TELPAS speaking prompts and practice for 10th, 11th and 12th grade
Speaking prompts with the rubric and a sample answer. Record yourself and play it back, with optional AI practice feedback from the live transcript. Not scored here: on the real test, speaking is scored with a rubric.
Record your answer and play it back—no typing needed. Where supported, turn on automatic transcription to get AI practice feedback on what you said. The feedback reads only the transcript, so it does not judge pronunciation or pace, and it is not an official TELPAS score — on the real test, speaking is scored against a rubric.
Prompt 1 of 6 — Provide and Summarize Information — suggested time about 2 minutes
Listen to the story. On the real test, this story is a short video.
The Blue Folder
Press play to listen. You can pause, rewind, and replay as often as you like.
Show transcript
On a rainy Tuesday evening, Andrea Salinas was the last passenger on the city bus. As she stood up to get off, she noticed a blue folder on the seat behind her.
Inside were large drawings of a building, covered with careful measurements, and a sticky note that said, 'Final presentation, Thursday, 9 a.m.' A name and phone number were written on the back: Omar Siddiqui.
Andrea called the number from the bus stop. Omar answered on the first ring. He had been searching his apartment for an hour, and he said the drawings had taken him the whole semester.
Andrea could have mailed the folder, but she knew it might not arrive in time. So the next afternoon, after school, she rode two buses across town to the university and found Omar waiting outside the architecture building.
He was so relieved that he tried to give her forty dollars. Andrea shook her head. Then she said, a little nervously, 'Actually, I want to be an architect. Could you show me where you study?'
Omar smiled and opened the door. He spent an hour showing her the studios, the models, and the drawing tables, and he introduced her to one of his professors.
When Andrea got home that night, she pinned the professor's card to the wall above her desk.
When you are ready to speak, tell as much as you can.
Listen to the story about Andrea. Then retell the story in your own words. Tell what happened at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end.
Answer the prompt aloud. After recording, listen back or try another take.
View the practice scoring rubric
| Level | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| 4 — Addresses the task completely |
|
| 3 — Addresses the task somewhat successfully |
|
| 2 — Addresses the task in a limited way |
|
| 1 — Does not yet address the task |
|
Show a strong sample response
Okay, so this story is about a girl named Andrea. One rainy evening she was the last person on the bus, and when she was getting off, she found a blue folder on the seat. Inside there were drawings of a building, and a note that said the person had a big presentation on Thursday morning. There was also a name and phone number, Omar Siddiqui, so she called him right away from the bus stop.
Omar was really worried, because he had been looking for the drawings for an hour and they took him the whole semester. Andrea thought about mailing them, but she was afraid they would not arrive on time, so the next day after school she took two buses all the way to the university to give the folder to him in person.
Omar was so happy that he tried to pay her forty dollars, but she said no. Instead she told him she wants to be an architect, and she asked if he could show her where he studies. So he gave her a tour of the studios and introduced her to a professor. At the end, when she got home, she put the professor's card on her wall, so I think it means she is serious about her goal and that meeting showed her it is possible.
The retelling follows the order of the story, includes the key events and the important details (the deadline, the two buses, refusing the money, the tour), and uses the student's own words rather than repeating the story. Linking words such as 'so', 'because', 'instead' and 'at the end' keep it connected, and the student finishes with a short, reasonable interpretation of the ending.
What to look for
- Play or read the story with the transcript closed and let the student retell it without looking. On the real test it is a video the student may watch again before speaking, so a second listen is fine.
- Listen for beginning, middle, and end in the correct order. Missing the middle (the trip to the university) is the most common gap.
- The strongest retellings include why characters act, for example why Andrea did not mail the folder, not only what they do.
- Check verb tense. A retelling is usually in the past tense; occasional shifts are normal, but frequent ones make the story harder to follow.
- Explaining what the ending means is a plus, but it should come after the events, not replace them.
Read next
- TELPAS Speaking Test: Rubric, Prompts and Examples: On the TELPAS speaking test, students in grades 2–12 record spoken answers on a computer, and each answer is scored against the TELPAS speaking rubric. Here is what the speaking prompts ask for, what the scoring looks at, some examples, and how to practice.
- TELPAS Listening and Speaking Test: What to Expect and How to Practice: The TELPAS listening and speaking test is one of the two online TELPAS tests for grades 2–12. Students watch and listen to short videos and answer questions, and record spoken answers, with the two kinds of item mixed through the test. Here is how the test is built, how it is scored, and how to practice for it.
- How to Prepare for TELPAS: Practice and Tips by Domain: TELPAS measures English that a student builds over months and years, so there is no shortcut to a higher rating. What preparation can do is make sure the test itself is familiar, so a student's real English shows. Here is what is worth doing, domain by domain.
This is an independent study resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Texas Education Agency or the official TELPAS program. All questions here are original practice material written to match the published test design.