ohio report the following: walls forming a perfect circle joined to an octagon; a mound containing copper ornaments from the upper Great Lakes, shells from the Gulf Coast, sheets of mica from the southern Appalachians, and blades of obsidian from the Rocky Mountains.
Based on the archaeological description, which American Indian culture most likely built this site?
- A.Hopewell
- B.Fort Ancient
- C.Shawnee
- D.Adena
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Hopewell
Large geometric earthworks combined with exotic materials from distant regions are the hallmarks of the Hopewell culture and its far-reaching trade network. The earlier Adena built mostly conical burial mounds, the later Fort Ancient people lived in farming villages, and the Shawnee were a historic nation, not mound builders.
Question 6 · Oral and Written Language Development
While building a tower alone in the block area, a four-year-old says quietly to herself, "Big one on the bottom. No, not that one. Slow, slow. Okay, now the little one."
Which interpretation of this behavior is most consistent with Vygotsky's theory?
- A.Egocentric speech showing that the child cannot yet take another's view
- B.Private speech that helps the child guide and regulate her own actions
- C.Imitation of adult speech that has been strengthened through reinforcement
- D.A delay in pragmatic skills that shows she does not understand turn-taking
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Private speech that helps the child guide and regulate her own actions
Vygotsky viewed children's self-talk as private speech, a tool for planning and self-regulation that gradually becomes inner speech. Piaget interpreted similar talk as egocentric speech reflecting immature thinking, and the behavior is neither a pragmatic delay nor simple reinforced imitation.
Question 7 · Oral and Written Language Development
Which list shows the fractions 5/8, 3/5, 7/12 and 2/3 in order from least to greatest?
- A.7/12, 3/5, 5/8, 2/3
- B.7/12, 5/8, 3/5, 2/3
- C.2/3, 3/5, 5/8, 7/12
- D.3/5, 7/12, 5/8, 2/3
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. 7/12, 3/5, 5/8, 2/3
Rename with the common denominator 120: 7/12 = 70/120, 3/5 = 72/120, 5/8 = 75/120 and 2/3 = 80/120. Ordering the numerators gives 7/12, 3/5, 5/8, 2/3. Listing by denominator size reflects the misconception that a larger denominator means a larger fraction. A student writes: 3/4 + 1/6 = 4/10
Question 8 · Oral and Written Language Development
A student measures an angle that is clearly smaller than a right angle. The student lines up one ray with a 0° mark on the protractor and reports that the angle measures 145°. The angle actually measures 35°.
What is the most likely cause of the error?
- A.The student read the outer scale instead of the scale that starts at 0° on the aligned ray
- B.The student confused degree units with the centimeter markings along the straight edge
- C.The student failed to place the protractor's center point exactly on the vertex of the angle
- D.The student measured the reflex angle outside the rays rather than the angle itself
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. The student read the outer scale instead of the scale that starts at 0° on the aligned ray
The reported 145° and the true 35° add to 180°, the signature of reading the wrong one of the protractor's two scales. Misplacing the center point produces a small error, not a supplementary angle, and a reflex angle would measure 325°. Estimating first (less than 90°) would have caught the error.
Question 9 · Science
Workers must raise a 900 N crate onto a platform 1.5 m high. Instead of lifting it straight up, they push it up a ramp 6 m long. Assume the ramp has no friction.
What force must the workers apply along the ramp?
- A.225 N
- B.600 N
- C.150 N
- D.3,600 N
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. 225 N
The work needed to raise the crate is 900 N × 1.5 m = 1,350 joules. Spreading that work over the 6 m ramp gives a force of 1,350 ÷ 6 = 225 N. Dividing 900 by 6 ignores the height, and the other choices invert the relationship, so the force = 225 N.
Question 10 · Oral and Written Language Development
Paraphrased letter from a man who moved from rural Alabama to Cleveland during the early twentieth century: I earn more in a week at the foundry than I made in a month on the farm. Our children sit in a school with books of their own, and no one turns me away when I go to vote. I hope you will come north before the cotton is picked.
Which conclusion about this migration is best supported by the letter?
- A.Most migrants returned to the South after a single growing season in the North
- B.Northern industrial cities offered newcomers free farmland to replace cotton fields
- C.Factory owners in the North required workers to vote for certain candidates
- D.Economic opportunity and greater civil rights drew Black Southerners to northern cities
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Economic opportunity and greater civil rights drew Black Southerners to northern cities
The writer stresses higher wages, better schools, and the ability to vote, which are the economic and political pull factors behind the Great Migration of African Americans to cities such as Cleveland. The letter mentions foundry work rather than farmland and gives no evidence of returning south or forced voting.

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