H5 - report rubric

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

Report writing

This lesson will include the following:

- essay structure revision

- explanation of the rubric (in parts) 

- linking words/phrases 

- grammar revision for report

- handy words/phrases/sentences you can study

- mistakes often made

- videos with tips on how to do this part properly. Watch them to help you prepare!

Revise: what is a report?

In the Report, you have to explain facts and express a recommendation. The structure is: introduction - body paragraphs - conclusion with final recommendation.

You are not stating any opinions or using argument to state a case. You are merely reporting and giving a recommendation. All this is done in formal English on the test

What are some basic principles you should follow?

• information has to be orderly. A paragraph structure is important, and you have give each body paragraph a heading
• don't immediately start writing or giving recommendations, think about it first.

Let's look at the steps we need to follow
to write a report:

1 READ THE QUESTION CAREFULLY.

2 IDENTIFY THE NUMBER OF PARAGRAPHS AND THEIR CONTENT

3 DECIDE ON THE SUBHEADINGS TO BE USED

4 WRITE THE INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH AND INCLUDE THE SUBHEADING

5 WRITE A PARAGRAPH FOR EACH SUBJECT USING GOOD PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

6 WRITE THE CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH 

8 INCLUDE ELEMENTS TO SHOW AN UNDERSTANDING OF GOOD GRAMMAR STRUCTURES

9 CHECK DOCUMENT FOR ERRORS

10 MAKE SURE ALL POINTS MENTIONED IN THE QUESTION HAVE BEEN COVERED

https:

Spend time planning carefully to save time writing

That’s it. Four to five minutes spent outlining your report are going to save you many minutes later when you do the actual writing. It does not have to be rocket science. A very primitive plan could be:

- Introduction

- Examples/problems/reasons

- Recommendations

For each of these four parts, jot down ideas; then, sentences, vocabulary, phrasal verbs and idioms you may use. Then, attack the task and start writing. Why is it effective? Because without a plan, most of us get lost in our thoughts. You might spend twenty minutes writing only to realize afterwards that:

- You’ve written about something completely different

- You have just made a long recommendation from the first line to the last.

Rubric: Form

Linking words/phrases:

In writing, we use certain words/phrases to tie sentences/ideas/statements/paragraphs together. You probably already know these: and, but, because, yet. These are a bit simple though, so here are a couple of websites that give you all the options you have. You can write down a couple of them to use in your own writing 

https://7esl.com/linking-words/

https://www.eslbuzz.com/useful-linking-words-and-phrases-to-use-in-your-essays/

https://www.eslbuzz.com/common-transition-words-phrases-in-english/

In the Studyplanner you can find a document with more information labelled 'overviews report grammar-linking words'. Your Examenbundel has a list as well, which is handy to study with regards to your reading and listening exams as well. This video is also handy to watch 

Passives

Passives are tense structures where the subject of the sentence doesn't perform the action, but the action is done to it. Have a look below:

- The book was read by all the students.

- The pen is being passed around the classroom.

- This problem could be seen as...

- This report was written in reponse to....

- Suggestions could be made that....

In short:
(see full ppt in Studyplanner - Magister)

Passives are made as follows:

Step 1: turn the object into the subject of the new sentence

Step 2: replace the tense of the main verb with the same tense of to be

Step 3: add the past participle of the main verb

Step 4: copy the rest of the sentence

Step 5: write down by and the original subject

Examples: 

She has baked a few cakes since she learnt how to bake.

A few cakes have been baked (by her) since she learned how to bake.

Conditional sentences

Conditional sentences are 'if' sentences: 

If you were to stop smoking, you would become healthier.

There are different ways of making conditional sentences. 

See the overview on the next slide.

Next to that, practise writing these kinds of structures by using them in your practice reports and revising your work after writing, to make sure you incorporate these grammatical structures and get those Rubric points.

Grammar practice:

Use these links to practice these grammar topics and make yourself familiar with them again.

Passives:

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/passive-exercise-5.html

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/passive-verbs-two-objects-exercise-1.html

Conditionals:

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/first-second-third-conditionals-exercise.html

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/tests/conditional-sentences-3

Rubric: content

This is where you score 

points! So make sure you

try to get at least 2 points

for each body paragraph.

Best way to write body paragraphs

For the report, you are often given a couple things to do. Take a look at report 3: "Mention the main reasons why pupils want to take a gap year and suggest how he/she could inform the pupils best about the options for gap years there are."

Here, you are tempted to write 3 seperate paragraphs: main reasons, options for gap years, how to inform students.

What we would like to see is you writing 3 paragraphs that each contain the following: give a reason + option and suggestion for your teacher. Then in your conclusion, give a final recommendation on what the best way to inform students is. Have a look at the next slide:

Rubric: 

Handy to study

Making recommendations

Therefore, the recommendation is that…../

It would seem that…..

Having considered (all) the options, it is best that/the recommendation is that…

A suggestion would be to…

A recommendation could be made for…

Perhaps ….. should be considered ….

Introduction

The aim/purpose of this report is to consider/suggest/…

This report is intended to…

Below is a summary of the most important/relevant
points as well as some recommendations. 

Reporting results

Most people seem to feel that….

Several people said that/suggested that/ thought that….

It is/was thought that

It has been suggested that….

Mistakes often made:

Spelling:

- ‘false friends’ : you’re/your, to/too, their/there/they’re

- omitting capital letters: i, wednesday

- difficulty with double and single consonants: usefull, beautifull, addres, verry

- contractions: its/it’s/whose/who’s

- informal:  u(you), tmi/fml etc.

Grammar:

- double past tense: I did found out / Did you saw that?

- applying past tenses, especially the irregular verbs: I writed that down.

Word order:

- Place then time: You give Saturday a birthday party, don’t you?

- Verb order: You have 20 boys and girls invited?

Mistakes often made:

Dunglish:

- literal translation/choosing the first word in the dictionary

Grammatical errors:

- Use of ‘is’ in passive tense: “The president is asked .. “

- Singular vs plural conjugation: “The idea were -> was”

- Would in if-clause: “If you would do …”

- Overuse of present perfect: “I have seen him yesterday.”

- Don't overuse continuous tenses 

- slang: wanna/gonna

- th-sound: with -> wit

Informal language:

- uses of words like: stuff, things, (very) good/bad, don't overuse like etc.

Read the full article here:

https://www.taaltutor.nl/blog/dutch-causes-many-mistakes-in-english/

Video support

Watch the videos and write down the tips you are given.

Videos are about how to plan, structure, write and organise your report, as well as avoiding the use of certain phrases and words, and how to properly punctuate your English.