Prepare Your Students for Timed Essay Exams
Learn about the TestBefore getting into the actual practicing of timed writing, your students should know what they are up against, what the writing portion of the test will be like. A simple google search on the standardized test your students plan on taking will give them the information they need.
How much time will they have? What will the questions be like? What criteria will the judges use to score the essay? What constitutes a passing score? Keeping these things in mind as they prepare for the test and then take it will keep your students from wasting prep time on less important factors. For example, the TOEFL scoring guidelines state that essays will be scored on how well the writer addresses the topic, how well the writer supports their ideas and opinions, how clearly the essay is organized if it is unified and coherent, and if the writer uses a variety of sentence structure and vocabulary. Therefore, students planning on taking the TOEFL should prepare for the written exam with these writing qualities in mind.
How much time will they have? What will the questions be like? What criteria will the judges use to score the essay? What constitutes a passing score? Keeping these things in mind as they prepare for the test and then take it will keep your students from wasting prep time on less important factors. For example, the TOEFL scoring guidelines state that essays will be scored on how well the writer addresses the topic, how well the writer supports their ideas and opinions, how clearly the essay is organized if it is unified and coherent, and if the writer uses a variety of sentence structure and vocabulary. Therefore, students planning on taking the TOEFL should prepare for the written exam with these writing qualities in mind.
Break the Timing down into Prepare, Write, Review
It is possible to sit down and start writing an essay immediately for a timed test, but that’s not to the test taker’s best advantage. To write a strong essay, the test taker should spend time not only writing but also planning the essay as well as reviewing it. You should encourage your students to divide their test time that way rather than just jumping into their essay. For example, the essay portion of the TOEFL gives the test taker 30 minutes to write. By spending five minutes planning, twenty minutes writing, and five minutes reviewing, your students can have a better organized more logical essay than if they just jump into writing from start to finish.
It is possible to sit down and start writing an essay immediately for a timed test, but that’s not to the test taker’s best advantage. To write a strong essay, the test taker should spend time not only writing but also planning the essay as well as reviewing it. You should encourage your students to divide their test time that way rather than just jumping into their essay. For example, the essay portion of the TOEFL gives the test taker 30 minutes to write. By spending five minutes planning, twenty minutes writing, and five minutes reviewing, your students can have a better organized more logical essay than if they just jump into writing from start to finish.
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