Tag Archives: Writing

Text formats in the PAU

www.grammarly.com

In the PAU you may be asked to write different types of texts on any topic. Let’s check what types of text you may have to face and some examples of tasks:

An argumentative essay (for & against)

Should the right to vote be lowered to the age of 16, instead of 18? What would be the advantages or disadvantages? Write an argumentative article giving opinions for and against this issue. (2014)

An opinion essay

Write your opinions about this law intended to protect animals in Britain. Do you think Spain needs a law like this? (2006)

An essay

Write an essay about aspects related to learning and using a language. Discuss difficulties, language components or even other kinds of language (art, music, computer language, animal language…). (2006)

A narrative

What makes a good teacher, according to your own experience? Write a personal narrative about the best teacher you ever had. Explain why she/he inspired you.

A description of a place (Article)

You are a journalist for a travel magazine. Write an article describing a place you know well. Mention the interesting things to see and do there. Comment also on the historical background and cultural traits. Mention any practical things a traveller should take into account: currency, weather, local customs…(2011)

An informal letter / email

Write an e-mail to a friend. Explain a trip you have done recently. Talk about the places you visited, when and who with. Mention any interesting or funny anecdotes that happened during the journey.(2011)

A formal letter / email

Write a letter to the Spanish Minister for the Environment. Show your deep concern about how water is being wasted in our country. Suggest a few ideas to improve the situation.(2005)

An article

Imagine you are a candidate at your class delegate election. Write a school article inviting people to vote and encouraging your classmates to vote for you, explaining your arguments. (2014)

A dialogue / conversation

Two scientists are talking about vivisection (tests on living animals to increase medical knowledge of human diseases). One scientist is for this practice, the other is against it. Write this dialogue. (2006)

An interview

You are a journalist for Blue Earth magazine. Write an interview with the leader of a Tuareg clan about their way of life in the desert. (2005)

Blog / Diary entry

Mame is writing about her daily life in a web log / diary. Write her entry for a most wonderful day. (Use Standard English, avoid informal or shorthand writing. (2007)

A biography

Imagine that you have set up a successful business before the age of 25. Write a biography of yourself and include a description of the company and the steps you took to make the company successful. (2016)

Informative text

Imagine you are working for the Namibia Tourist Board. Write a text for a promotional campaign addressed to Europeans with the title: “Come to experience the real Africa in the Kunene region” (2012)

Presentation

You are an Erasmus student at the University of Bergen (Norway). One professor asks you to talk to your class about the Catalan language and culture. Write the text of your presentation. (2006)

Newspaper story

You are a journalist. Write a short newspaper story about the labor exploitation of some groups of immigrants in Spain. (2008)

Speech

You are the representative of your country before the United Nations Organization (UNO). Write a speech addressed to the UNO general delegates denouncing the resurgence of slavery.(2008)

Continue reading →

“Another chance” by Roger Sanchez (Batx)

1. What is the video about?

2. What do you think the lyrics of the song mean and what do they have to do with the story?

Lyrics:

If I had another chance tonight
I’d try to tell you that the things we had were right

3. Write a short story about this girl. Why was she carrying a heart? What was she looking for? What happened in the end? Make up an ending for the story.

Restaurant review

Pixabay / CC0 Creative Commons

I. How often do you go to a restaurant? What is your favourite type of restaurant?

II. Think about a restaurant in Sant Boi you want to recommend to your classmates. Write a review following these steps:

Name of the restaurant.
Address
Opening and closing hours.
Type of food they offer.
Your opinion and dishes you recommend.
Why you like it.

III. Now go to Canva and make a poster for your restaurant. Then write a comment in the blog post about two restaurants your classmates recommended.

Here you are my review!

Film review

Commons Wikimedia

I. Do you read film reviews before going to the cinema or watching a film on Netflix?

II. Go to LearnEnglishTeens to read a review about The Hunger Games . Then do the exercises below.

III. Now choose a film or a series you have seen and write your review. Follow the steps shown in the LearnEnglishTeens site:

Start with the film’s title
The type of film. When it was made.
Explain the film’s story but don’t explain the ending!
Your opinion of the film.
Should people go and watch the film? Give it from 1 to 5 stars.

IV. Publish your review on this FILM REVIEWS board and comment on at least two reviews from your classmates.

Text types: a speech

A SPEECH

Before writing a speech, you need to take into account the following aspects:

WHO you are writing your speech for (the audience).
WHAT your speech is going to be about (its topic).
– the main points ranked in order of importance with supporting research.
HOW long it needs to be.

The structure of a speech is simple. It consists of three parts:

an opening or introduction.
the body where all the information is given.
and an ending (or summary).

Let’s go through the different steps you need to follow to write your speech:

STEP 1 – THE AUDIENCE

Identify the people who are going to be listening to you. Imagine them sitting in front of you waiting for listening to you.

STEP 2 – WRITING AS YOU SPEAK

Note down the main ideas you want to give in your speech. Organise them and write down what you’d say as if you were talking directly to them.

STEP 3 – CHECKING

Check the “tone” of your language.
Is it right for the occasion, subject matter and your audience?
Check the length of your sentences.
If they’re too long or complicated you risk losing your listeners.
Have you chosen words your audience will understand?
Remember you are writing “oral language”.
You are writing as if you were explaining, telling or showing something to someone. It doesn’t have to be perfect sentences. We don’t talk like that.

STEP 4 – THE OPENING

The answer is to capture their interest straight away. You do this with a “hook”. Hooks come in as many forms as there are speeches and audiences. Your task is work out what the specific hook is to catch your audience.

Go back to the purpose. Why are you giving this speech? Once you have your answer, consider your call to action. What do you want the audience to do as a result of listening to you? Next think about the imaginary or real person you wrote for when you were focusing on your main ideas.

STEP 5 – THE ENDING

The ideal ending is highly memorable. You want it to live on in the minds of your listeners long after your speech is finished. Often it combines a call to action with a summary of major points.

Source: Write Out Loud

WRITING TASK

You are the representative of your country before the United Nations Organization (UNO). Write a speech addressed to the UNO general delegates denouncing the resurgence of slavery. (June 2008 S5)

Connectors

Source: https://www.aprendeinglessila.com/2016/02/conectores-ingles-pdf/

To see examples of how to use these connectors you can go to: aprendeinglessila

Online practice:

Exercise 1, exercise 2, exercise 3.

Halloween poems

Do you like poetry? Can you remember any poem you learnt when you were little?

On the 31st October it’s Halloween. Do you like it? Do you celebrate it?

1. We are going to read some Halloween poems. First, listen to the teacher as she reads them. What Halloween words do you know? Write them down.

POEM 1 – Five little pumpkins.

POEM 2 – Flutter, flutter little bat.

POEM 3 – Jack-O-Lantern.

POEM 4 – Monsters.

POEM 5 – Pumpkin Time.

POEM 6 – Trick or treat.

POEM 7 – Who’s that knocking?

2. Now, in pairs, choose one poem and practise it. Then, you are going to read it out loud.

3. Now that you know what Halloween words rhyme, can you write a poem in pairs or in groups of three?

Halloween & scary stories

stux on pixabay

I. Go to this SITE and read the text about Halloween. Then do the exercises below the text.

II. Discuss the following questions in groups of 4:

– After reading the text, can you say what the origin of Halloween is?

– Which of the things mentioned in the text do people in your country do?

– Do you celebrate Halloween?

– Do you like this festivity? Is there a similar festivity here in your country?

– Do you like scary films or stories? Do you remember any?

III. Vocabulary. Match the words to their definitions:

1. eerie (adj)	a. to hurry or move quickly somewhere
2. to rush (vb)	b. easily annoyed and often complaining
3. to sigh (vb)	c. a sudden frightened feeling
4. grumpy (adj)	d. unusual and slightly frightening
5 duvet (noun)	e. to pay attention to some advice or a warning
6. chill (noun)	f. to breathe out slowly and noisily, often because you are annoyed or unhappy
7. doom (noun)	g. the parts of a building that are made from wood
8. to take heed (vb)	h. a cover filled with feathers or warm material that you sleep under
9. to fuss (vb)	k. to complain about something
10. woodwork (noun)	j. death, destruction, and other unpleasant events that cannot be avoided

IV. Watch the story of “The house on a lake”, written by Mark Newton and answer the following questions.

1. Who was living in the house?

2. Why was Arthur scared?

3. Did his father pay attention to him? Why/why not?

4. What is the Saurus?

5. What happened to Arthur in the end?

6. How does the story finish?

HERE you can read the full story.

V. Now it’s time for you to write a scary story. The best one will be published here.

Source Writing : Oxford University Press

STUDENTS’ WORKSHEET

3. It’s time to pack up!

Task 8. Check your mailbox.

Go with your group and open your mailbox. There you will find the answers for the e-mails you sent in the last session. Write down some notes from the answers that you have received in your notebook.

Choose one person in your group to be the spokesperson. He or she will come to the board to share the answers with the rest of the group.

LANGUAGE BOX

The price is…
On the (date) of (month) the weather will be…
We are going to travel by…
We need… to practice…

Task 9. What do we need in our rucksack?

The teacher is having some problems when packing her rucksack. She has brought some clothes and equipment but she is quite messy, so help her to decide which things she should be taking with her for the excursion.

Look at the photocopy and do the activity.

Which of these items are you taking with you in your rucksack?

2. Hold on tight!

Task 5. Jigsaw Reading

Look at the brochure that the teacher has provided to you. Each member of the group will get a number from 1-4. When you receive a number follow the instructions below:

Step 1. There are 4 corners in class. If you are number 1 go to corner number 1 and so on…

Step 2. Read the text corresponding to the number given.

Step 3. While you are reading use your notebook to write down the main ideas.

Step 4. Come back to your place and explain your group what you have read about.

Task 6. What things should we know before going on an excursion?

Task 7. How to write an -email

Now that you know all the things you need to take into account before going on an excursion, it is time to collect all these information but… How can you do it?

Go to the same brochure you used in task 5.
Look for an e-mail address to ask for information.
Did you find it? Great! Now you and your group will write an e-mail to this address asking for all the information you need to know.
Do not hesitate to ask your teacher if you need help.

Use this example as a model

Mar's English Blog

Blog for my students at Bellvitge High School