Ohio Assessments for Educators (OAE) Foundations of Reading Practice Exam

Which tool can help organize conceptual information about a word?

1. Sound map

2. Concept map

3. Phonetic chart

4. Word tree

The correct answer is: Concept map

A concept map is an effective tool for organizing conceptual information about a word because it visually represents relationships between different ideas, concepts, or words. By using a concept map, learners can create a visual framework that links a word to its definitions, synonyms, antonyms, and other associated ideas. This structure helps to clarify the meaning of the word and deepens understanding by illustrating how it connects to other concepts. In contrast, a sound map typically focuses on phonemic awareness and sound systems rather than the concept behind a word, a phonetic chart is used to represent the pronunciation of sounds without organizing conceptual information, and a word tree, while it may provide a family of related words, does not effectively illustrate the complex relationships that a concept map can convey. Therefore, the concept map is the most suitable tool for organizing and understanding the conceptual information related to a word.