Teaching tips for

Preliminary: Writing

EMC/7499/1Y04

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Identify the B1 level script
Look at the three exam scripts below and identify which is B1.

Script 1
Dear Jo,
Lucky you, my grandmother’s never given me a lot of money!
You must think it through, but if I were in your situation, I would use part of
the money on your holidays and to save the rest. I know that is sounds better
buying a camera but one day or the other that camera may be broken, so you
would have spent a lot of money for nothing. When you save some, later you
would have the money and you would be able to spend it on something useful.
And you can go on holiday as well. Why don’t you visit me?
I’m waiting for your answer
Kisses
Karina

Level:

Script 2
Dear Andrew,
Thank you for the letter. It Is a fantastic idea to start a business. I think in my
country this will be very good idea. So many people will come to use it.
There are no other camp like this in Japan.
In Japan summer holiday is very small becase all children have to study a lot of
their homework so they have very short time to relax. But they like outdoor
activities such as horse-ridding, trecking and so on. They will really be overjoyed
to come to your camp!
I am very happy that you ask me to come to your first summer camp. I am free
and I’d really like to come and help you organise everything. Can you tell me more
about some accommodation? Can I stay near your house in a nice hotel or will it
be far away? I can’t wait to see you and your business. We will have a very good
time together I think.
Best Wishs
Mayumi

Level:

Script 3
Hi, Pat! I joined to a new sport club at the school last week. I am playing football
every week there and it don’t cost anything! It’s great fun. Do you want to come
too?
Write soon,
Joseph

Level:
Activities to develop writing skills
Match the activities to the skills they help to develop. You may add your own
activities too.

Skills Activities

1) spelling a) parallel texts

2) punctuation b) jumbled paragraphs

3) word order c) gap-fill texts

4) format of a letter d) game using jumbled words in a

sentence which students have to
5) fluency
put in the right order

e) anagrams

f) word searches

g) diary-writing

h) having a pen pal

i) hangman

j) correcting a text

k) adding punctuation to a sentence

or short paragraph

l) brainstorming

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Sample letter skeleton plus informal letter

Paris, 31st January 2011

Hi Lucy!

How are you? Thanks for your letter. I love reading about your family and your
holidays. You are very lucky. I want to go to the beach.

I am studying very hard because I have exams at university. I have no time to go

out with my friends. I will write to you again when I finish my exams.

Lots of love,

Marie

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What’s wrong with these sentences?
Classroom activity 1: What’s wrong with these sentences?
Timing 10–20 minutes
Materials Extract of Writing Part 1 from a Cambridge English: Preliminary past
or sample paper, or worksheet: What’s wrong with these
sentences?
Rationale This activity helps students to identify why the answers given are not
correct answers for this task and so improve their knowledge of task 1.

Procedure
1. Review the task instructions with your group.
2. Give out the worksheet and ask students to work in pairs to identify the problem
with each answer and then to write the correct answer.
3. Each pair should discuss their answers with another pair.
4. Lead a whole group feedback session to check their answers and to discuss any
alternative answers or doubts.

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Worksheet: What’s wrong with these sentences?
Here is a candidate’s answer to Writing Part 1. Unfortunately all the answers are
wrong! Work with a partner and decide why each answer is wrong. Then write the
correct answer.

1) Filling in a job application form doesn’t take you long.

It doesn’t take you long filling in a job application form.

What’s wrong? ___________________________________________________

Correct answer: __________________________________________________

2) At a job interview they will want to know what jobs you have done before.
At a job interview they will ask, ‘What jobs you have done before?’

What’s wrong? ___________________________________________________

Correct answer: __________________________________________________

3) It’s important to arrive at work on time.

It’s important that you do not arrive late for work.

What’s wrong? ___________________________________________________

Correct answer: __________________________________________________

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Using mark schemes and sample scripts
Classroom activity 2: Using mark schemes for Writing Part 2
Timing at least 20 minutes
Materials worksheet: Writing Part 2 example task
Rationale Using the mark schemes and example scripts will help the students to
understand what is expected of them for this task.

Procedure
1. Go through Writing Part 2 with the whole group. (See worksheet.) Ask your
students to identify the following points and write them on the board:
• the context (you’re going to be absent from your English class next week)
• the text type (note)
• the target audience (your English teacher)
• the number of words you must write (35–45)
• the three pieces of information you must include (explain why you are going
to be absent/apologise to your teacher/ask your teacher for information about
next week’s work).
2. Hand out the writing checklist on the worksheet showing students what they need
to do to get the best mark for writing at Cambridge English: Preliminary (Band 5).
Invite them to compare list A with the points you wrote on the board earlier.
3. Then comment on list B. Elicit common language errors that your students have
and how to overcome them. One effective way is to record these mistakes either
on personal or whole class lists, which can then be used as reference materials.
Why not have posters displayed? Students can then write their main problems on
these posters and refer to them when checking their writing. These may include:
• Sequencing ideas: ‘jumping around’, i.e. not finishing off one idea before
starting with a new idea and then going back to the first idea and finishing it
off. (Remind students to work idea by idea.)
• Sentence/paragraph structure: e.g. writing the whole text with just one or two
very long sentences. (Invite students to have one idea per sentence unless
they use a connector.)
• Spelling mistakes: these will vary with the L1.
• Common punctuation mistakes: e.g. with capital letters, could be not using a
capital letter for a language or using i rather than I.

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 • Common grammar mistakes: these can also be compiled. At Cambridge
English: Preliminary level these may include problems with word order
(e.g. Often I play tennis on Sundays) or agreement (He get up at 6 am).
4. Now you are ready to work with the example scripts. Here are some ways to
do this:
• Give the students an example script and a grade. Encourage the students,
in pairs, to explain why the script was given the specific grade. Review their
ideas then give out the explanation to compare the students’ ideas with those
of Cambridge ESOL.
• Have students match example scripts with grades and/or comments.
• Give students a ‘poor’ script (you could create your own including common
mistakes from your class). Have students explain how it could be improved.
The students should then improve the script.
• When setting homework, give students a task-specific scheme you’ve created
yourself to focus their writing.
• Ask students to complete the task. This could be done for homework. In the
next lesson, students could compare their answers to the Band 5 answer and
discuss how they could improve their own answer.

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Worksheet: Writing Part 2 example task

Writing Part 2
Question 6
You are going to be absent from your English class next week.
Write a note to your English teacher. In your note, you should:
• explain why you are going to be absent
• apologise to your teacher
• ask your teacher for information about next week’s work.

Write 35–45 words on your answer sheet.

Writing Part 2 – checklist for students

A) Answering the question

To get the best mark, you must answer ‘yes’ to all of these questions:
• Did I write the correct type of text?
• Did I write to the correct person?
• Did I write the correct number of words?
• Did I include the three pieces of information that the question asks me to include?
(This is very important!)

B) Language
Remember that your text does not have to be perfect but it must be easy to
understand. Check the following points:
1. Is my writing clear and easy to understand?
(If you’re not sure ask one of your classmates to read it.)
2. Have I checked for spelling mistakes?
(Remember to use a dictionary when you’re not sure.)
3. Have I used correct punctuation?
(For example, did I use a capital letter to start each sentence and for names and
days of the week?)
4. Did I check my grammar?
Keep a record of any questions you have and check them with your teacher.

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Sample scripts for Part 2

Script 1
Hi Louise!

Next week I’m going to Tuscany with my classmates for a school trip so I think

I won’t be able to come to your English class on Thursday. I’m really sorry about

it! What are you going to teach next week? Will you finish explaining the

government of the USA?

See you soon.

Comment: This is a good answer. Using the checklist, you would answer ‘yes’ to all
the points in Part A. For Part B it’s clear and easy to understand. They are no big
problems with spelling, punctuation or grammar.

Script 2
Hi Peter

Next week I will absent, because I have a appointment with my employe.

I know I lose a lots but this is important for my career.

Julia will be inform me about the lesson.

Please belive me I will work harder.

Best Regards

Comment: This is not a good answer.

Only one point is included:
• explain why you are going to be absent.
Two points are not included:
• apologise to your teacher
• ask your teacher for information about next week’s work.
There are spelling mistakes: employe, belive.
There is a punctuation mistake: absent, because
There are grammar mistakes: a appointment/a lots/Julia will be inform me.

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Letter-writing
Classroom activity 3: Letter-writing activities
Timing 5 minutes for the introduction;
10–15 minutes per activity, including feedback
Materials worksheet: Letter-writing
Rationale Letter-writing is a common task in the EFL classroom. Here are some
alternative ideas to ‘just writing’ a letter.

Using the worksheet go through the task with all the participants. It is the same type
of task that candidates would encounter in Part 3.

This is part of a letter you receive from your penfriend, Martin.

I love sports. I especially enjoy playing squash and play every day after work.

What about you? Tell me about your favourite hobby. What do you like doing?

How often do you do your favourite hobby?

Now write a letter to Martin about your hobby.

Write your letter in about 100 words.

Activity 1
Give students the worksheet. It shows the beginning and end of an example letter.
Your students should then write the middle part of the letter. This activity could be
done individually or in pairs. Make sure you include a review stage where students
compare their answers followed by a whole group review.

Activity 2
Your students are given the second part of the worksheet. They now have the middle
section of the letter and need to add extra information in the gaps. They should write
100 words. If they don’t get to 100 in the gaps they should continue at the end. This
activity could be done individually or in pairs. Make sure you include a review stage
where students compare their answers followed by a whole group review.

Activity 3
Your students should now work on the third task on the worksheet. For this activity
they need to follow the instructions to complete the letter. This activity could be done
individually or in pairs. Make sure you include a review stage where students
compare their answers followed by a whole group review.

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Worksheet: Letter-writing
This is part of a letter you receive from your penfriend, Martin.

I love sports. I especially enjoy playing squash and play every day after work.
What about you? Tell me about your favourite hobby. What do you like doing?
How often do you do your favourite hobby?

Now write a letter to Martin about your hobby.

Write your letter in about 100 words.

Activity 1
This is the beginning and the end of your letter. Please write the middle section
(in about 100 words).

Hello Martin.
Thank you for your letter. It was interesting. I have never played squash. Let me
tell you about my favourite hobby.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Write again soon.
Best wishes.

Activity 2
This is the middle of your letter. Please add the missing information. Write about
100 words in total. You can add more information at the end if your answer is short.

My favourite hobby is playing the guitar. I started learning the guitar

__________ years ago. I normally play _____________________________.
My favourite type of music to play is
______________________________________. I also love listening to
music, for example, _________________________.
Write again soon.
Best wishes.

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Activity 3
Follow the instructions and complete the letter in about 100 words.

Hello Martin.

Thank you for your letter. It was interesting. I have never played squash. Let me

tell you about my favourite hobby.

I love ______________________ (Write your favourite hobby.) I have been

doing this since ______________________ (Write when you started doing

this hobby.) I normally do this hobby ____________________ (Write when

you do the hobby, for example, in the evenings or every Saturday.) I like to do

my hobby ____________________ (Write who you do your hobby with or if

you do it alone.) I would like to get better at my hobby. My plan is to

________________________________________ (Explain your plans for

your hobby.)

Write again soon.

Best wishes.

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Activities around a writing task
Classroom activity 4: Pre-/while-/post-activities for exam writing
Timing Variable
Rationale When teaching writing in the classroom, it’s usual to start with a
pre-writing activity and include a follow-up activity once the writing has
finished. In this activity your students will prepare for an exam writing
task, work through the task and then do a follow-up activity.

Procedure
1. Either play (1) ______________ or show photos that (2) ______________.
Elicit the words (3) ________ and (4) ________. Do a whole group brainstorm of
words related to these words and create a word web.
2. Go through the following task:
Your English teacher has asked you to write a story. Your story must begin with
this sentence: It was getting dark and I was completely lost. Write your story in
about 100 words.
3. In pairs, have students generate ideas as to what the story could be about. Invite
them to create a (5) ______________. Compare ideas as a whole group.
4. Now your students are ready to write their story. This can be done in a number
of ways: (6) ______________ in class or for (7) ______________, or in pairs in
class. Alternatively you could do a ‘circular writing task’ where students work in a
small group and write line by line of various stories.
5. You have various options as to how to review the work and give feedback.
Consider the following options: (8) ______________ correction (using mark
schemes for writing), peer correction (using mark schemes for writing) or teacher
correction. If you choose to correct the work you could give a grade and have the
students (9) ______________. Alternatively, you could give an explanation and
have the students give their own grade.
6. A good follow-up activity would be for students to write a clean copy of the work
and illustrate it. This could then be displayed on the wall or grouped together in a
class book for everyone to read. This could also be done electronically via a (10)
______________ or webpage. A second follow-up activity, which is actually a
second writing task, would be to have students write a prequel explaining how
they got into the situation of being completely lost as it was getting dark. For this
writing task your students would then have to finish with the line ‘It was getting
dark and I was completely lost.’

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Notes

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Notes

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