Praxis Core For Dummies with Online Practice Tests

Carla C. Kirkland, founder and CEO of The Kirkland Group, has helped educators prepare their students for standardized tests for more than 20 years. Chan Cleveland, executive vice president of The Kirkland Group, is an English educator and serves as an educational consultant.

Introduction 1


About This Book 1


Foolish Assumptions 2


Icons Used in This Book 2


Beyond the Book 2


Where to Go from Here 3


Part 1: Getting Started with the Praxis Core 5


Chapter 1: Previewing the Praxis 7


Why Take the Praxis? 7


Breaking Down the Praxis 8


Knowing what topics are covered 8


Seeing what types of questions you’ll face 9


Understanding How the Test Is Scored 10


Chapter 2: Getting Ready for Test Day 13


Registering for the Test 13


Using Your Time Wisely 14


Budgeting your study time leading up to test day 14


Budgeting your time while taking the test 15


When Test Day Has Arrived 16


Knowing what to bring and what to leave at home 17


Getting familiar with computer testing 17


If You Are Retaking the Test 18


Chapter 3: Practicing the Praxis: Sampling Some Practice Questions 19


Going through the Pre-Assessment Questions 19


Reading practice questions 20


Writing practice questions 23


Mathematics practice questions 25


Looking at the Pre-Assessment Answers 28


Reading answers and explanations 28


Writing answers and explanations 31


Math answers and explanations 33


Assessing Your Results 36


Identifying categories where you struggled 36


Understanding where you went wrong specifically 36


Part 2: Mastering Math Concepts 39


Chapter 4: Count on It: Number and Quantity 41


Working with Integers: Whole Numbers and Their Opposites 41


Doing basic operations with integers 42


Finding factors of whole numbers 43


Employing some helpful divisibility rules 43


Finding multiples of integers 43


Determining the greatest common factor and least common multiple 44


Exponents and square roots 45


Computing with Fractions and Mixed Numbers 46


Simplifying fractions 47


Converting between fractions and mixed numbers 47


Performing basic operations with fractions and mixed numbers 48


Working with Decimals and Percents 50


Converting between decimals and percents 50


Performing basic operations with decimals 51


Understanding the Number Line 52


Interpreting numeration and place values 52


Knowing the basics of order 53


Finding orders of magnitude 54


Finding numbers in sequences 54


Following Orders: The Order of Operations 55


Remembering “GEMDAS” 55


Using the order of operations within itself 56


Reasoning with Quantities 56


Using the two major systems of measurement 56


Converting units of measurement 57


Basic word problems 58


Practice Questions about Number and Quantity 60


Answers and Explanations 61


Chapter 5: Introducing Letters: Algebra and Functions 63


Variables: When Letters Represent Numbers 63


Laying out the terms: Variable terms and expressions 64


Let’s get together: Combining like terms 64


Multiplying and dividing with terms and expressions 65


When variable values are given 67


Working with Equations 68


Solving for x and other variables 68


Undoing addition and subtraction 69


Undoing multiplication and division 70


Multistep equations 70


Proportions 71


Systems of equations 71


Solving for variables in terms of other variables 73


Solving Inequalities 74


Following two more rules when solving inequalities 74


Graphing inequalities 75


Describing solution steps 76


Factoring in Algebra 77


Factoring terms out of bigger terms 77


Using reverse FOIL 77


Decoding Algebra Word Problems 78


Translating English into mathematical language 78


Algebraic word problems 78


Figuring Out Functions 79


Identifying functions 80


Working with functions 81


Thinking Outside the Algebra Box 81


Recognizing relational patterns 81


Algebraic reasoning 82


Practice Questions about Algebra 83


Answers and Explanations 84


Chapter 6: Grasping Geometry Concepts 87


Understanding the Building Blocks of Geometry 87


Getting to the point 88


Defining lines and parts of lines 88


Moving along planes in space 88


Getting the right angles on angles 89


Recognizing congruence 89


Understanding Angle Measures and Relationships 90


Distinguishing degrees of angle measure and naming angles 90


Working with angle relationships 91


Knowing Common Shapes and Their Basic Properties 92


Defining polygons in general 92


Analyzing triangles: Three-sided polygons 92


Identifying facts about quadrilaterals 94


Working with other types of polygons 95


Knowing the basic facts about circles 96


Working with Shapes that Are Alike 96


Forming conclusions about congruent shapes 96


Working with similar shapes 97


Figuring out Geometric Formulas 98


Finding the perimeter 98


Circling the circumference 99


Getting into the area 100


Calculating on the surface: surface area 101


Finding the right volume 103


Combining Shapes 104


Coming together: Shapes that have joined without an invasion 104


Preparing for invasion: When one shape invades another 105


Geometric overlaps and intersections 106


Knowing the Ways of the XY Coordinate Plane 106


Naming coordinate pairs 106


Identifying linear equations and their graphs 107


Using the distance and midpoint formulas 108


Finding meaning in intersecting graphs 109


Transforming coordinate plane figures 109


Touching on Right Triangles 112


Knowing what Pythagoras discovered 113


Working with special right triangles 113


Practice Questions about Geometry 115


Answers and Explanations 116


Chapter 7: Pinning Down Statistics and Probability 117


Representing Data 117


Tables 118


Bar graphs and line graphs 118


Pie charts 120


Stem-and-leaf plots 121


Box-and-whisker plots 122


Venn diagrams 124


Scrambling around scatter plots 125


Loitering around line plots 126


Analyzing Data 127


Combing through comparisons 127


Homing in on the range 127


Measuring arithmetic mean, median, or mode 127


Variably affecting data 129


Scrutinizing samples for data analysis 129


Interpreting linear models 129


Calculating Probability 130


Determining the likelihood of an event 130


Using complements 131


Pointing Out Scientific Notation Facts 131


Practice Questions about Probability and Statistics 132


Answers and Explanations 134


Chapter 8: Test-Taking Strategies for Core Math 135


Using Helpful Shortcuts 135


Solving equations versus determining what must be solved 136


Using estimation and approximation 137


Using the calculator 137


Identifying calculations you can make in your head 137


The art of guessing as a last resort 138


Working backward 139


Narrowing Down Answer Choices 139


How to eliminate obviously wrong answer choices 139


Avoiding the most common wrong answers 141


Tackling the Constructed Response 142


Tips for preparing responses and answering questions 142


Understanding the importance of avoiding careless errors 143


Some proper ways of representing answers 143


Part 3: Refining Your Reading Comprehension Skills 145


Chapter 9: Reading Comprehension: Finding Meaning and Identifying Purpose 147


Previewing the Praxis Reading Test 147


Knowing what the test contains 148


Applying a general strategy 148


Mastering Short-Passage Questions 149


Ferreting out the main idea 149


Discerning the author’s tone and intent 151


Putting vocabulary in context 152


Looking at Long-Passage Questions 153


Purpose and paraphrase 153


Arguments and support 154


Getting the hang of “If” questions 154


Sample questions for long passages 156


Visual- and Quantitative-Information Questions 158


Rethinking charts and graphs 159


Getting graphs 159


Practice Reading-Comprehension Questions 161


Answers and Explanations 164


Chapter 10: Test-Taking Strategies for Core Reading 169


Figuring Out Which to Read First: The Passage or the Question 169


Examining Strategies for the Various Passages 170


Approaching long and short passages 171


Approaching the paired passages 172


Approaching Questions about Charts and Graphs 173


Eliminating Wrong Answers 173


Tips for Slow Readers 174


Part 4: Fine-Tuning Your Writing Skills 177


Chapter 11: Acing the Essay 179


Perusing the Types of Prompts: “Picking a Side” versus “Exploring an Idea” 179


Writing persuasively 180


Sticking to the facts 180


Creating a Solid Essay 180


Making an outline: Essential or overrated? 181


Looking at the sections of your essay 181


Don’t box yourself in: Theses aren’t set in stone 182


Citing the sources 182


Checking out some additional writing pointers 182


Turning a Good Essay into a Great One 182


Adding interesting anecdotes 183


Painting a picture with words 183


Anticipating objections against your position 184


Understanding How the Essay Is Scored 184


Checking Out Some Practice Prompts 185


Prompts for argumentative essays 185


Prompts for informative/explanatory essays 185


Reviewing a Sample Essay 187


Evaluating Your Essay 188


Chapter 12: Giving Grammar a Glance 191


Getting a Grip on the Parts of Speech 191


Finding nouns as subjects and objects 192


Putting verbs to work 192


Using adjectives to describe people, places, and things 195


Calling on adverbs to describe actions and conditions 196


Getting the lowdown on pronouns 197


Considering conjunctions 200


Perusing prepositions 201


Making Sense of Sentence Structure 202


Independent clauses versus everything else 203


The sentence skeleton: Identifying the main subject and verb 203


Run-ons and comma splices 204


Appositives: Interruptions to the independent clause 205


Pondering Punctuation 206


Commas 206


Semicolons 208


Apostrophes 208


Misplaced Modifiers 208


Redundancy and Double Negatives 209


Homophones: “They’re in there with their bear” 210


Which one has the apostrophe? 210


Spelled and used differently, but sound the same 211


Capitalization: What You Need to Know 212


Practice Questions about Grammar 213


Answers and Explanations 216


Chapter 13: Test-Taking Strategies for Core Writing 221


Knowing the Types of Selected-Response Writing Questions 221


Type 1: Answering usage questions 222


Type 2: Showing your research skills 223


Type 3: Making sentence corrections 224


Type 4: Regarding revision-in-context questions 225


Identifying and Correcting Errors in Selected-Response Items 226


Eliminating the obviously wrong choices 226


Don’t be afraid to say it’s right the way it is 226


The art of guessing as a last resort 227


A word of advice about “trusting your ear” 227


Mastering the Essay 227


Outlining your thoughts and managing your time 228


Arm yourself with versatile examples 228


Practicing ahead of time 229


Part 5: Tackling Praxis Core Practice Tests 231


Chapter 14: Practice Exam 1 233


Answer Sheet for Practice Exam 1 235


Part 1: Reading 237


Part 2: Writing 253


Argumentative Essay 260


Source-Based Essay 261


Part 3: Mathematics 263


Chapter 15: Practice Exam 1: Answers and Explanations 275


Part 1: Reading 275


Part 2: Writing 290


Argumentative Essay 300


Source-Based Essay 302


Part 3: Mathematics 303


Answer Key 324


Chapter 16: Practice Exam 2 327


Answer Sheet for Practice Exam 2 329


Part 1: Reading 331


Part 2: Writing 345


Argumentative Essay 352


Source-Based Essay 353


Part 3: Mathematics 354


Chapter 17: Practice Exam 2: Answers and Explanations 365


Part 1: Reading 365


Part 2: Writing 381


Argumentative Essay 391


Source-Based Essay 392


Part 3: Mathematics 393


Answer Key 406


Part 6: The Part of Tens 409


Chapter 18: Ten Common Math Errors to Avoid 411


Misusing Negative Signs 411


Confusing Perimeter and Area 412


Incorrectly Combining Like Terms 412


Messing Up when Moving Decimals 412


Not Solving for the Actual Variable 412


Misrepresenting “Less Than” in Word Problems 413


Mixing Up Supplementary and Complementary Angles 413


Finding the Wrong Median 413


Fearing Fractions 413


Forgetting about Fractions in Formulas 414


Chapter 19: Ten Mistakes to Avoid on the Praxis Reading and Writing Exams 415


Avoiding Mistakes Common to the Writing and Reading Tests 415


Don’t look for patterns in the answers 415


Don’t change answers merely for the sake of changing them 416


Sidestepping Mistakes on the Writing Test 417


Don’t equate different with wrong 417


Don’t assume something must be correct just because it sounds fancier or more complex 417


Don’t turn the essay into a thesaurus explosion 418


Don’t paint yourself into a corner with a rigid thesis 418


Evading Mistakes on the Reading Test 418


Don’t rule out the “too obvious” 419


Don’t word-match 419


Don’t ignore your outside knowledge 419


Don’t try to answer more than the question asks you to 420


Index 421