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FastBridge Reading Assessment – Subtests and Practice Questions
What Subtests are on the FastBridge Reading Assessment?
The FastBridge Reading assessment consists of five subtests or measures that assess specific literacy skills. The specific subtests within FastBridge Reading assessment may vary depending on the version and grade level being used, but here are the subtests and the skills you will encounter on the FastBridge Reading assessment.
Phonemic Awareness
Phoneme Identification: Students may be asked to identify and isolate specific phonemes within words. For example, they might be presented with a word and asked to identify the initial, medial, or final sound.
Phoneme Blending: This involves the ability to blend individual phonemes together to form a complete word. For instance, students might be asked to blend the sounds /c/ /a/ /t/ to form the word “cat.”
Phoneme Segmentation: Students may be required to segment a given word into its individual phonemes. For example, they might be asked to break the word “dog” into the phonemes /d/ /o/ /g/.
Phoneme Deletion: This skill involves removing or deleting a specific phoneme from a word and then stating the resulting word. For instance, students might be asked to say what remains after deleting the /b/ sound from the word “bat.”
Phoneme Substitution: In this task, students may need to replace one phoneme in a word with another to create a new word. For example, they might be asked to change the /m/ sound in “mat” to /r/ to create “rat.”
Phonics
Letter-Sound Correspondence: Students are typically assessed on their ability to recognize and correctly match individual letters with their corresponding sounds. For example, they may be asked to identify the sound associated with the letter “b.”
Phonics Patterns: This section may evaluate a student’s understanding of common phonics patterns or letter combinations. Examples include digraphs (e.g., “sh,” “ch”), vowel patterns (e.g., “ai,” “ea”), and consonant blends (e.g., “bl,” “st”).
Decoding Skills: Students may be asked to decode (read) both real and nonsense words. Decoding involves using letter-sound knowledge to sound out and read words accurately.
Word Recognition: The assessment may include words that students should be able to read by sight (without sounding them out). It evaluates their ability to recognize and read familiar words quickly.
Spelling Skills: This section may include tasks where students are asked to spell words based on their understanding of letter-sound correspondences.
Syllable Division: Students might be tested on their ability to identify syllables within words, as well as their understanding of how to divide words into syllables.
Reading Fluency
Oral Reading Accuracy: Students are assessed on their ability to read text accurately, without making many errors in pronunciation, word recognition, or comprehension. Accurate reading is essential for overall reading fluency.
Oral Reading Rate: This part of the assessment evaluates a student’s reading speed, often measured in words per minute (WPM). Students are asked to read a passage within a specific time frame to determine how quickly they can read and understand the text.
Phrasing and Prosody: Students are assessed on their ability to read with appropriate phrasing and expression. This includes reading with appropriate intonation, pauses, and emphasis, which contributes to comprehension and overall fluency.
Comprehension while Reading: The Reading Fluency section may also evaluate a student’s ability to understand and retain the content of the text while reading fluently. This assesses whether students can read quickly while maintaining comprehension.
Word Recognition: Some assessments may include measures of word recognition speed to determine how quickly students can recognize and pronounce individual words within a passage.
Timed Reading Passages: Students may be presented with timed reading passages and asked to read them within a specific time limit, assessing both speed and accuracy.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Comprehension: Students are assessed on their ability to understand the meaning of words within the context of a sentence or passage. This measures their capacity to comprehend and use words in context.
Word Definitions: Students may be asked to provide definitions for specific vocabulary words. This assesses their ability to recall and explain the meanings of words they have encountered in their reading.
Word Usage: The assessment may include tasks that require students to use vocabulary words correctly in sentences or passages. This tests their understanding of how words are used in different contexts.
Synonyms and Antonyms: Some sections of the assessment may evaluate a student’s knowledge of synonyms (words with similar meanings) and antonyms (words with opposite meanings). Students may be asked to identify or provide synonyms and antonyms for specific words.
Context Clues: Students may be presented with sentences or passages where they need to use context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. This assesses their ability to infer word meanings based on the surrounding text.
Multiple-Meaning Words: The assessment may include words with multiple meanings, and students may be asked to identify the correct meaning in a given context.
Reading Comprehension
Literal Comprehension: This skill assesses a student’s ability to grasp the basic, explicit information presented in a text. Students may be asked questions about facts, details, events, or characters in the reading passage.
Inferential Comprehension: Students are tested on their capacity to make inferences based on information that is not explicitly stated in the text. They must use critical thinking and prior knowledge to draw conclusions and make educated guesses about the text.
Main Idea and Supporting Details: The assessment may evaluate a student’s ability to identify the main idea or central theme of a passage and locate supporting details that provide evidence for that main idea.
Text Structure: Students may be asked to recognize and analyze various text structures, such as cause and effect, problem and solution, compare and contrast, and chronological order. Understanding text structure aids in comprehension.
Vocabulary in Context: The assessment may include questions related to how vocabulary words are used in the passage, requiring students to understand how specific words contribute to the overall meaning of the text.
Critical Thinking: This section may include questions that require students to think critically about the content, make connections between different parts of the text, and evaluate the author’s purpose and point of view.
Summarization: Students may be asked to provide a concise summary of the main points of a passage, demonstrating their ability to condense information while retaining key details.
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What are some Practice Questions for the FastBridge Reading Assessment?
Concepts of Print
Parent Say:
Here are some letters (point to the letters). Tell me the names of as many letters as you can. When I say “Begin,” start here (point to the first letter) and go across the page (point). Point to each letter and tell me the name of that letter. If you come to a letter you don’t know, I’ll tell it to you. Put your finger on the first letter. Ready? Begin. (Time – 60 seconds)
N r T u v O P e a B
M S d X c A g K U R
Q L y j V G F e h i
Next:
Read across the page then go to the next line. Try to say each letter sound. If you come to a letter sound that you do not know, I’ll tell you. Put your finger on the first letter and follow along with your finger as you say the sounds of the letters.
b n o s I l g m r
g qu a e c k s f p
d z c w u j t i y
Phonemic Awareness
Example 1:
The word is “flag.” If you take the /fl/ sound in “flag” and change that to a b…b…b sound, what new word would you have?
Example 2:
The word is “teapot.” Say “teapot” but leave off “tea.”
Example 3:
The word is “spend.” Say “spend” but leave off the /sp/ sound.
Answers:
- bag
- pot
- end
Phonics
Use the picture and answer choices below for example questions 1 and 2.
Example 1:
Choose the letter that is the last sound you hear in the picture?
Example 2:
Choose the letter that is the first sound you hear in the picture?
Example 3:
The word is “goat.” Which word starts with the same sound as “goat”? “Gift”, “boat”, or “jet”?
Answers:
- 1st bubble – s (hippopotomus)
- 3rd bubble – h (hippopotomus)
- gift
Vocabulary
Example 1:
Which word means the same as tiny?
- broken
- small
- loud
Example 2:
Which word has the Greek prefix meaning against?
- proceed
- antifreeze
- autograph
Example 3:
The very dry conditions led to severe forest fires.
Which choice can replace “severe” in the sentence?
- terrible
- stern
- simple
Example 4:
Use the context clue to determine the meaning of the underlined word.
After the bunny escaped, Harry tried to coax it back into the cage using carrots.
- to quickly capture
- to assume control over
- to gently persuade
Answers:
- 2nd bubble – small
- 2nd bubble – antifreeze (anti)
- 1st bubble – terrible
- 3rd bubble – to gently persuade
Reading Comprehension
Example 1:
Read the story and answer the question.
The golden lion tamarin lives in a small area of Brazil. These small monkeys are in danger of becoming extinct. The forest where they live is shrinking fast. As more people move into this area, trees are cut down to make room for cities and farms. The golden lion tamarin is also disappearing because they have been captured by people. People think they are cute and want them as pets.
What is causing the golden lion tamaris to become endangered?
- They eat the leaves on the trees that are being cut down.
- People are putting them in zoos.
- The trees where they live are being cut down to make room for cities.
Example 2:
Read the following passage:
In the middle of Mobile Bay, Alabama, is an important refuge for wildlife. It is called Galliard Island, but in 1979 it didn’t exist. A by-product of keeping the sea lanes open, local environmentalists were outraged when the United States Army Corps of Engineers started dredging mud and sand from the estuary. The engineers didn’t think the heap of debris would last for long in open water, but some quirk of currents and tides allowed it to firm and settle, and then become colonized by marine grasses and plants. Now an environmental success story, it is home to thousands of sea birds.
Which of the following statements about Galliard Island is TRUE?
- It was designed as a waste tip.
- It was first designed in 1979.
- Environmentalists are opposed to its existence.
Example 3:
Which choice could best replace colonized without altering the meaning of the sentence?
- settled
- covered
- claimed
Example 4:
Read the following passage:
I have a strange partiality for old china. When I go to see any great house, I inquire for the china-closet, and next for the picture-gallery. I cannot defend the order of my preference, except to say that we all have some taste or other, of too ancient a date to admit of our remembering distinctly that it was an acquired one. I can call to mind the first play, and the first exhibition, that I was taken to; but I am not conscious of a time when china jars and saucers were introduced into my imagination.
What is the main idea of the passage?
- Our preferences develop without us being aware of them starting.
- Everyone has a hobby even if they can’t understand why.
- Collecting old china is a rewarding interest.
Answers:
- C – The trees where they live are being cut down to make room for cities. Sentence 4 in the story.
- A – The passage said that the island was “by product” of dredging “mud and sand” so it was originally just a waste tip to get rid of the debris they cleared away from the shipping lanes.
- B – When plants colonize an area, they spread out across it, so in this context it means covered. The other words won’t work because they refer to things people do—not plants.
- A – The speaker explains he likes old china, and that “we all have some taste or other, of too ancient a date to admit of our remembering distinctly that it was an acquired one,” meaning that we all have preferences, but we can’t always remember how they started. B is incorrect because that’s about why we choose a hobby, not when tastes develop. C is incorrect because the author has a partiality for old china, but he doesn’t say it is a rewarding interest in general—just that he likes it.
How is the FastBridge Reading Assessment Scored?
The scoring of the FastBridge Reading assessment is anchored in specific criteria for each subtest. These scores serve the pivotal role of pinpointing students facing potential reading challenges, thus guiding instructive decisions. Schools frequently establish benchmarks to appraise whether students meet grade-level expectations.
The student’s test scores are readily accessible, with the information accessible through various reports, aiding in making informed decisions on how to best support a child’s learning journey.
A score report will be given to the parent, and the information is easily decoded as to where the student falls in relation to where they should be at the time the assessment was given. Are they at level, need improvement, or at risk? The report will help teachers identify the next steps and if necessary, put a plan in place to help bridge the gaps.
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Tell us about your experiences
4 Responses
sakshisharma4u@gmail.com
Do you have FastBridge Math Assessment as well?
TestingMom.com
FastBridge is a test vendor that makes curriculum-based benchmark assessments. These assessments help teachers screen and monitor progress in reading and math. Although we don’t have a section specifically for the FastBridge test, we do have many resources and that can assist in getting ready for this test!
Helen
Hi,
Do you have resources for Fastbridge math and Fastbridge reading, and SBA (smarter balanced assessment)?
Thank you
TestingMom.com
FastBridge is a test vendor that makes curriculum-based benchmark assessments. These assessments help teachers screen and monitor progress in reading and math. Although we don’t have a section specifically for the FastBridge test, we do have many resources that can assist getting ready for this test!
To help your child prepare, I recommend working with the following resources:
Our NWEA MAP and Iowa Assessment sections provide printable and interactive practice questions for reading and math. You may also use our Math and ELA practice questions under our State Assessments for WA (Smarter Balanced Assessment).