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RICA Subtest 1 Practice Test

Quick, free RICA practice test for Subtest 1. Instant results.

Editorial: Review CompletedCreated By: Pedro Henrique RibeiroUpdated Aug 27, 2025
Difficulty: Moderate
2-5mins
Learning OutcomesCheat Sheet
Paper art illustrating a RICA practice test quiz on a teal background

Use this RICA Subtest 1 practice test to check your knowledge of reading instruction and spot weak areas fast. Answer realistic questions, get instant feedback, and track your score so you know what to review next. If you want more study options, try our nclb practice test, explore the iread practice test for elementary reading skills, or build language insight with a linguistics quiz.

Which best describes phonemic awareness as assessed on RICA Subtest 1?
The understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds that can be isolated and manipulated
The ability to decode multisyllabic words using morphemes
The automatic recognition of high-frequency words in print
The ability to match letters to their corresponding names
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A kindergarten teacher asks students to say the word cat without /k/. This task primarily assesses:
Phoneme deletion
Onset-rime blending
Phonics decoding
Syllable segmentation
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The term concepts about print refers to a child's understanding of:
How books and print work, such as directionality and where to start reading
Morphological structures within complex words
Letter-sound correspondences used in decoding
Text structures used in expository writing
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In English orthography, which pair best illustrates a digraph rather than a blend?
st in stop
sh in ship
pl in plant
br in brick
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Which example demonstrates phoneme segmentation at the phoneme level?
Saying the sounds /s/ /u/ /n/ in sun
Pointing to the first word on a page
Saying sun and identifying it rhymes with run
Clapping two beats for the word table
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Which assessment would best diagnose a student's ability to manipulate sounds within words?
Running record for oral reading fluency
Writing portfolio analysis
Vocabulary checklist by domain
Phonemic awareness tasks such as substitution and deletion
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Which example reflects an onset-rime approach to phonological awareness?
Clapping the one syllable in ship
Blending /sh/ + ip to make ship
Deleting /s/ from ship to make hip
Breaking ship into /sh/ /i/ /p/
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A reliable instructional indicator that a student is ready for explicit phonics instruction is that the student:
Can write their name from memory
Can identify rhyming pairs in spoken language
Reads 20 sight words accurately
Demonstrates stable phonemic awareness skills such as blending and segmenting
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Systematic phonics instruction is most accurately characterized by:
Focusing exclusively on irregular words
Introducing all vowels before any consonants
Teaching sounds as they appear incidentally in texts
Teaching letter-sound relationships in a planned, sequential order with cumulative practice
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A first-grade student can decode CVC words but struggles with CVCE (silent e) words. The most targeted next step is to teach:
Consonant digraphs like ch and th
The long-vowel pattern created by final e (magic e)
Open syllable long-vowel patterns
Common vowel teams like oi and oy
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A student reads the word stopped as stop-ed. This error most directly suggests a need for instruction in:
Derivational morphology with Greek roots
R-controlled vowel patterns
Inflectional endings and base word recognition
Syllable division rules for VCCV patterns
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The most appropriate instructional strategy to build automaticity with high-frequency irregular words is:
Repeated exposure and mapping of letters to sounds and to the whole word
Dictation of only decodable words
Silent sustained reading of chapter books
Word sorts by vowel pattern
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Which principle of effective phonics instruction is best supported by using decodable texts aligned to taught patterns?
Exclusive focus on irregular words
Application with cumulative review and immediate practice
Reliance on context to guess unfamiliar words
Conjunctive teaching of narrative structure
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Which instructional move best supports English learners in phonemic awareness tasks?
Using only tongue twisters at rapid speed
Replacing all oral tasks with printed word lists
Use of minimal pairs and visual mouth cues for articulatory features
Skipping phonological awareness and starting with morphology
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A diagnostic phonemic awareness assessment should include which task for advanced PA?
Sight word automaticity
Phoneme substitution with medial vowels
Oral retell of a story
Letter naming fluency
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A key difference between derivational and inflectional morphemes is that derivational morphemes:
Indicate tense, number, or degree without changing part of speech
Only occur at the ends of words
Change the grammatical function or meaning of a base word
Never affect pronunciation
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Consonant-le syllables (as in table) are usually:
Unaccented final syllables with a schwa-like vowel sound
Open syllables with long vowels
Vowel teams
R-controlled syllables
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For English learners, which practice best supports transfer of phonics skills from L1 to English?
Contrastive analysis of grapheme-phoneme correspondences across languages
Avoid discussing differences between languages
Delay phonics until conversational fluency
Teach only irregular words in English
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In screening for risk of reading difficulties in kindergarten, which combination is most predictive?
Listening comprehension only
Sight word knowledge only
Handedness, height, and age in months
Phonemic awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and rapid automatized naming
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It is appropriate to introduce letter names before any instruction in sounds for all students regardless of need
True
False
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Study Outcomes

  1. Understand Core Reading Instruction Principles -

    Identify and describe the foundational theories and components of reading instruction covered in the RICA subtest 1 practice test to strengthen your comprehension of effective teaching strategies.

  2. Apply Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Techniques -

    Demonstrate targeted approaches from the free RICA practice test to teach phonemic awareness, phonics, and decoding skills aligned with RICA exam prep standards.

  3. Analyze Comprehension and Vocabulary Tasks -

    Examine various question types and comprehension strategies featured in the RICA practice exam to improve student understanding and vocabulary development.

  4. Differentiate Instruction for Diverse Learners -

    Evaluate differentiation scenarios presented in the RICA subtest 1 practice test and implement tailored instructional methods to support varied learner needs.

  5. Interpret Instant Feedback Data -

    Use the immediate scoring feedback from the free RICA practice test to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses and guide your study plan for exam success.

  6. Track Progress and Target Weak Areas -

    Monitor your performance across RICA exam prep questions to identify gaps in knowledge and strategically focus your preparation efforts before test day.

Cheat Sheet

  1. Phonemic Awareness Mastery -

    Phonemic awareness is the foundation for decoding words on the RICA practice test and includes skills like segmenting (breaking "stop" into /s/ /t/ /É’/ /p/) and blending. Use the "Say-It, Move-It" technique - students say each phoneme while moving a marker to build a strong mental map (National Reading Panel, 2000). Practicing with manipulatives for 5 - 10 minutes daily can boost performance on subtest 1 questions.

  2. Systematic Phonics Instruction -

    Explicit teaching of grapheme - phoneme correspondences (e.g., c → /k/, ch → /tʃ/) is proven to improve decoding (Ehri, 2004). When you see a word like "ship," teach students to map letters to sounds and blend, then apply this to unfamiliar words on your RICA subtest 1 practice test. A simple mnemonic - "CVC = Sound, Trace, Read" - reminds learners to sound out, write, and read new words.

  3. Fluency-Building Strategies -

    Fluency ties accuracy, rate, and prosody together; using repeated reading and reader's theater gives students confidence with grade-level passages (Rasinski, 2010). Time students reading a familiar text three times, charting WPM gains to prepare for timed fluency items on your rica practice exam. Encourage phrasing and expression by modeling intonation and using echo reading for struggling readers.

  4. Robust Vocabulary Development -

    Teach Tier 2 vocabulary through morphology: break "transportation" into trans- (across), port (carry), -ation (process). This strategy helps learners decode and infer meaning on context-based questions in your RICA practice test. Use word maps and the Frayer Model to connect new words to synonyms, antonyms, and images for deeper retention (Beck, McKeown & Kucan, 2013).

  5. Comprehension and Metacognitive Strategies -

    Implement reciprocal teaching routines - predict, question, clarify, summarize - to strengthen comprehension question responses on the rica subtest 1 practice test. Model think-alouds to show how expert readers monitor understanding and fix breakdowns in real time (Palincsar & Brown, 1984). Use bookmarks with these four prompts so students can self-reflect during independent reading.

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