What changed since Lesson 1
In Lesson 1 you listed ten things you like, mostly nouns. Say, in one sentence, what you would do differently today.
One question before the assessment.
1. The A2 can-do for this unit is: talk about likes, dislikes and preferences; make basic recommendations; agree and disagree. Which part are you least sure of?
Read your own draft as a reader
Take your Lesson 7 draft. Circle every verb that follows another verb, and mark it -ing, to or bare.
Then check each against its group. Modals are bare, always. The other two you have to know.
Then look at the sentence your reader underlined. That is the kind of sentence the other two recommendations need more of.
Six verbs from typical drafts. Match each to the form that follows it.
-ing-ingto + verbto + verbThe proofreading pass
Four checks, in this order
| Check | Look for | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Modals | Every should · must · can · will · would rather | Bare verb after, no -s, no do |
| 2 · Patterns | Every verb followed by another verb | Check the group; look it up if unsure |
| 3 · Reader-first | The first three words of each paragraph | Should name a person, not a place |
| 4 · Word count | The number at the bottom | 150–170, or cut |
Check 1 should find nothing. Four refusals, five verbs, no exceptions — if it still finds something, that is the one thing to take into Unit 10, which is built entirely on modals.
Six sentences from real A2 drafts. One error each, all from the four checks. Rewrite each in full.
1. You should to try the market.
2. I enjoy to walk there.
3. I want going early.
4. I prefer the market than the supermarket.
5. Do you should book a table?
6. If you can face to get up early, go at seven.
The two pieces
Task card · Assessment · Portfolio
A recorded recommendation conversation, then the finished "My Top 3".
Both go in your portfolio. The conversation is assessed live and is unprepared; the written piece is the Lesson 7 rubric.
- Part 1 (8 min, recorded). Recommend your three to your teacher. They will disagree with two of them and prefer something else. Stay friendly, defend your choices, and find at least one point of agreement.
- Part 2 (12 min). Write the final "My Top 3", strengthening the two recommendations your Lesson 7 reader did not choose.
- Then (2 min). Run the four proofreading checks. Count your words and write the number at the bottom.
Answer after the conversation, before you write.
1. When they disagreed, what did you do?
2. Did you find a point of agreement?
Against the can-do statements
A2 can-do — CEFR 2020 Companion Volume, adapted
| I can… | Not yet | With effort | Comfortably |
|---|---|---|---|
| say what I like doing, with the right verb pattern | □ | □ | □ |
| say what I would rather do, and why | □ | □ | □ |
| recommend something so somebody could act on it | □ | □ | □ |
| disagree about taste without correcting anybody | □ | □ | □ |
| use a modal without putting anything after it | □ | □ | □ |
| write 160 words organised around the reader | □ | □ | □ |
Mark yourself, then compare with your teacher. The rows where you disagree are the interesting ones.
1. The modal rule —
2. The verb patterns —
3. Why is one of those "comfortably" and the other not?
Into the portfolio. Two files: the conversation recording and the final "My Top 3", with the word count at the bottom. Label them Unit 9 and date them.
Term 3 ends after Unit 12, with the full A2 final assessment. This is the first of its four written pieces.
Into Unit 10
Eight lessons, four rules. Match each to the lesson that taught it.
Unit 10 — Workplaces. Modals again, but this time for meaning rather than form: must against have to, and the difference between don't have to and mustn't, which is the single most consequential pair in A2 grammar. Plus the first sustained treatment of articles.
Before Lesson 1 of Unit 10: write down five rules of your workplace or your place of study. Any five, in any English you have.