How Do I Score Well on Praxis I® Writing?

Those who want to become teachers take the Praxis I® writing test along with various teacher training courses. The Praxis I® writing test is mostly multiple choice but also includes an essay on a selected topic. The exam has four sections that cover grammatical relationships, structural relationships, word choice and mechanics, and essay writing. The multiple-choice questions require you to have a good knowledge of how to use the English language while the essay requires you to apply those skills to create a composition. You can score well on the exam by reviewing the areas of English that give you trouble and by learning to write a proper essay.

The first two sections of the Praxis I® writing test require you to find errors in sentences. The first part deals particularly with errors using the parts of speech and subject-verb agreement and includes sentences with underlined words that could have an error. You'll want to brush up on your English grammar skills using an English textbook or study guide to score well on this part. The second part has a similar layout and asks you to find errors in sentence structure. You should study an English textbook that covers various topics, including subordination, parallelism and coordination.

You'll be required to find errors in word choice and mechanics for the third part of the Praxis I® writing exam. To score well on the word choice section, you should be able to identify redundant words and phrases, incorrectly used words and idiomatic expressions. A combination of a grammar book and vocabulary guide will help you master these topics, as will using practice exercises on the Internet. The mechanics section is straightforward and asks you to find errors in capitalization and punctuation. You should keep in mind, however, that some sentences may not have any errors and should be marked appropriately.

The final part of the Praxis I® writing test is the essay, which has a particular scoring guide. The essay requires you to put all of what you learned for the previous three sections together to write a timed essay that shows mastery of the English language. If you want to score well on this part, you should write your essay in a clear, organized and detailed manner and avoid errors in grammar and mechanics. It's helpful to find example topics for the Praxis I® writing exam online and to get a friend or teacher to proofread your practice essays and offer tips on what you did right or wrong and how you could improve.