A2 Key for Schools Reading & Writing Part 7 – Teacher’s Notes

Description

Students are given a modified exam task with guidance on the type of words that are missing. After group
work to complete the gaps, students think about how to approach this task and some of the issues they
need to consider. Finally they practise completing a grammatical cloze.

Time required: 35 minutes

Materials  Student’s Worksheet
required:  6 small pieces of paper per student
 6 paperclips per group of 4/5 students
 Sample Task
 Follow-up Activity (optional)
Aims:  to familiarise students with A2 Key for Schools Reading & Writing Part 7
 to suggest a strategy for completing this task type
 to practise identifying the types of words tested

Procedure

1. Explain to students that they are going to read a short text written by a Mexican girl called Elisa.
Point out that the message is similar to the texts that appear in Key Reading & Writing Part 7.
These are based on emails, postcards, short letters or messages that Key candidates are likely to
write themselves.

2. Give out the student’s worksheet. There are some words missing from the message. Check how
many words students will need to write in each gap (one; given in the instructions).

3. Focus on the gaps and the words in brackets after them. Point out that these words have been
given to help students choose the best answer, but in the exam task, they need to identify the
word class for themselves. Check that students understand the meaning of the words in bra ckets.
If necessary, write a few examples of each on the board. E.g.

 to, from, at (preposition),

 was, be, are (verb – note the different tenses, infinitive form, single or plural: students
must think about these points. There may also need a participle.);

 and, because, so (conjunction);

 it, yours, him (pronoun – again, students must think about single/plural; object, possessive,
etc.)

4. Put the students into groups of 3 or 4 students. Give each student 6 small pie ces of blank paper,
and 6 paperclips per group. Tell the students to number the papers 1–6.

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5. Individually (or in pairs within the group), students read the text and decide on a word to go in
each gap, using the clues to help them. They should write the answer to each gap on one of the
pieces of paper. When they’ve all written their answer to a gap, one of the group members should
clip the answers together.

6. When all of the questions have been answered, the groups should pass their papers 1 or 2
groups to the left, so each group receives the answers from a different group. They should now
look at the other group’s answers to each question, one by one, and decide which of the answers
they agree with and why. If they don’t think any of the answers are right, they can ask for another
piece of paper and write their suggestion on it. Monitor and make a note of the reasons students
give for an answer being right, or wrong.

7. When they have finished, each group should have one answer only for questions 1–6. These
should be returned to the original group. Now check through the answers to each gap with the
whole class. Discuss the reasons for any variations in answers.

8. Ask: what do you need to think about for each gap to get the right answer? Give examples
of some of the reasons that students gave in step 5. (the meaning of the word; the part of speech
needed; the grammatical form (for example, if it is an auxiliary verb, which tense does it need to
be? Single or plural?))

9. Ask students how they did this task: did they read the first part of the first sentence, decide on
nd
an answer for the gap, then read on a little, answer the 2 gap, and so on? Or did they read the
whole text first, consider some answers as they read, then go back and start completing the
gaps? Point out that it may be helpful to read the whole text first, and that students may need to
think about the whole text to fill a gap correctly, not just what is immediately before and after it.

10. Give out copies of the sample task. Allow a few minutes for students to look through, then make
the following points:

 the texts in this part can be a single text, or, as in this task, a note and a reply

 there are 10 gaps in the Part 7 text, plus one example

 students are not given any help on the type of word that is needed

 the majority of the gaps are structural words such as pronouns, auxiliary verbs,
prepositions, conjunctions etc.

 there may be more than one correct answer (see the answer key for questions 45 and 49)
but candidates should only write one word to go in each gap. If they write more than one
word, they will not get the mark.

 all the answers must be spelled correctly.

11. Ask students to complete the sample task, using the tips and ideas discussed in Steps 7, 8 and 9
above.

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Suggested follow-up activity

1. Tell the students that they are now going to write a similar text about themselves. They should
use the sample text as a model, but the information they give should be about themselves. The
5 or 6 words they gap should also, where possible, be different. Explain to students that they do
not have to write the type of word in brackets after the gap.

2. Put each student with a partner. Students exchange their texts with their partner and try to fill in
the gaps.

3. When they have finished, students return their texts to their partners. Each student then marks
the answers that their partner has given.

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A2 Key for Schools Reading & Writing Part 7 – Answer Keys
Key to Student’s Worksheet

1. have

2. them

3. the

4. with

5. go

6. and

Key to Sample Task

41. have

42. them

43. than

44. the

45. last/this

46. with

47. go

48. ago

49. each/every/a/per

50. lot

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A2 Key for Schools Reading & Writing Part 7 – Student Worksheet
Complete the message. Write ONE word for each space.

My name (0) ……is…… [verb] Elisa Valdez. I’m twelve years old and I live in Mexico City. I (1)
…….……… [verb] two brothers, Emilio and Miguel. Both of
(2) …………… [pronoun] are a few years older than me. My sister, Maria, is (3) ………… [article]
youngest in my family. It was her tenth birthday last week.

I love spending time (4) ………… [preposition] my friends. We often (5) …….…… [verb] shopping or play
volleyball together. I really enjoy dancing too. I joined a dance school five years ago (6) …………
[conjunction]. I go there twice a week to practise. It’s great fun!

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A2 Key for Schools Reading & Writing Part 7 – Sample Task

Questions 41 – 50

Complete the message left on the internet by a girl from Mexico City.
Write ONE word for each space.
For questions 41 – 50, write the words on your answer sheet.

Example: 0 is

My name (0) ………… Elisa Valdez. I am twelve and I live in Mexico City. I (41) ………… two brothers,
Emilio and Miguel. Both of (42) ………… are a few years older (43) ………… me. My sister, Maria, is (44)
………… youngest in my family and it was her tenth birthday (45) ………… week.

I love spending time (46) ………… my friends. We often (47) ………… shopping or play volleyball
together. But (48) ………… of all I enjoy dancing. I joined a dance school five years (49) ………… and I
go there twice a week to practise. We were taught the stories behind the songs and I’ve learned a (50)
………… about my country’s music and dancing.

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A2 Key for Schools Reading & Writing Part 7 – Follow-up Activity
Now write two paragraphs about yourself but leave 5 or 6 gaps. Try t o do different gaps to the text
above.

My name is …………….

When you have finished, swap texts with a partner. Complete the gaps in t he text that your partner gives
you.

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