Essay lesson 2

• Cambridge
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 3

Goodmorning!

10 minutes silent reading!

What do you 

remember from 

last lesson?

What parts are there?

What skill did we talk about?

2 parts, 1 essay and 1 chosen part (review, report/article or email/letter) 1 hour and 30 minutes

• Part 1: Essay with your own opinion, arguments and points/questions from the text that needs to be included. 220-260 words.

• Part 2: You write a text from a choice of text types – letter/email, report/article or review. To guide your writing, you’ll be given information about context, topic purpose and target reader. 220-260 words.

Last lesson- linking words (in conclusion, to begin with, lastly)

Lesson goals

At the end of this lesson you:

• Know the components of the second part of the writing exam.
• Know what is expected of you during the test.
• Know what the criteria are for the test.

Writing - Part 2

Part 2 has three tasks to choose from which may include:

• a letter or email
• an article
• a report
• a review

You choose 1 of the 3 options and write 140-190 words.

Why am I teaching this?

Bewerkingen aan de les

Maak met de informatie een handout en laat ze zelf de belangrijke dingen er uit halen.

laat de leerlingen zelf opzoeken wat de onderdelen inhouden en wat belangrijk is. 

Of begeleid

Get out your notebook and a pen. You will need to take notes!

Email/letter

AN EMAIL/A LETTER is written in response to the situation outlined in the question. Letters and emails in the Cambridge English: First Writing paper will require a response which is consistently appropriate in register and tone for the specified target reader. Candidates can expect to be asked to write letters or emails to, for example, an English-speaking friend or colleague, a potential employer, a college principal or a magazine editor. 

Register refers to how formal or informal language is, depending on the situation in which it is used.

Report

REPORT is usually written for a superior (e.g. a teacher) or a peer group (e.g. members of an English club). Candidates are expected to give some factual information and make suggestions or recommendations. A report should be clearly organised and may include headings. 

Article

AN ARTICLE is usually written for an English-language magazine or newsletter, and the reader is assumed to have similar interests to the writer. The main purpose is to interest and engage the reader, so there should be some opinion or comment. 

(smartphones, homework, artificial intelligence, travel, health, social media)

Review

A REVIEW is usually written for an English-language magazine, newspaper or website. The main purpose is to describe and express a personal opinion about something which the writer has experienced (e.g. a film, a holiday, a product, a website etc.) and to give the reader a clear impression of what the item discussed is like. Description and explanation are key functions for this task, and a review will normally include a recommendation to the reader.  

Group assignment 4 minutes to talk!

- In what ways can we ask you to do these assignments linked to a book? Think of an example for each kind of writing.

- What will we grade you on?

Examples of assignments

Informal email: letter from a friend to main character or vice versa

Formal letter: letter explaining/asking something to/of a docter, a principle, an organisation

Report: a factual (police) report of what happened in a scene in the book

Article: an article about what happened in a scene in the book

Review: of the book or a book talked about in a book 

Each criterium gets 0,1,2 or 3 points

Complied with assignment

Sequencing/linking words

Paragraphs

Fluency

Higher range of grammar

Rich language (nicer words, adjectives, adverbs)

Tone

level of: grammar, vocab, spelling, interpunction

Uses different sentence types (short, long)

Speaks and writes in different tenses 

Changes grammar based on the situation (formal for work, casual 

not repeating the same sentence patterns

Avoids common grammar mistakes (like mixing up verb tenses or using the wrong word order).

Tips!

Frequently asked questions

Q - How important is spelling and punctuation?

A - You aren't expected to be perfect, but if a mistake stops the reader from understanding what you want to say, that's quite bad.

Q - How important is the word count? What happens if I write too many words?

A - If you do the task properly you will write the correct number of words. You won't lose marks if you write 5 words too many. Focus on writing what you have to write, and the word count will take care of itself.

Don't waste time in the exam counting how many words you have written!

Q - My handwriting is terrible! Will I lose points?

A - Just make sure a human can read it - if you are very messy, write a little bit slower. If you usually end up with lots of things crossed out - you need to plan better!

Now we get to work!

What: Do assignment 2 on page 39, assignment 1 and 2 on pages 40-41

How: Individually or with a classmate. Do it together, do not copy eachother's answers.

Help: First ask your classmate, then ask the teacher

Time: 10 minutes

Exit ticket!

Write on the sticky note:

1. What types of writing assignments you can choose from during the test.

2. What the teacher will focus on during grading. 

3. What tip you remember for during the test. 

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