TELPAS Practice

TELPAS speaking prompts and practice for 3rd 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.

0 of 6 prompts completed (0%)

Prompt 1 of 6 — Provide and Summarize Information — suggested time about 2 minutes

Listen to the story. On the real test you would watch it as a short video.

The Lost Lunchbox

Listen to The Lost Lunchbox0:50

Press play to listen. You can pause, rewind, and replay as often as you like.

Show transcript

It was Monday morning, and Carlos was late for the bus. He grabbed his backpack and ran out the door.

At lunchtime, Carlos opened his backpack. His lunchbox was not there. He remembered that he had left it on the kitchen table.

Carlos sat at the lunch table with nothing to eat. His stomach was growling.

His friend Thanh saw him and asked what was wrong. When Carlos told him, Thanh broke his sandwich in half and gave one half to Carlos.

Their friend Gabriela gave Carlos some of her apple slices, too.

The next day, Carlos brought a big bag of oranges from home. He shared them with Thanh and Gabriela at lunch.

When you are ready to speak, tell as much as you can.

Tell the story you just heard in your own words. Tell what happened at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end.

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0:00/ 2:00 target

Answer the prompt aloud. After recording, listen back or try another take.

View the practice scoring rubric
LevelWhat it looks like
4 — Addresses the task completely
  • Communicates comfortably on the topic, with or without elaboration
  • Generally uses complex sentences; grammar errors rarely interfere with meaning
  • Vocabulary nearly comparable to native English-speaking peers, including some academic words and idioms
  • Few brief pauses; few pronunciation errors, and these rarely get in the way
3 — Addresses the task somewhat successfully
  • Generally communicates on familiar social and academic topics
  • Mostly uses the right verb tense for the task, with errors in irregular or complex tenses
  • Uses some common academic and abstract words and includes some details
  • Brief pauses to search for words or rephrase; pronunciation errors but still understandable
2 — Addresses the task in a limited way
  • Communicates simple, original ideas in sentences and occasional phrases
  • Mostly simple present-tense sentences; grammar errors limit communication
  • Relies on basic, everyday vocabulary and rarely includes details
  • Pauses to search for words; some pronunciation errors limit understanding; may include some words in another language
1 — Does not yet address the task
  • Silent, or limited to single words, short phrases and memorized expressions
  • Repetitive, high-frequency words that do not build an original message
  • Frequent long pauses; pronunciation very hard to understand
  • May be entirely or mostly in another language
Show a strong sample response

The story is about a boy named Carlos. On Monday he was late for the bus, so he ran out of the house really fast. Then at lunch he opened his backpack and his lunchbox wasn’t there, because he forgot it on the kitchen table. He was really hungry and his stomach was making noise. Then his friend Thanh asked him what was wrong, and Thanh gave him half of his sandwich. And Gabriela gave him some apple slices too. At the end, the next day Carlos brought a big bag of oranges and he shared them with his friends. I think he wanted to say thank you because they helped him.

What to look for

  • Read the story aloud at a normal pace and do not let the student read the transcript. On the real test it is a video, and the student may watch it again before speaking, so a second listen is fine.
  • Listen for the order of events. Mixing up the beginning and the end is a bigger problem than small grammar mistakes.
  • Notice the past-tense verbs, especially irregular ones like forgot, gave and brought. “He forgetted” or “he give” is common at this level.
  • Count how many story parts the student includes. A retell that stops after the sandwich is missing the ending.
  • If the student stops early, say only “Tell me more” and note that you prompted.
Prompt 1 of 6

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.