Review: Writing part 1 (An opinion essay)

• Cambridge Engels
• Middelbare school
• mavo, havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 2

B2 First for Schools

Writing part 1 (An opinion essay)

Review the format and focus of Part 1 of the Writing paper.

Revise useful vocabulary for writing an opinion essay.

Learn useful techniques for planning your own essay.

Evaluate two examples of a Writing Part 1 essay.

Practise and evaluate your own answer to a Writing Part 1 task.

Today's programme:

Learning objectives:

• I can explain what the appropriate structure is for an opinion essay.
• I can fill in a writing plan in order to organise my ideas.
• I can use a range of suitable expressions to organise my essay and help the
   reader understand the connections between my ideas.
• I can write an opinion essay for Writing Part 1.
• I can use a checklist to check my own writing.
• I can assess my work with the B2 Assessment Scale
  
• I can check my own writing and other students’ writing.

Manage your time

Try to spend no more than 40 minutes on Writing Part 1. The Writing Paper has two parts and you will have 80 minutes in total. Part 1 and Part 2 are both worth the same number of marks, so you should spend approximately the same amount of time (about 40 minutes) on each part.

Exam tip

Go to the document to fill in your answers.

Put the phrases in the correct groups according to their function in an opinion essay.

Giving your own opinion

Structuring and sequencing your ideas

Adding ideas

Contrasting two ideas / examples / statements

Explaining

In my opinion/ view

However, …

I partly / fully agree that …

Although …

In addition to this, …

Firstly / Secondly / Thirdly ...

Moreover, …

Finally …

Consequently …

In conclusion …

Furthermore, …

Another reason why … 

To sum up …

I firmly believe that …

What is more, …

As a result …

I personally feel that …

First / Second of all ...

How could you develop these first two ideas? Take notes in your notebook using a mind map like this. 

Read the task carefully!

In Writing Part 1, you must use all the notes which are given in the task. For example, for the task above, if you wrote about technology but didn’t mention the environment, you would lose marks.

Exam tip

Add your own third idea to the mind map above, then add some notes to develop this idea.

Finished? Do a brief internet search about this topic. (Make sure you use websites that are in English!) Can you find anything interesting that you would like to add to your mind map?

Plan the structure of your essay before you start writing. 

One of the assessment criteria for Writing Part 1 is Organisation. It’s difficult to organise an essay clearly without making a simple plan first. Decide what points to include, in what order, and how they are connected – then start writing your essay. (Cross out your plan before you submit your test paper, so the examiner will assess only your essay and not the plan.)

Exam tip

You can find the sample essays in the booklet in Google Classroom. Read them and assess the students' writing.

Student A

How many marks does student A get in total?

020

Student B

How many marks does student B get in total?

020

Use the document in Google Classroom.

Deadline: 12 May 2021