New teacher guides for writing assessment

An introduction to the new teaching guides for assessment of writing for A2 Key for Schools; B1 Preliminary for Schools; B2 First for Schools; and C1 Advanced

There are now new teacher guides for the assessment of writing designed to support busy teachers to evaluate learners’ writing in preparation for the B2 First for Schools; C1 Advanced exams; A2 Key for Schools; and B1 Preliminary for Schools exams.

The guides have been designed to provide teaching tips and classroom activities to assess writing. and they also give authentic samples of learner writing, examiner grades and comments. Also included are practice assessment activities to compare your assessment with the examiners’.

Why are the new guides such a valuable resource now? Because they are designed as a teacher development tool, to be informative, easy to follow and understand, and to support you as you support your learners. They also have practical tips and useful teaching ideas to try.

The new guides have new navigational tools and hyperlinks taking you where you want to go and back again. They take the pain out of searching, taking you directly to resources and saving your time. They also have embedded key terminology to explain terms you want to know but never dared to ask.

We have teacher assessment top tips that teachers find very useful as they show the importance of feedback. They encourage learners to take ownership of their work. Why is meaningful feedback so helpful for learners? Because they inspire confidence and motivation, promote self-awareness, encourage learner autonomy, and improve learner performance.

There are many activities to try such as picture prompts. Students need to learn the value of doing a picture prompt writing activity. The prompts provide speaking for fluency, activate ideas and language, and create safe spaces to write. The guide also provides options for you to adapt the activities.

For more details, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MPhqNyXa3A for B2 First for Schools & C1 Advanced and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruqKK_WpYYU for A2 Key for Schools & B1 Preliminary for Schools