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https://sandymillin.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/
when-i-teach-fce-again/ |
Flo-Joe showcase
Six weeks left till the exam!
First, you set aside 12 pages in your notebooks:
- 4 pages for Phrasal verbs
- 4 for Word formation and
- 4 for Collocations.
An example is on the right:
Then we did today's
Word Bank at
Flo-Joe, which is a free website that all of you should be using between now and 10 June.
Challenge
- Do the Word Bank activity three days a week -- once in our class and two other times at home.
- Copy all the words into your notebook and study them.
Writing articles for the First
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| Comparative and superlative adjectives in Tibetan! |
We practiced writing
articles for the FCE. First we did an activity to get you thinking and talking about a topic, and then we used that topic to write an article in class.
The topic: Learning how to do something
1) With a partner, talk about a skill you have learned (e.g. to play the guitar) and describe how you learned it (e.g. taking a class).
Note that you learn to do something and that you can learn it (by) taking a class.
2) I told you about a time I learned to do something.
Note the use of the narrative tenses (past simple, past continuous, past perfect) in my description. Why are they appropriate here?
3) With a different partner, take turns describing how you learned your skill. Ask each other questions, give suggestions and give each other constructive feedback.
4) We watched a
video in which a new skill is being learned. Did they use any of the methods from 1) above?
5) We looked at
this vocabulary (p.2) from the video and matched the words in circles (○) to words in a diamond (◊) to make collocations.
First - Articles
1) Look at the
model article on p.160 of your book. With your partner:
- Describe the style and tone of the article.
- Where does the article speak directly to the reader? Do you like this?
2) Now let's look at an article from a real student and exam and see how it was marked. This is on p.27 of the
FCE Teacher's Handbook. With your partner, consider:
How does this article compare with the first one? What strengths does it have? What weaknesses? What marks would you give it?
- Content (follows the instructions)
- Communicative Achievement (style of an article, clarity of ideas)
- Organisation (paragraphing, linking words)
- Language (grammar & vocab)
3) Here's a summary of some
Key tips for writing an article:
- Plan your article based on the instructions
- Give it a creative title
- Try to interest the readers using language like 'Have you ever wondered ...?', 'How would you feel if ...?', etc.
- Make each paragraph about a different point
- Give reasons for your opinions and, if time allows, examples of them
- When you finish, check that:
- it has a title and 3+ paragraphs
- it answers the questions in the instructions
4) Write an article based on the following exam prompt. Can you use any of the collocations from the video?
The most useful thing I have ever learned.
What is the most useful thing you have learned?
Who did you learn it from? Why is it useful?
Write an article answering these questions.
We will publish the best articles on our website.
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Plan your article with a partner:
- What skills do you consider important?
- Choose one and think about who you learned it from and why you learned it.
- Why is it useful? (be creative)
- Think about which paragraphs these ideas will go in.
- Think of a title.
Then write your articles individually. Remember to follow the rest of the
Key tips in 2) above.
After the break
We did a
listening exercise based on
this video.
Sentence auction
- It is typical knowledge that many immigrants want to settle to Germany.
- I had rather you didn’t tell anyone my secret.
- She couldn’t understand the message he left here -- it didn’t have sense.
- I recommended a book to him and I hope he finds it interesting.
- Iran denied claims that it is manufacturing nuclear weapons.
- Thunder results when lightning causes sudden changes in the air around it.
- Dr Gregory House would probably say that dreams have no real purpose.
- My maths exam went well except for two specific problems, which I had no idea how to solve.
Homework
Democratic homework
Extra homework
