I was rooting through my over-stuffed Google Drive and found this C1 Advanced writing part 2 proposal task and handout that I made a few years back. Download it below:
Category: Advanced C1
C1 Advanced Reading Part 7: Gapped Text – Exam Technique
It’s nobody’s favourite exam reading exercise! This is a slightly tweaked version of a very old lesson plan I use to help C1 students tackle the part 7 gapped reading task. Apologies for the rather ugly PowerPoint template! Download the PowerPoint and handout below:
C1 Advanced: Key Word Transformation Ladder
This is my version of a great activity I’ve seen on some other blogs. It’s a great way of giving exam prep students an engaging way to do some practice for the use of English part 4 task.
- Students work in pairs or groups of 4.
- Each group gets 5 cards with 5 key word transformations on them.
- They place their cards on the table to form a “ladder”
- Student A goes first and attempts to complete the bottom “rung”
- They flip the card over to check their answer.
- If they’re right they go up the ladder one rung and continue until they make a mistake.
- When/if they make a mistake they must flip over all the cards and go back to the bottom.
- Student B then has a go.
- First to reach the top of the ladder wins.
- The answer they give must be the exact words on the back of the card; no “más o menos”
- They then swap cards and start again.
Download the cards below:
C1 Advanced: Grammar Range Test
A quick, simple worksheet I’ve created for my C1 Advanced class. They’re in their second year of preparation for the exam and I just want to get an idea of their grasp of some of the typical advanced grammar points that come up in the syllabus so that I know where to focus our efforts in the coming weeks.
I’m tying it into chatting about travelling and holidays and getting them to complete an informal letter writing task. I’ve used this old worksheet that I made years ago for the homework task.
It also serves as some exam practice for part 4 of the reading and use of English paper. You could have students complete it in pairs or individually then check the answers in open class. Tell students not to worry too much if any of the structures are unfamiliar as future lessons will look at them in detail where necessary.
Download the worksheet below:
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first using the word given. You must use between 3 and 6 words, you must not change the word given.
- It took us 6 hours to walk up the mountain.
WALKING
When we arrived at the top of the mountain _____________________ 6 hours.
- It was the first time I had seen such a beautiful sunset.
BEFORE
Never _____________________ a beautiful sunset.
- You mustn’t leave the vehicle while you’re on safari.
CIRCUMSTANCES
Under ______________________ of the vehicle while you’re on safari.
- If I went there again, I’d definitely pack warmer clothes.
GO
Were ______________, I’d definitely pack warmer clothes.
- The water was so clear that we could see all the fish at the bottom.
CLEAR
So _______________ could see all the fish at the bottom.
- I enjoyed going on the roller coasters the most.
WAS
What ____________________ on the roller coasters.
- We had no idea that there were man-eating sharks in the water!
KNOW
Little _____________________ there were man-eating sharks in the water!
- I didn’t pack enough warm clothes because I didn’t know the weather would be so cold.
WOULD
Had _____________________ be so cold, I would have packed more warm clothes.
C1/C2 Review Writing Task: A Life of Crime
This is a writing task for C1/C2 students who are preparing to take the C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency exams and need to practise writing film/TV reviews. You could set it for homework after having used my vocabulary/use of English training activity The Heist. You may also find my lesson plan on incorporating engaging hooks into this type of writing task useful.
Download the handout below:
Task:
Your university’s film club is asking for reviews of films or TV shows on the topic of crime. Maybe you’ve seen a thrilling heist movie, a dark film noir or a TV show about the nefarious adventures of a mafia family. Your review should comment on the plot of the film/show, the quality of the script and acting and recommend the film/show to a specific demographic or warn a specific group against watching it. C1: 220-260 words C2: 280-320 words
C1/C2: Advanced Conditionals Revision
While correcting a mock exam with my C2 group, it came to my attention that they needed a refresher on advanced conditionals. Things like inverted conditionals and also alternatives conditional phrases such as “on condition that”, “supposing…?” and “provided that”. So I put together a little PowerPoint as a refresher. It’s not the most inspired of formats, but I dotted in a few fun speaking activities along the way. Download the PowerPoint below:
You’ll need to prep by coming up with 3 sentences, one with each inverted conditional, here are my examples:
- Should I have time tonight, I’ll watch another episode of Ted Lasso. (inverted 1st conditional)
- Were I to win the lottery, I’d quit my job. (inverted 2nd conditional)
- Had I been born in the 1400s, I would have been an explorer. (inverted 3rd conditional)
The three sentences should be a mixture of true or false bits of information about you.
Read the sentences to your class one by one, students should take no notes, just listen. They should then debate with their partner whether or not the sentence is true. Reveal the truth, then move onto the next sentence.
Once you’ve finished, show the first slide of the PowerPoint (you’ll need to edit the first few slides so that they show your 3 sentences, or just do it on the board). Students have the basic information from the 3 sentences, but none of the grammar, they have to work together to recall what you said. Maybe they’ll remember the “basic” conditional structures (if….), or perhaps the sharper students will remember some of the inverted forms.
Once you’ve revealed and discussed the different forms, lead students through the rest of the PowerPoint, they will get more complete revision of each inverted conditional plus all the other alternative forms already mentioned.
I’m interested to see what hypothetical questions your students come up with for the “suppose”/”supposing” section, let me know in the comments!
Proficiency Phrase of the Day #13: Bury One’s Head in the Sand
Today’s phrase is…
To bury one’s head in the sand
Introduce the expression to your students with some examples.
When it comes to climate change, most governments are burying their heads in the sand and just going on as normal.
You can’t just bury your head in the sand, your symptoms are bad, you should see a doctor.
The expression means: to avoid or ignore unpleasant facts even though they might have a bad effect on you in the future.
Put students in small groups and have them ask and answer these questions. Encourage them to use the phrase of the day:
- Apart from climate change, are there any other major issues that you think governments are refusing to face up to?
- How do you normally deal with potentially scary news or information? Do you face up to it? Or try to avoid thinking about it or discussing it?
- How do you normally deal with strange symptoms or other health problems? Do you get them checked out? Or ignore them and hope they go away?
Here’s the Quizlet set of all the previous phrases of the day.
Proficiency Phrase of the Day #12: To prey on your mind
Today’s phrase is…
To prey on one’s mind
Introduce it with some examples:
The problem has been preying on my mind for over a week now.
You mustn’t let past failures prey on your mind when making big decisions.
The expression is often used with “let” in imperatives: Don’t let it prey on your mind.
Lead students to the meaning: if a problem is preying on your mind it is worrying you or causing you anxiety.
Have students take part in a little therapy session in pairs or small groups:
- Is anything bothering you at the moment?
- Do you have any big deadlines or events looming on the horizon?
- Do you have any big decisions to make coming up?
- Do you have any regrets about recent things that have happened that you need to open up about?
Here’s the Quizlet set of all the previous phrases of the day.
Proficiency Phrase of the Day #11: There’s no telling/knowing
Today’s phrase is….
There’s no telling/knowing….
Introduce it with a few examples:
There’s no telling who’s going to win the next elections.
There’s no knowing how the situation in Ukraine is going to develop.
Lead students to the meaning: “nobody knows/it’s impossible to know”, point out that the expression is typically followed by a question word. Challenge them to work in pairs to complete the sentences below while covering a range of topics:
- There’s no knowing/telling who…
- There’s no knowing/telling what…
- There’s no knowing/telling where…
- There’s no knowing/telling how long….
- There’s no knowing/telling how much….
- There’s no knowing/telling which…
- There’s no knowing/telling when…
Topics: politics, pop culture (music, films, video games, etc.), school/class/exams, class gossip, celebrity gossip, science and technology, finance and business, etc.
Here’s the Quizlet set of all the previous phrases of the day.
Proficiency Phrase of the Day #10: By the skin of one’s teeth
Today’s phrase is…
To do something by the skin of your teeth.
Introduce it to your students with some personalised examples from your own life:
I passed my driving test by the skin of my teeth, one more mistake and I would have failed.
My football team managed to win the league by the skin of their teeth, it came down to goal difference in the end.
Lead them to the meaning: by the thinnest of margins. Point out that it’s most commonly used in the contexts of exams/tests, elections or competitions.
The politician held onto his seat in parliament by the skin of her teeth.
The golfer qualified for the next round by the skin of her teeth.
I passed my Spanish speaking exam by the skin of my teeth.
Put students in pairs and encourage them to think of examples from their own life.
As a counterpoint, you could introduce the following opposite expressions:
- to pass with flying colours
- to sail/breeze through
Here’s the Quizlet set of all the previous phrases of the day.