Praxis Elementary Education Content Knowledge Practice Questions
Once you’ve learned about what’s tested on the Elementary Education Content Knowledge section of the Praxis, try your hand at a few practice questions.
Answer 1
B: Visualizing each of the nonverbal responses can help you select the best answer. A listener who is leaning forward is likely interested in and focused on what a speaker has to say, so (B) is correct. The other choices indicate a lack of focus on the speaker. (A) describes a closed-off nonverbal response, suggesting the listener is not listening with an open mind. Gesturing to other audience members (C) suggests that the listener is distracted, engaged more with other audience members than with the speaker. (D) suggests a detachment from or boredom with the speaker.
Answer 2
C: Only choice (C) uses the word “appropriate” as a verb. In that sentence, the bank may appropriate, or take, the farm if mortgage payments are not made on time. In each of the other sentences, the word is used as an adjective, that is, to modify or describe a noun. In (A), “appropriate” describes someone’s attire; in (B), it describes words; and in (D), it describes what roughhousing is not.
Answer 3
A, B, D: Carefully reading the question stem is essential to selecting the best answer here. A thesis statement puts forth the main point or argument of an essay. This question asks for you to find three sentences that are effective thesis statements. Choices (C) and (E) would be ineffective thesis statements for a persuasive essay because they do not clearly state an opinion or position that could be proved in the course of an essay. Choices (A), (B), and (D) state a clear opinion.
Answer 4
A: A child who makes the connection between letters and sounds but has not yet grasped that a number of letter-sound combinations make up most words would be likely to represent a word or group of words with a single letter, as in choice (A). (B) and (C) show mastery of the concept of a group of letters representing a word. These errors represent difficulty with higher-level spelling concepts. Lastly, (D) shows no correspondence to the sounds of the words and therefore does not match up with the example in the question.