Grade 1 English Language Arts: 10 Free Practice Questions

Answer: large
The word large means about the same as big. Think about what big means: it describes something with a lot of size. Test each choice. Large also means having a lot of size, so it matches big. Small means the opposite, fast tells about speed, and cold tells about temperature. Students often pick small because it also describes size, but small is an antonym (opposite), not a synonym.

Answer: map
The word "map" has the same short a middle sound as "cat." Say "cat" slowly: /k/ /a/ /t/. The middle sound is short a. Now say "map": /m/ /a/ /p/. It also has the short a sound in the middle. So "map" matches. Students may pick "coat" because it looks like "cat," but "coat" has a long o sound, not short a.

Answer: Red
The kite is red. Reread the first sentence: 'Sam has a red kite.' The word 'red' names the color of the kite. Students may pick 'blue' because they connect the sky to the color blue, but the question asks about the kite, not the sky.

Answer: walked
The word "walked" tells about the past: Yesterday, I walked to the store. The word "yesterday" tells us this already happened. To show the past, we add -ed to the word "walk" to make "walked." The sentence reads: Yesterday, I walked to the store. Students may pick "walk" because it is the base word, but past actions need the -ed ending: walked.

Answer: He was cold
Ben put on his coat because he was cold. Look for the reason. The second sentence gives it: 'He was cold.' A coat keeps a person warm when it is cold. Students may pick 'hot,' confusing the reason, but the text states Ben was cold.

Answer: Where is my hat?
'Where is my hat?' is a question because it asks something and ends with a question mark. A question asks something and ends with a question mark (?). 'Where is my hat?' begins with the asking word 'Where' and ends with '?'. The other sentences tell information and end with periods. Students may pick a telling sentence, forgetting that a question ends with a question mark and often begins with words like 'where', 'who', or 'what'.

Answer: books
Add -s to make most plurals.

Answer: At night
Dad reads to Lily at night. The time word is in the first sentence: 'Every night, Dad reads a book to Lily.' The phrase 'every night' tells when. Students may pick 'morning' out of habit, but the passage says night.

Answer: She
'She' can replace 'Maria' because Maria is one girl. A pronoun takes the place of a name. Maria is one female person, so we use 'She': 'She ran fast.' 'He' is for a boy, 'it' is for a thing, and 'they' is for more than one. Students may pick 'they', but 'they' is used for more than one person, and Maria is only one person.

Answer: a question mark (?)
The sentence asks something, so it ends with a question mark. Read the sentence. It begins with What and asks for an answer. A sentence that asks a question ends with a question mark (?). A period ends a telling sentence, and a comma does not end a sentence. Students may choose a period because it ends many sentences, but asking sentences need a question mark.