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This is a lesson plan designed to help students tackle the CAE writing part 1 formal essay task. It walks students through structuring their essays correctly. Download the handout and Powerpoint below:
formal-writing
formal-writing-handout
Student Handout
Introduction
In this day and age a worrying percentage of children are showing signs of obesity. The past few years have seen a steep decline in the number of school-aged children taking part in team sports or getting regular exercise. What is the most effective way to tackle this problem and encourage children to be more active?
In this essay I am going to talk about the problem of children not getting enough exercise. I will start by talking about parental influence and then I will discuss the role schools can play.
Hardly a week goes by without another article on the topic of childhood obesity appearing in the media. This is clearly a growing issue which must be addressed urgently. There are a number of ways in which this problem could be tackled.
Language for introductions
- In this day and age…
- … is a hotly-debated topic that often divides opinion.
- … is a growing issue in today’s society
- We live in an age when many of us are…
- More and more families are choosing to have only one child.
- The trend nowadays is towards having smaller families.
- Over the past ten years or so the media have frequently carried reports of ……………
- Recent research indicates that the number of teenagers who smoke is increasing.
- Hardly a week goes by without another report of …………….. appearing in the media.
- Although most people would generally agree that …………… few would deny that ……..
Language for topic sentences
First Paragraph
- …. clearly/undoubtedly has an impact on…
- It is common knowledge that… plays a crucial role in…
- It is undoubtedly the case that…
- There is little doubt that…
- … is widely believed to contribute to…
- It is generally considered that…
- Recent research suggests that…
- Studies have shown that… has an impact/influence on…
- Few people would contest/dispute the fact that…
Second Paragraph
- Another factor to consider is…
- On the other hand/In contrast…
- It is often claimed that…
- All the evidence suggests that…
Language for supporting ideas
Language for introducing supporting ideas:
- For example,
- For instance,
- An obvious example of this is…
- A clear example of this is…
- This is illustrated by…
- As a case in point…
Paragraph Skeleton
It goes without saying that ______________________________________ A clear example of this is ___________________________________________ In addition,________________________________________ Nevertheless,_____________________________________________________________
Language for conclusions:
- In light of the above, / Taking all this into consideration/account,…
- As far as I am concerned, / in my opinion, / as I see it, etc.
- … is the most effective way to… due to the fact that…
OR
- In light of the above, / Taking all this into consideration/account,…
- Despite the fact that… undoubtedly plays a role in… I firmly believe that… is more effective due to the fact that…
Credit to Cork English Teacher for some of the language from the handout.
